Impact of emotional intelligence on organisational performance : an analysis in the Malaysian public administration

Organisations have shifted from traditional beliefs to the incorporation of agile methods for attaining high levels of performance through its established goals and objectives. Emotional intelligence (EI) is envisaged to contribute to the achievement of higher levels of performance. With the current global economic crisis and the pandemic situation, it has become very critical to achieve higher levels of performance with limited resources. Countries confront challenges by way of attaining a higher level of emotional maturity and realisation in order to sail through the current economic storm. The Administrative and Diplomatic Officers (ADOs) are seen to shoulder a heavy responsibility in materialising this shift. This study analyses the impact of EI on organisational performance (OP) in the Malaysian public sector. A survey instrumentation was distributed to 700 ADOs based in Putrajaya, within five selected ministries, obtaining 375 valid responses. The results attained, analysed using the SMART-PLS method, affirm the significant positive effect of EI on OP, suggesting the need for an increase in the EI of civil servants by including EI indicators and measures in the areas of recruitment, learning and development, workforce planning, succession planning, and organisational development. EI should actively be adopted to increase awareness and maturity, which would thus enable civil servants to embrace the current challenging agile environment.