Perceived Leaders‘ Emotional Intelligence and Non-teaching Staff‘s Work Engagement at the University of Cape Coast

Abstract

The relationship between perceived leaders� emotional intelligence and non-teaching staff�s work engagement has been under-studied in the literature. Therefore, this research work studied the relationship between perceived leaders� emotional intelligence (EI) and non-teaching staff�s work engagement at the University of Cape Coast (UCC). In this study, leaders refer to the principal administrators, departmental heads, and heads of directorates of UCC, who have a supervisory role over non-teaching staff. The correlational research design was applied with a quantitative research approach. The study involved the non-teaching staff of UCC, with a population of 2,400. Using the simple random sampling technique, 337 respondents were sampled, which met the minimum sample size requirement of 322. The study used self-administered questionnaires. Frequencies, percentages, and correlation analyses were employed to analyse the data. Using statistical significance of 5%, it was revealed that non-teaching staff�s vigour (r=0.46) towards work has a positive and moderate relationship with perceived leaders� EI. On the other hand, non-teaching staff�s dedication (r=0.25) and absorption (r=0.17) had a significantly positive and weak relationship with perceived leaders� EI. The research concluded that non-teaching staff�s dimensions of work engagement are associated with how they perceive their leaders� EI competencies. Further, it is recommended that leaders continue to build their emotional skills to improve non-teaching staff�s vigour. Again, the management of UCC is recommended to improve leaders� EI to attract the needed work dedication and absorption from non-teaching staff.