The Impact of Leader’s Emotional Intelligence on Employee Retention Intention: Evidence from a Leading Organization in Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the Emotional Intelligence (EI) of managers and retention intention of their direct reports. The findings are discussed in terms of a business case and it was conducted in one of the leading organization in the field of Fast Moving Consumer Goods in Sri Lanka, targeting the head office staff employees. The employees were given questionnaires to complete in order to assess their retention intention and to rate the level of EI of their leaders as how they perceived it. Correlation analyses were then performed with the data. The statistical results showed that the leaders’ EI has a significantly moderate and positive impact on the retention intention of their direct reports. The results of this study contribute to current insights about the interrelationships on managers’ EI and employee outcomes, showing the importance of improving EI within organizational leaders