Abstract
There is still limited research that investigates emotional intelligence in the context of the real estate sector in China, despite the rapid growth of the industry. Furthermore, there has been an exponential increase in the number of Chinese students studying overseas. Underpinned by these tendencies, this research investigates the levels of emotional intelligence of overseas and local graduates in the real estate sector in China. Data were collected using a survey of 140 employees and semi-structured interviews of four human resource managers in six Grade One state-owned real estate companies in China. The findings suggest that emotional intelligence influences the levels of interpersonal skills, represented by communication skills and teamwork behaviour. However, there is no difference in the levels of emotional intelligence between overseas and local graduates, suggesting that there are other factors that influence emotional intelligence development. Overseas graduates also seem to have greater difficulties than local graduates from elite universities to find jobs in the real estate sector. This suggests that international study experience is no longer adequate; instead, various contextualised interpersonal skills are needed to meet work demands in China. Developing emotional intelligence has been found to promote success across cultures and is a way to meet the demands of today's work environments in the real estate industry in China.
Highlights
The real estate industry in China is growing rapidly due to high market demands and healthy economic growth
This research found that the level of emotional intelligence (EI) of real estate employees in China is average, which is approximately the same as the level in the population generally, for which data were collected across professions and industries globally
Supporting the finding drawn from previous research, this research found that EI is an important quality in the Chinese real estate industry because it influences other key interpersonal skills, such as communication skills and teamwork behaviour
Summary
The real estate industry in China is growing rapidly due to high market demands and healthy economic growth Along with this growth, there is a need for real estate companies in China to interact with clients and stakeholders who have diverse languages and cultural backgrounds. In a world that is becoming increasingly interconnected, interpersonal skills have become a major factor that determines employee success in China (Lu and Guy, 2018). Most employers expect their employees to possess many facets of interpersonal skills, such as emotional intelligence (EI) (Sunindijo and Hadikusumo, 2014), teamwork (Pant and Baroudi, 2008), integrity (Robles, 2012), problem solving (Othman, 2014), political skill (Lu and Guy, 2018) and work ethics (Robles, 2012).
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