The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Employee’s Job Performance: the Moderating Role of Perceived Organizational Support

The purpose of this research is to investigate the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. Data were gathered through self-administered questionnaire from a sample of 316 employees working in banks located in Islamabad. As hypothesized, job performance significantly associated with emotional intelligence and moderating effect of perceived organizational support was also substantiated. The data were analysed statistically using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 to find out correlation and regression analysis between study variables, reliability of research instrument, strength of relationship between independent and dependent variables, moderating effect perceived organizational support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance was also substantiated. Findings suggest that emotional intelligence have positive impact on employee’s job performance, and perceived organizational support moderate the relation between emotional intelligence and job performance such that the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance more stronger/positive when perceived organizational support is high. Detailed data analysis, discussion and conclusion with limitations and future research directions are also discussed. Citation: Akhtar W, Ghufran H, Husnain M, Shahid A (2017) The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Employee’s Job Performance: the Moderating Role of Perceived Organizational Support. J Account Mark 6: 243. doi: 10.4172/2168-9601.1000243


Introduction
The 1990s were witness to a growing interest on the part of scholars and practitioners alike in the construct of emotional intelligence. Sy et al. [1] found that employees with high emotional intelligence are more likely to have higher levels of job performance because they are more adept at appraising and regulating their own emotions than are employees with low emotional intelligence. Wong and Law [2] stated that employees with high level of emotional intelligence shows high level of job performance because they have positive experience and manage their emotions effectively while at work. Emotional intelligence is a type of social intelligence in which includes the ability to monitor your own emotions and emotions of others, distinguish among them and to use information to guide one's actions and thinking [3]. In emotional intelligence scope includes all the verbal and nonverbal expression and appraisal of emotions, self and other emotions regulations and use of emotions Many researchers argued that emotional intelligence of employees can predict work related outcomes such as job satisfaction and job performance [2,4,5]. Job performance refers as "an activity in which employees are able to successfully complete their assigned tasks with the use of available resources" [6]. In rapidly changing work environment organizations need to increase their employee's performance in competitive market and therefore, organizations analyse the issues which are related to job performance.
Perceived organizational support (POS) refers to "the extent to which employees perceive their organization to be concerned with their well-being and to value their contributions to the organization" [7][8][9]. It is generally believed by the employees that their organization supports them. Mostly employees believed to use same process for acknowledgement as those used in interpersonal relationship development to assume their valuation by the organization [8,9]. Some outcomes are mostly associated with perceived organizational support such as job satisfaction, OCB, job performance and organizational commitment and some behaviour are also associated with perceived organizational support such as tardiness and turn over intentions Mostly employees perceive their employment as reciprocal exchange relationship which reproduce relative dependence and extent beyond a formal contract [9]. This type of perception is important in the research of organization because organization and employees are involved in reciprocal relationship [10]. It is not sufficient only examine one side of this relationship but also consider the support which organization gives to its employees [11]. When employees are highly EI and organization giving them fair and equal organization support against their contribution then the performance level of employees will increased.
Some researchers have investigated the relationship between emotional intelligence and work behaviours or attitudes such as turn over intentions, job satisfaction, emotional commitment, sales performance and job performance [1,2,12,13]. Vigoda-Gadot and Meisler [13] explored the relationship between EI, POJ (perceived organizational justice) and turnover intentions by using the ability model among Israel financial organizations. Law et al. [14] investigated the effect of emotional intelligence and perceived organizational support on entrepreneurial behavior.
Although these studies describe the relationship between EI and organizational outcomes but some gaps still remain, for example, we still do not know enough about the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance under other circumstances, like Pakistani context or about the potential moderating role of perceived organizational support on the relationship between EI and work outcomes (task performance, OCB, organizational commitment *Corresponding author: Akhtar W, Department of Management Sciences, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan, Tel: +92 51 9257988; E-mail: waheedakhtarms@gmail.com and job satisfaction). The current study investigates the relationship between the emotional intelligence and job performance and also investigates the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance among different population from banking sector in Pakistan.
The moderating role of perceived organizational support with inferior verses superior performance was studied by Lyncn et al. [15]. Armstrong [16] also investigated the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between preferred work status and performance. Hess and Bacigalupo [17] also investigated the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between eldercare demands, strain and work engagement. The present study investigates the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance among the banking sector employees in Pakistan.
The banking sector of Pakistan keeps the largest share in service sector and its contribution is increasing. Banking sector is gradually becoming competitive in small medium enterprises around the world. Consequently, there is an increased need for banks to differentiate themselves from competitors at the augmented product level. For that reasons banks focusing on their employees as a competitive advantage because it is difficult to imitate. Although the modern practices have replaced the traditionally practices of banking but the working nature is still unchanged and problems are still unresolved. It is common to observe unsatisfied employees in banks and they just do the job for their financial problem and to support their families. The empirical observation dissatisfaction at work is gradually destroying the employee ability to work, i.e., producing them in a bad mood, fatigue, lack of will to develop the tasks, depression, sleep disorders. And due to all of these things the performance level of employees in banking sector is decreasing gradually.
However, if we identify the solution, we can provide a helping hand in order to increase the employee's performance. Employee's job performance in banks is directly affected by emotional intelligence level of employees and perceived organizational support within the organizations. So that's why the present study focus on this problem and investigate the effect of emotional intelligence on employees job performance and this study also investigate the moderating relationship of perceived organizational support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance.
This study is focusing on the relationship between emotional intelligence, job performance and the moderating role of perceived organizational support. The research questions are as under 1. Does emotional intelligence effects on employee's job performance?
2. Does perceived organizational support moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance?
The present study aims at examining the effect of emotional intelligence on job performance, and furthermore, explores the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. Therefore this study contributes to the literature of emotional intelligence, job performance and also adds value in the literature of perceived organizational support as moderating variable. This is the first study in Pakistan which investigates the moderating role of POS in relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance in banking sector.
This study has multiple managerial applications firstly, this study will create awareness in managers about the emotional intelligence, and how EI effects on employees job performance. Secondly, this study helps the manager to understand the role of organizational support and how it effects on employees job performance. Gaining an insight into the emotional intelligence and perceived organizational support would help individuals in both capacities to increase productivity at individual level as well as at organizational level.
This study is consisting of five chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction and we describe the gap analysis, problem statement, research questions, research objectives and significance of the research. Chapter 2 is on literature review and we discuss all variables in detail to develop hypotheses. Chapter 3 discusses the research methodology. Chapter 4 is on data analysis and discussion, we analysed the data and discuss the result of data. Chapter 5 is on conclusion and we describe the major findings, limitations of the study and future directions.

Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is a relatively growing field of research, essential for many areas such as business and management. Peter Salovey and John Mayer first proposed their theory of EI in 1990. The most broadly accepted definition of EI is that presented by Salovey and Mayer [3], the scholars who coined the term EI. According to Mayer and Salovey [3] EI is "the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotions; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotions and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth." In accordance with Mayer and Salovey's [18] model, known as the ability model of EI, Wong and Law suggested that EI includes the following four components: self-emotion appraisal, others' emotion appraisal, regulation of emotion, and use of emotion [2,14]. The four branches of their model are: Self-emotional appraisal: Self-emotion appraisal is related to individual's ability to recognize their deep emotions and be able to express these emotions naturally. Individuals who have such type of ability they will sense and acknowledge their emotions well as compare to others.
Others emotional appraisal: Others emotional appraisal related to the individual's ability to understand and perceive the emotions of individuals around them. Individuals who have such type of ability they will be more sensitive to the emotions and feelings of others as well as try to reading their mind.

Regulation of emotion:
Regulation of emotions is related to individual's ability to regulate one's own emotions, so that they will be enable more rapid recovery from psychological distress.

Use of emotions:
Use of emotions is related to individual's ability to use their emotions by directing them toward productive activities and personal performance.
Empirical evidences from the last decade have demonstrated that EI contributes to explaining performance of team [17,19,20]. Furthermore, previous research has found that high EI improves outcomes on various measures relevant to the realms of work and career building, including transformational leadership, conflict resolution, political skill, job success and performance at job [19,[21][22][23].
habitually means the degree to which they help their organizations to achieve organizational strategic goals. Moorman et al. [24] defines job performance as the tasks that comprise standard job descriptions, and declares that it is affected by variables such as maintaining good interpersonal relations, absenteeism, and withdrawal behaviours, substance abuse and other behaviours that increase hazards at the workplace. Befort and Hattrup [25] indicate that the essence of job performance relies on the demands of the job, the goals and the mission of the organization and the beliefs of the organization about which behaviours are mostly valued. Carmeli [12] emphasized that employees with a high level of intelligence can manage their emotions in terms of retaining a positive mental state which can lead to improved job performance.

