Emotional Intelligence and its Relationship With Job Performance:

An Empirical Study

Abstract
The aim of this research is to examine the relationship of emotional intelligence with job
productivity. This study will help employees to know why it is important for them to be
emotionally intelligent by showing that if they are emotionally intelligent then they will be able
to manage their emotions and their work will not be affected. The numerous factors of emotional
intelligence are self Awareness, emotional Resilience, motivation, inter-personal sensitivity,
influence, intuitiveness.
For this study, the research design chosen is descriptive in nature and the sampling technique
chosen is convenient sampling. The universe of the study includes service sectors organisations like
education, banks and financial organization and others within the Dehradun . A sample of 202 respondents was
collected from the universe. The collected data after being coded were analyzed using Statistical Package for
Social sciences Research (SPSS) and various statistical tests were applied based on hypotheses and matching
variables. It has been observed that there is a significant association between emotional intelligence and job
productivity.
Key words : emotional intelligence, job productivity, self Awareness , emotional Resilience, motivation,
inter-personal sensitivity, etc.
Introduction
Emotional intelligence(EQ) can be described as the ability to identify, use, understand, and
manage emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with
others, and defuse conflict. Emotional Intelligence is the flair to be aware of own emotions and
how to manage own emotions, the ability to be aware of, and understand others emotions, and
the ability to relate to others in effective ways both personally and professionally. Emotional
intelligence helps in constructing sound relationship with colleagues, directors, staff, customers,
stakeholders, suppliers, competitors, networking contacts, everyone, to have good physical
health and mental health, and to show tremendous performance at work.


Gardner (1983) proposed a broader view of intelligence, suggesting a multiple construct
constituting intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence. The combination of interpersonal and
intrapersonal intelligence is referred to as personal intelligence and it includes the concept of
social intelligence. Salovey and Mayer (1990) integrated the concepts of social intelligence and
constructive thinking to formulate the concept of emotional intelligence. In later publications
they suggested that emotional intelligence should be seen as an ability or construct that can be
divided into four branches: emotional perception and expression, emotional facilitation of
thought, emotional understanding and emotional management (Salovey, Mayer & Caruso in
Snyder & Lopez, 2002).

Emotional intelligence and job performance The greatest challenges faced by organisations,
including call centers, involve coping with constant change, being more creative, managing vast
amounts of information, obtaining and retaining the right kind of people, increasing customer
loyalty and improving cooperation (De Waal, 2004).

According to Cherniss (2001) and others, emotional intelligence plays a vital role in satisfying
these requirements. For instance Boyatzis (1982) studied more than 2000 supervisors, middle
managers and executives in 12 organisations and found that all but two of the 16 competencies
that set star performers apart from average performers were emotional competencies. An analysis
by Spencer and Spencer (1993) of job competencies in 286 organisations worldwide indicated
that 18 of the 21 competencies in their generic model for distinguishing superior from average
performers were emotional intelligence based. Various recent research studies found emotional
intelligence to be predictive of job performance in a wide variety of organisational contexts and
roles (Abraham, 1999; Cavallo & Brienza, 2002; Ryback, 1997; Servinc, 2001; Stagg & Gunter,
2002; Vermeulen, 2004; Weisinger, 1998; Wong & Law, 2002).


