Effect of Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Work Environment on Performance of Bankers

Transcription

1 Effect of Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Work Environment on Performance of Bankers Afifa Anjum and Huma Ali Department of Applied Psychology University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan Abstract This collaborative research investigated the effect of emotional intelligence and perceived work environment on performance of bankers. Emotional Intelligence was measured using the scale of Schutte et al. (1996). For Perceived Work Environment (PWE), indigenous scale was constructed by the researchers and Performance Appraisal Form was also constructed by the researcher by taking guide lines from the Performance Appraisal Report, Lakehead University (1996). Reliabilities of the scales for the sample of bankers were quite high. Sixty bank employees from private banks of Lahore were selected. Demographic information was taken from bank records. Perceived work environment and emotional intelligence was measured by the researchers with the help of the scales mentioned above, whereas, bank managers assessed performance of their employees and reported through Performance Appraisal Form. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed significant effect of education and gender on performance but when perceived work environment was added in the model, both turned to be non significant. Final model showed that perceived work environment was not affected by emotional intelligence; rather both had independent significant effect on level of performance. Higher emotional intelligence and positive perception of work environment significantly improved performance. Total model accounted for 66% variance in performance of employees. Implications of the research regarding selection and recruitment and workplace environment are discussed. Keywords- bankers, emotional intelligence, perceived work environment, performance appraisal 1. INTRODUCTION This research aimed to investigate if level of performance of bankers is directly predicted by their emotional intelligence and perceived work environment while controlling for other factors that possibly affect performance Emotional Intelligence is an important factor which determines success in life and also well-being. It also plays an important role in the interaction between individuals and their work environment as well as level of performance. Emotional Intelligence also covers social intelligence and emphasizes that emotions have an effect on our ability to view situations with objectivity and so to understand ourselves as well as other people. Personal growth also comes in the domain of emotional intelligence and balances the mind and heart. First one to talk about it was Pluto who wrote that all learning has an emotional base. Many theorists claimed that feelings are not important as they stop us from taking good decisions [1]. Another argument is that emotional intelligence is an important part of an individual s personality development [2]. Research on the very concept of this form of intelligence originated with Peter Salvey and John Jack Mayer, starting in the late 1980,s. They proposed that emotional intelligence is a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one s own and others emotion s to discriminate among these 50

2 Effect of Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Work Environment on Performance of Bankers emotions and to use this information to guide one s thinking and actions [1]. According to them, those who have high level of EI are expected to succeed or progress more rapidly and can master many abilities. According to them, emotional intelligence has four components: 1. Emotions are perceived, appraised and expressed 2. Emotional Facilitation of Thinking 3. Understanding and Analysis of Emotions and implementing Knowledge of emotions 4. Reflective Regulation of Emotions promoting growth: both intellectual and emotional [3]. The best-known theory of emotional intelligence was given by Goleman [4]. He argued that an emotional intelligence of an individual can affect his/her work situation. He further applied this understanding of the concept to organizations. Besides other claims, he postulated that emotional intelligence equals IQ and is an important indicator of success in an individual s professional life. He further elaborates that those who have high emotional intelligence are the ones who really succeed in work build flourishing careers and keep meaningful relationships. In his theory, he gave five domains of emotional intelligence. First is knowledge of emotions. Second is managing, then motivating, recognizing and being able to understand other s emotions and finally being able to manage relationships. A somewhat wider view of emotional intelligence is defined in terms of awareness, personal motivation, altruism, empathy, and then the ability to love and be loved by others [4]. Other variable investigated is work environment as it is perceived by the employees. There are many factors of perceived work environment which can be further divided into physical and psychological factors. These factors include office and work place design, noise, illumination and humidity, color temperature and working hours, work schedules that are flexible, rest areas, simplification in job, boredom or monotony, social interaction, communication between employees and higher authority, fatigue and harassment. All these factors play a major role in perception of environment of work. Performance appraisal is an exercise in measurement. It is a formal, rational and objective assessment of others [5]. It is also known as appraisal of employee. It is a method through which the job performance of an employee is evaluated, often in terms of quality, quantity, cost or time. Performance appraisal is an important part of career development. In many organizations, if not all, appraisal results are used, either directly or indirectly, to help decide outcomes. That is, the appraisal results are used to identify the employees who should get the majority of increases, bonuses, and promotions. Appraisal results are also used to identify the poor performers who may require some form of counseling, or sometimes, demotion, dismissal or, decreases in pay [6]. Performance evaluation is used to meet needs of the organization to improve the work force and to provide for curtain administrative functions. For example, a survey of employees revealed the information obtained from the performance appraisal is used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual employees, to document personal information and to develop and evaluate human resource system, for example in training needs assessment [6,7]. An investigation of the relationship between employee performance, leadership and emotional intelligence in a South African sample gathered information using three instruments, from a sample of 160 leaders and 800 raters. Through linear regression analysis, a significant relationship International Journal of the Computer, the Internet and Management Vol.19. No.2 (May-August, 2011) pp

