Effects of Emotional Intelligence on Employee Performance in the Hotel Industry in Kenya

Abstract

It has been a routine for employers over the years to hire employees based on their intelligent quotient (IQ) according to their academic credentials in their subjects of study. Not only academic qualifications, they also concentrate and invest heavily on technology forgetting investing on human capital emotional competencies. Corporate world applicants are usually hired on the basis of their mental capacity and on cognitive-based qualification like education attainment.  Thus study sought to establish how self-awareness, self- management and relationships management influence on employee performance.

 The study used explanatory or non-experimental research design. Study population comprised of employees of a prominent Hotel. The study adopted simple random sampling technique. The researcher used questionnaire and interviews to gather information from his selected respondents.  The researcher used both primary and secondary data source to collect information for the research study. Interviews were conducted as well as distribution of questionnaires. A pilot study was conducted to ascertain the reliability of research instrument. Quantitative data was presented using templates such as bar graphs and pie charts after analysis. A multiple regression model was applied to determine the relationships between the dependent and independent variables. The study found that self-awareness, self- management and relationships management influence employee performance. It therefore recommends training and encouragement of teamwork in the organization to nature emotional intelligence and therefore improves employee performance.