Literature review
Rahim, Hussain, Saddam (2010) has investigated the effect of demographic factors like Age,
Education, Job tenure, Gender and Marital Status on the level of Emotional Intelligence which
leads to organizational performance among male and female employees. Research has shown
that the female segment is more emotionally intelligent than their male employees in bank sector
and there is inverse relationship between the age of the male and female employees and EI. With
increase in education level, EI has also improvement in its level. Satisfaction level of employees
is also a good determinant of their performance.
Singh, Kavita (2007) found that ultimately it is the emotional and personal competencies that
we need to identify and measure if we want to be able to predict performance at workplace
resulting in its effectiveness, thereby enhancing the worth of the human capital. In this scenario
the competencies possessed by the people will have a bearing on the extent to which they can
actualize their emotional intelligence
Mayer and Salovey (1997:5) said that emotional intelligence includes the ability to perceive
accurately, appraise, and express emotion; the ability to access and or generate feelings when
they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the
ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth.
Ashforth and Humphrey (1993) argue that emotions are an integral and inseparable part of
organizational life and that more attention should be given to the employees emotional
experience.
Goleman, 1998; Salovey and Mayor,1990; Weinberger, 2002 have responded to the growing
significance of emotional intelligence by attempting to identify factors that influence
employees performance at work.

Hochschild, (1983), found that EI has the potential to be a strong predictor of performance.
Linking EI with performance can provide organizations with a valid alternative for selecting and
assessing employees.
According to Brown (1999), stated that emotional intelligence, which reflects one's ability to
interact with each other in a positive manner, is often the final determination of success.
Krishnaveni, R., & Deepa, R. (2008) Todays workplace is dynamic in nature and is
characterized by time deadlines, cross-cultural teams, work pressures, and work-family conflicts,
which in turn result in a highly stressed work force. These factors have a negative impact on the
well-being of employees and the effectiveness of an organization. The individual competencies
of the workforce are strong determinants of an organizations success. It is in this context that
this paper explains how Emotional Intelligence (EI) can be used as a soft tool, to enhance the
competencies of individuals and teams in Indian organizations and help them to gain competitive
advantage
Van Rooy and Viswesvaran (2004: 72) conceptualized EI as the set of abilities (verbal and
nonverbal) that enable a person to generate, recognize, express, understand, and evaluate their
own, and others, emotions in order to guide thinking and action that successfully cope with
environmental demands and pressures.
Joseph and Newman (2010) tested the incremental validity of EI measures to explain job
performance over and above the Big Five personality measures and cognitive ability. They
classified EI measures into three categories: performance based, self-report ability measures, and
self-report mixed models. They found that all three types of EI measures demonstrated
incremental validity over and above the Big Five personality traits
Offermann, Bailey, Vasilopoulos, Seal, and Sass (2004), found that EI better predicted
performance on student teamwork projects and on ratings of leadership, whereas a cognitive
ability measure better predicted student performance on individual cognitive tasks like tests.
Ct & Miners, (2006) said that the relative importance of EI and cognitive ability may depend
on the cognitive complexity of the job being performed. In almost all work settings, individuals
have to cooperate with others and do at least some group work tasks.
Tram, and O'Hara (2006) directly related the EI of the leaders to their ability to manage the job
satisfaction of their subordinates.
Bono, Foldes, Vinson, and Muros (2007) found that transformational leaders helped their
employees remain in a positive mood while interacting with each other and with customers. It is
likely that leaders high on EI would be better at helping their employees maintain positive moods
while interacting with customers and performing emotional labor
Brotheridge (2006: 139) found the key role of emotional intelligence seemed to be as a
predictor of the perceived situational demands, which, in turn, predicted the nature of emotional
labor that was performed.
Bar-On (1997), characterizes EI as an array of non-cognitive capabilities, competencies and
skills that influence ones ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and
pressures.

Drucker, 1996; Hooper & Potter, 2000; Nel & De Villiers, 2004; Weisinger, 1998 found that
emotional intelligence has direct positive relationship with job performance and its predictive
validity regarding future performance.

Objectives and methodology
Objective of the Study
1 To examine the emotional intelligence of the employees working in various service sectors
industries in Uttarakhand.
2 To analyse the emotional intelligence and its impact on job performance.
3 To assess the emotional intelligence and its relationship with cognitive intelligence.
4 To compare the emotional intelligence and its impact on job across the employees working in
different service sectors industry.
5 To draw conclusions and suggestion on the basis of study.
Research Methodology
This research is based on primary as well as secondary data. Primary information was collected
from various respondents of various service sectors organisations like education, banks and financial
organization. A structured questionnaire was designed covering various aspects of emotional
intelligence. The secondary data were collected through various books, magazines, research
journals and other relevant academic and non- academic sources.
Research site:
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was carried out with SPSS software
and found to be .641 which indicates that data is sufficient to go for factor analysis .

KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .641
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity
Approx. Chi-Square 4563.594
df 703
Sig. .000


Reliability: Cronbachs alpha is computed using SPSS scale reliability programme for each set
of constructs. The value of Cronbachs alpha is reported in Table 2.

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's Alpha Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items
.844 .852 38

Demographic factors
Categories Count Percentage
Age wise classification UPT TO 25 YEARS
25 TO 35 YEARS
35-45 YEARS
45-55 YEARS

8
147
30
17

4.0
72.8
14.9
8.4

Gender wise classification
Male
Female
119

83
58.9

41.1
Marital status Married 105 52.0
Unmarried 97 48.0

Educational Qualification Graduate
post-graduate
professional qualification

13
67
122

6.4
33.2
60.4

Income wise classification Below Rs. 15000 PM
Rs. 15001-Rs. 25000 PM
Rs. 25001-40000 PM
Rs. 40001-60000
Rs. 60000 & ABOVE

22
115
37
19
9

10.9
56.9
18.3
9.4
4.5

Organisation wise
classification
Education organisations
Bank and financial
organisation
Others

151
21
30

74.8
10.4
14.9


The analysis presented in the above table reveals that sample is dominated by the young category
respondent ranging in the age group of 25-35 years as it contributes 76.7 % in the sample.
Majority of the respondent are male and married category. Since the survey was focused on
academic category respondent hence sample is composed of highly educated person earning
monthly income of Rs15000 to Rs.40000 and majority of the respondents belong to teaching
profession. Most of the respondents are professionally qualified.
Year wise classification
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
0-5 Years 140 69.3 69.3 69.3
5-10 Years 44 21.8 21.8 91.1
10 to 15 Years 1 .5 .5 91.6
More than 15 Years 17 8.4 8.4 100.0
Total 202 100.0 100.0

It has been found that majority of the employees of the organization are
associated from 0-5 years. Study also reveals that there are very few
employees who are associated with their present organization for more than
10 years.

Modification of behavior
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
To a great extent 76 37.6 37.6 37.6
To a considerable extent 68 33.7 33.7 71.3
To some extent 45 22.3 22.3 93.6
To a little extent 2 1.0 1.0 94.6
Not at all 11 5.4 5.4 100.0
Total 202 100.0 100.0

