Unlocking the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Productivity

Abstract

Emotional Intelligence is a fashionable concept heightening in the subject area of psychology and organizational behavior (Rahman, Uddin, & Rahman, 2016; Biswas, Rahman, & Ferdausy, 2017; Lubbadeh, 2020; Biswas & Rahman, 2017; 2021). It is more effective in various organizations whereupon the drama of human emotions are portrayed a day in and day out (Sinha, 2014; Rahman et al., 2016). In today's situation, organizations are searching for ways to improve their productivity with emotional intelligence (Dhankar, 2015) as emotionally intelligent employees have a high level of productivity. Thus, emotional intelligence might be a significant factor in expanding productivity in an organization. This research attempts to explore the relationships between emotional intelligence and productivity in various organizations of Bangladesh. The target respondents were employees working in different organizations (like manufacturing, merchandising, financial, services, and others) situated in Chattogram city at the upper, middle, and lower levels in Bangladesh. The purposive sampling method was used to assemble data from 412 respondents through survey questionnaires. The authors administered an Emotional Quotient Index (EQ Index: Rahim et al., 2002) with 40 items to evaluate employees' emotional intelligence and productivity was measured with a 25item scale adapted from an instrument created by Rahim (2008) to evaluate employees' productivity at the workplace. Quantitative outcomes of this research revealed that a significant and positive relationship (strong) between emotional intelligence and organizational productivity (r= 0.70, p<0.01). Regression analysis revealed that emotional intelligence was positively connected with organizational productivity (β=0.82, t=19.89, p<0.01). Regression analysis also showed that emotional intelligence clarified 49% variances in OP which demonstrates a strong effect size (Evans, 1996). These exclusive findings would be extraordinarily helpful to scholars, policymakers, and business professionals of different organizations to cultivate emotional intelligence among them to expand employee productivity in organizations and this, in return, contributes to the advancement of the economy of developing countries. The limitation lies with the use of purposive sampling technique rather than random sampling. Future research directions are explained.