3 Afifa Anjum and Huma Ali between employee performance and an emotionally intelligent, transactional leader was found. However, non significant relationship was found between employee performance and an emotionally intelligent, transformational leader. This research therefore added a new aspect to employee performance, leadership and emotional intelligence [8]. In the current century, the performance appraisal has broadened as a concept and as a set of practices as well as in the form of performance management. It has become a more strategic approach to integrate HR activities and policies of business [9]. Emotional intelligence may also influence appraisals of stressful tasks and resulting task performance [10]. 2. METHOD A. Participants Sixty bank officers (Male, n=30; females, n=30) were selected who were working at their current post from at least past six months. The sample was collected from private banks only. TABLE I DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLE Demographic f % Variables Age (in years) Mean Age: Education Graduation Masters Other Monthly Income (in Rs.) Below and above B. Measures Following three instruments were used: 1) Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS): The Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) developed by Schutte,et al (1998) was used to assess emotional intelligence based on self-report responses to 33 items measuring the appraisal and expression of emotions in solving problems. Participants answered by indicating their agreement to each of the 33 statements using a five- point scale that ranges from 1 to 5 showing degree of agreement. Reliability of the scale for present sample was.92. 2) Perceived Work Environment Scale: A self constructed scale consisting of 22 items was used. Each item was measured using a likert scale that ranged from "strongly disagree" (1 point) to "strongly agree" (5 points). Reliability of the scale for present sample was.76 3) Performance Appraisal Scale: A scale was derived by taking guideline from Performance Appraisal Report of Lakehead University (1996). It assessed performance of employees on different parameters like productivity, initiative, relations with boss, relations with coworkers, etc. 5 point rating scale was used in this scale. Reliability of the scale for present sample was.89 C. Procedure A pilot study was conducted; researcher checked the reliability of the scales as well as suitability which were used in this research. After getting formal permission from the managers of the banks, a consent form was given to the subjects to get their willingness to participate in the study. The data was collected from different bank officers and their performance appraisal 52

4 Effect of Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Work Environment on Performance of Bankers questionnaire was filled by the Manager of the Branch. Data was gathered individually in presence of researcher whereas performance was assessed without showing identity of the employee to the researcher. 3. RESULTS A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was carried out to find out the significant effect of emotional intelligence and perceived work environment after controlling effect of age, gender, education, and duration of job. TABLE II HIERARCHICAL MULTIPLE REGRESSION FOR CONTROL VARIABLES AND INDEPENDENT PREDICTOIRS Predictors R 2 β Step 1 Control variables Age Grade Gender Education Duration of job (current) Duration of job (Total) *.29* Step 2 Emotional Intelligence.46***.70*** Step 3 Perceived Work Environment Total R 2.66 ***P <.001, *P<.05 (two-tailed).04*.31* Above table shows that both variables significantly predicted performance of the workers. For model 2 (F = (7, 52), p <.001) and model 3 (F = (8, 51), p <.05). Total variability explained by the model is 66%. TABLE III t TEST FOR GENDER DIFFERENCES IN STUDY VARIABLES Variables Mean SD t p Emotional Intelligence Perceived Work Environment Performance *p< DISCUSSION * The first main hypothesis of the study was accepted. Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis controlling for demographic variables showed non significant effects for model 1. Individual beta values were significant only for gender and education, and both had positive impact on performance i.e. greater education predicted better performance and being female was indicator of better performance. A significant independent effect of both variables on perceived work environment was found. The relation between emotional intelligence and positive workplace outcomes in 44 analysts and clerical employees from the finance department of an insurance company was investigated. With few exceptions, these associations remained statistically significant after controlling for other predictors, one at a time, including age, gender, education, verbal ability, the Big Five personality traits, and trait affect. This research also supports our results as there was a positive correlation between emotional intelligence, performance measure and International Journal of the Computer, the Internet and Management Vol.19. No.2 (May-August, 2011) pp

5 Afifa Anjum and Huma Ali positive work place environment perception [11]. A closer look at interaction between gender, education, and performance with other variables showed that gender and education, both, were negatively correlated with job experience and job experience was negatively related to performance. It means that those who were relatively new employees, had higher level of education as compared to older ones. Females also had lesser experience and were relatively more educated than males. Thus education and being female (and more educated) both predicted better performance. Education was significant predictor of performance. The greater the education, better the performance. As education of bankers is field and domain specific, thus it ensures higher performance. Another reason might be the nature of job. As employees selected were middle rank officers, those who are required to understand and do assigned tasks, and do not belong to higher level of management where experience becomes more important [12], their performance was significantly predicted by education. This study has important implications regarding selection and promotion of employees. The future research on emotional intelligence and perceived work environment can proceed in many directions and more useful findings could be generated. REFERENCES [1] D. Singh (2003), Emotional Intelligence at Work, 2 nd ed., New Delhi: Response Book, [2] D. Goleman (1998), Working With Emotional Intelligence, New York: Bantam. [3] S. Hein. (2005) Introduction to Emotional Intelligence. [Online]. Available: [4] D. Goleman (1995), Emotional Intelligence, New York: Bantam. [5] D. Daley (1992), Performance Appraisal in the Public Sector: Techniques and Applications, Westport, CT: Quorum Books. [6] P. E. Spector (1996), Industrial and Organizational psychology, Canada: John Wiley and Sons. [7] D. Schultz and S. E. Schultz (2009), Psychology and Work Today, 8 th ed., Singapore: Pearson Education. [8] M. Porteous (1997), Occupational Psychology. New York: Prentice Hall. [9] C. Fletcher (2001), Performance appraisal and management: The developing research agenda, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, vol. 73, pp [10] J. Lyons, and T. Schneider (2005), The influence of emotional intelligence on performance, Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 39, pp , Sep. [11] P. N. Lopes, D. Grewal, J. Kadis, M. Gall, and P Salovey (2006), Evidence that emotional intelligence is related to job performance and affect and attitudes at work, Psicothema, vol. 18, pp [12] J. E. McGee, M. J. Dowling, and W. L. Megginson (1995), Cooperative strategy and new venture performance: The role of business strategy and management experience, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 16, pp