In an organization, it is important for the every employee to know how to deal with people in
different situations. The study reveals that 37.6 percent employees believed that they are able to
modify their behavior in changing situation to a great extent. 33.7 percent indicated to a
considerable extent. 22.3 percent employees are of the opinion that they are able to modify their
behavior to some extent. Only 1 percent indicated that to a little extent. 11 percent employees
believed that they are not at all able to modify their behavior in changing situation.
Sensitivity towards others emotions
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
To a great extent 66 32.7 32.7 32.7
To a considerable extent 86 42.6 42.6 75.2
To some extent 31 15.3 15.3 90.6
To a little extent 19 9.4 9.4 100.0
Total 202 100.0 100.0
To be sensitive towards others emotions is crucial in an organization as it helps to maintain
healthy relationships among the employees which further contributes to better performance.
Study revealed that 32.7 percent employees are sensitive towards others emotions to a great
extent. 42.6 percent employees indicated to a considerable extent. 15.3 percent employees are
sensitive towards others emotions to some extent. Only 9.4 percent employees are sensitive to a
little extent.
Conformity factor Analysis
Variable Description Factor Name Mean SD
My thinking is not clouded by emotions Self-awareness 3.6328 .42290
I don't allow my emotions to affect my thinking
I listen to the perspective of others before trying to persuade them
I provide a rationale for change when trying to persuade others
I do not have difficulty persuading others to change their viewpoint
I am able to balance my short and long term goals effectively Emotional
resilience
3.4723 .66447
I am able to press my case in the face of opposition
I initiate action to create possibilities for the future
I have sufficient levels of energy to ensure the completion of tasks and projects
I regulate my work/life balance in order to be flexible
I act according to my own feelings
I am able to pursue my goals in the face of rejection or questioning
I am able to recognise my emotions motivation
3.5455 .67123
I Knows how own feelings impact own performance
I am aware of situations that cause me to think negatively
I Acknowledges own strengths and areas of weakness
I do not become despondent when things go wrong
I express dissatisfaction with the status quo and seeks ways to improve performance Interpersonaqe
wl sensitivity
3.9171 .56614
I am aware when others are upset
I find changes in my mood give me different outlooks on a situation
I accurately read peoples moods, feelings or non-verbal cues Influence
3.4802 .71923 I understand what causes aggression
I take into account the input received from others when making a decision
I am able to deal with challenge or criticism Self
assessment
3.5421 .59073
I am able to perform consistently when under pressure
I am aware of the impact my moods have on other people
Adaptability 3.6980 .62922 I have a positive outlook on life
I do not lose control when I am angry
I can change emotional gears when I need to Initiatives
3.6221

.59730 I Respond to stereotyping by stating and appreciating another persons uniqueness
I am able to put myself in others shoes and acknowledge their feelings Empathy
3.6221 .59730
Before making a decision I listen to the views of others

In confirmatory factor analysis, nine factors were identified. The first factor is constituted of 6
variables i.e my thinking is not clouded by emotions, I provide a rationale for change when trying to
persuade others, I do not have difficulty persuading others to change their viewpoint, I don't allow
my emotions to affect my thinking, and I listen to the perspective of others before trying to persuade
them and it was named as self-awareness with the mean of 3.6328. The second factor is
constituted of 7 variables i.e I am able to balance my short and long term goals effectively, Iam able
to press my case in the face of opposition, I am able to pursue my goals in the face of rejection or
questioning, I regulate my work/life balance in order to be flexible, I act according to my own
feelings, I initiate action to create possibilities for the future, and I have sufficient levels of energy to
ensure the completion of tasks and projects and it was named as emotional resilience with mean of
3.4723. The third factor is constituted of 5 variables i.e I am able to recognise my emotions, I
knows how own feelings impact own performance, I do not become despondent when things go
wrong, I acknowledges own strengths and areas of weakness, and I am aware of situations that
cause me to think negatively and it was named as motivation with mean of 3.5455. The forth
factor is constituted of 3 variables i.e I express dissatisfaction with the status quo and seeks ways to
improve performance, I am aware when others are upset and I find changes in my mood give me
different outlooks on a situation and it was named as Interpersonal sensitivity with mean of
3.9171. The fifth factor is constituted of 3 variables i.e I accurately read peoples moods, feelings or
non-verbal cues, I understand what causes aggression, and I take into account the input received
from others when making a decision it was named as influence with mean of 3.4802. The sixth
factor is constituted of 2 variables i.e I am able to deal with challenge or criticism and I am able to
perform consistently when under pressure and it was named as Self-assessment with mean of
3.5421. The seventh factor is constituted of 3 variables i.e I am aware of the impact my moods have
on other people, I have a positive outlook on life, and I do not lose control when I am angry and it
was named as Adaptability with mean of 3.6980. The eighth factor is constituted of 2 variables
i.e I can change emotional gears when I need to, and I Respond to stereotyping by stating and
appreciating another persons uniqueness and it was named as Initiatives with mean of 3.6221.
The ninth factor is constituted of 2 variables i.e I am able to put myself in others shoes and
acknowledge their feelings, and Before making a decision I listen to the views of others and it was
named as Empathy with mean of 3.6221.


