Exploring Workplace Implications of Emotional Intelligence (WLEIS) in Hospitals: Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intentions

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of Emotional Intelligence (EI) at the workplace on Job Satisfaction (JS) and Turnover Intentions (TI) of nursing staff working in hospitals. Both nursing turnover and employees’ satisfaction have been considered as issues of utmost importance in the provision of high quality services and superior performance at hospitals. The Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) was adopted to measure emotional intelligence, consisted of four dimensions: (1) self-emotional appraisal (SEA), (2) others’ emotional appraisal (OEA), (3) use of emotion (UOE), and (4) regulation of emotion (ROE). This paper presents a field survey conducted in five private health care organizations which operate in the city of Larisa, Greece. The PLS approach based on 145 valid questionnaires, confirmed strong relationships among EI, JS and TI. More specifically, among the four EI dimensions, only SEA and UOE exert significant positive impacts on employees’ satisfaction with personal development, while they also influence negatively turnover intentions. Interestingly, the other two EI components (OEA, ROE) failed to verify any relationship with JS and TI.