EFFECT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIAN COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (NCC), ABUJA

Abstract

Suboptimal employee performance persists in Nigerian public sector organisations despite investment in human capital development, yet the role of emotional intelligence (EI) dimensions remains empirically underexplored within regulatory agencies. This study examined the effect of emotional intelligence on Employee Performance in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Abuja. The study adopted a quantitative survey research design, with a sample size of 360 NCC employees, and data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed that Social Awareness exerted a positive and significant effect on Employee Performance, while Self-Management and Relationship Management each had a negative but significant effect on employee’s performance. The study concluded that employees who possess a higher level of social awareness such as the ability to understand colleagues’ emotions, recognize organizational dynamics, and respond appropriately to social situations are more likely to perform effectively in their roles. It is also concluded that although employees demonstrate the ability to regulate their emotions, control impulses, and manage personal behaviour in the workplace, excessive or poorly applied self-management may inadvertently reduce their level of performance. The study recommends that the NCC should invest in social awareness training programmes, implement workload and employee assistance interventions to mitigate self-regulatory resource depletion, and redesign its performance appraisal system to capture relational and citizenship performance dimensions alongside technical task output.