Mean of Different factors of Emotional Intelligence

Organisation
wise
classification
Self-
awarene
ss
Emotional
resilience
motivation Interpersonal
sensitivity
Influence Self
assessment
Adaptabilit
y
Initiative
s
Empathy
Education
organisation
3.6839 3.5483 3.5868 3.9305 3.6049 3.6258 3.7318 3.6887 3.6788
Bank and
financial
organisation
3.3853 2.8571 3.2667 3.6310 3.0159 3.2262 3.5238 3.2381 3.6429
Others 3.5485 3.5200 3.5333 4.0500 3.1778 3.3417 3.6500 3.5556 3.6333
Total 3.6328 3.4723 3.5455 3.9171 3.4802 3.5421 3.6980 3.6221 3.6683

Exploratory factor analysis was carried out to analyse the different outcome of emotional
intelligence across the employees of different organization. Total five outcomes were identified.
the first outcome is competency which consists of 5 variables such as I am competent in my
work and try to prevent problems occurring, I am accurate and deliver on my promises, I am
courteous, friendly and help new colleagues settle in, even though it is not required, I am
responsive to customer complaints and I maintain a good appearance at work. The second
outcome is attentiveness which consists of 4 variables such as I am caring towards customer and
have the customers best interests at heart, I am quick to solve problems when things go wrong, I
give personal attention to customers and meet customer needs and I attend company functions
that are not required but that help the company image. The third outcome is Job integrity which
consists of 4 variables such as I act with integrity and communicate well with colleagues and
customers, I am ready to help or lend a helping hand to those around me, I am dependable and
conscientiously follow company regulations and procedures and I consume a lot of time
complaining about trivial matters. The fourth outcome is over enthusiast which consists of 2
variables such as I go overboard pleasing customers at the expense of performance and I follow
the rules at the expense of the customer. The fifth outcome is indifference which consists of 3
variables I am indifferent to customer needs, I am not confident in my work and understand
customer needs, and I offer help to customers without being asked. Mean of different outcome
was calculated and analysed across the employees of different organization. The information is
presented in the table below;

Report
Mean
Organisation wise
classification
Compete
ncy
Attentive
ness
Job
integrity
Over
enthusiast
Indifferen
ce
Education organisation 4.0437 3.7434 3.7732 3.0166 2.6909
Bank and financial
organisation
3.3905 3.5119 3.4524 3.3095 2.5714
Others 3.7467 3.3250 3.7167 3.3667 2.6111
Total 3.9317 3.6572 3.7314 3.0990 2.6667
Above table indicates that mean outcome of competency factor is highest among the employees
of educational organization. It has scored highest value of 4.037.

Coefficients
a

Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1
(Constant) 1.925 .194 9.927 .000
Self-awareness .054 .054 .067 .997 .320
Emotional resilience .025 .037 .049 .683 .495
motivation -.014 .037 -.028 -.382 .703
Interpersonal sensitivity -.005 .039 -.008 -.117 .907
Influence .260 .033 .547 7.936 .000
Self-assessment -.060 .038 -.104 -1.572 .118
Adaptability .106 .036 .195 2.966 .003
Initiatives .067 .037 .117 1.809 .072
Empathy .023 .040 .036 .582 .561
a. Dependent Variable: OUTCOME

Overall outcome = 1.925 +.054 x Self-awareness + .025 x Emotional resilience - .014 x
motivation -.005 x Interpersonal sensitivity + .260 x Influence -.060 x Self-assessment + .106 x
Adaptability + .067 X Initiatives + .023 x Empathy.
From the above table it is seen that out of different attribute of emotional intelligent, influence
has got maximum contributor in achieving higher output. However, it is seen that few attributes
like motivation, interpersonal sensitivity and self-assessment have got inverse relationship with
emotional intelligence.


Conclusions And Suggestions
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