International Research Journal of Education and Technology

In the modern competitive and fast changing organizational style, employee engagement and retention has become an important factor of organization success. Among the many leadership qualities that determine these outcomes, emotional intelligence (EI) has attracted a lot of academic and practical consideration. The present study examines the impact of leaders’ emotional intelligence on employee engagement and retention, with a particular focus on key EI dimensions such as self-awareness, motivation, and empathy. A quantitative research design was adopted, and data were collected from 250 employees using a random sampling technique across different organizational levels. A structured questionnaire was employed as the primary research tool to measure employees’ perceptions of leaders’ emotional intelligence and related workplace outcomes. The reliability of the instrument was established prior to analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data, while One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied to examine differences in perceived emotional intelligence of leaders across employee designations and years of work experience. The findings revealed significant differences in perceptions of leaders’ self-awareness and motivation across groups, while empathy showed partial variation depending on demographic factors. Overall, the results suggest that leaders’ emotional intelligence plays a vital role in shaping employee engagement and retention, particularly across hierarchical and experiential differences. The study highlights the importance of developing emotionally intelligent leadership practices to enhance employee commitment, reduce turnover intentions, and foster a positive organizational climate.

Keywords: Emotional intelligence, leadership, employee engagement, employee retention and organizational performance