EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: EVIDENCE FROM HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the impact of emotional intelligence on employee engagement among healthcare workers. Employee engagement is critical for completing and executing activities in any form of organization. It is critical to provide organizations with the opportunity to be in a sustainable state for long-term sustainability and gain a competitive advantage over competitors. Employees must recognize, use, and control their own feelings in productive ways to alleviate tension and resolve obstacles in the workplace. Employees' levels of commitment can be affected by emotional symptoms. They can lead to higher or lower morale, which can positively or negatively impact employee engagement. Though previous studies paid attention to engagement level, little attention was paid to the emotional intelligence of healthcare workers. In addition, this study sheds new light on the emotional intelligence level, engagement level, and effect of emotional intelligence on employee engagement among Sri Lankan healthcare employees. A survey method was used and data were collected from conveniently chosen 212 healthcare employees working in public and private hospitals. The results disclose that individuals with high emotional intelligence are more likely to have high employee engagement. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed at the end of the paper.