Emotional intelligence and job performance
Emotionally intelligent have strong control on their emotions and therefore they have more efficient and effective interaction with their work environment and with co-workers. The link between emotional intelligence and performance has been proposed in the past studies. Lam argued that emotional intelligence contributes to cognitive based performance based on student's sample. Wong and Law [2] found positive relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance when they studied workplace link.
Job performance should associate positively with employees' EI because employees with high EI should be more adept at appraising and regulating their own emotions that lead to a higher sense of confidence and control, resulting in increased motivation to take proactive actions that lead to high performance [2,14]. EI will have a more positive impact on job performance for employees with low EI than for employees with high EI. That is, employees with high EI should already be adept at appraising and regulating the emotions that contribute to job performance and require less managerial intervention; whereas, employees with low EI may be less adept at appraising and regulating their emotions. Many researchers argue that emotional intelligence can play a significance role in work place [2][3][4][5]14,[26][27][28]. On the basis of above discussion it is hypothesized that H1. Emotional intelligence is positively related to job performance.

Perceived organizational support
Under an increasingly competitive operating environment, it is essential for organizations to keep dedicated employees for their long term survival and development. In the field of organizational behavior, factors that foster employees' dedication and attachment to organizations have been extensively studied [29][30][31][32].
Eisenberger et al. [8] describe the perceived organizational support as "the extent to which the organization values their employees' contributions and cares about their well-being". A supportive organization is committed to its workers [33]. Eisenberger et al. [34] suggest that workers examine the discretionary actions of discretion to have done and then workers infer that they are being supported. They then seek to repay this favourable treatment and employees become more committed and harder-working [8]. In addition, it seems that if an organization gives an adequate training, resources, and support from management, it is more likely that members would both want their organization to succeed and be more capable of helping their organization succeed. Therefore, it appears likely that the extent to which the organization is perceived positively supporting is associated with the display of OCB directed toward the organization [9,35].
Through providing good treatment, the organization initiates employees' obligation and their effort on the jobs. The employer further rewards the employees who demonstrate the obligation to the organization [36,37]. Employees are able to perceive the organization's intentions, and their favourable perception is beneficial to employee attachment to the organization.
While this research provides strong evidence for the positive relationship between POS and performance, research has yet to examine the possible moderating effects of POS between the relationship of emotional intelligence and performance. Theoretically, perceived organizational support increases employees' perceptions that greater the effort put toward an organization's goals the higher the likelihood for rewards [8]. Additionally, researchers have suggested that POS "may be used by employees as an indicator of the organization's benevolent or malevolent intent in the expression of exchange of employee effort for reward and recognition" [15]. In other words, employees use POS as an assessment of whether the organization is willing to recompense the efforts made on its behalf [9].
Accordingly, perceived organizational support moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance because employees with high EI shows high performance but if high EI employees perceive low organizational support then their job performance level decreased and if high EI employees perceive high organizational support then their performance level increased. On the basis of above argument we proposed that; H2: Perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance, such that the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance is stronger/positive when POS is high (Figure 1).

Research design
Mainly it is a quantitative study. Basic purpose of this research is testing the hypothesis, researcher is explaining the variance in dependent variable (job performance) relative to independent variable (emotional intelligence), and moderating variable (perceived organizational support). The study intends to mark out the causes of emotional intelligence on job performance; hence it is a causal study, prepared in a natural environment. It is a field study, whereby individuals are the unit of analysis. Data gathered just once, over a period of weeks in order to answer a research question.
(population of Islamabad is having a different background because they belong to all over the Pakistan). We don't debate that the employees of that city totally characterize the sample of Pakistan, but we just describe a universal picture that how emotional intelligence level effects on employees job performance. We used the convenience sampling technique for data collection. The survey questionnaire was filled by respondent over the period of September to October 2014.
To maximize the rate of return and increase employees' trust on the study, the researcher personally distributed and collected the questionnaires. While doing so, the researcher give the assurance to employees that the data collected would be used for research purposes.
According to Rule-of-10'; 10 participants per item in the instrument being used makes a sufficient sample size [38,39]. Total number of items utilized in instrument were 30, by adding 16 items of Emotional intelligence adopted from [2,14], 8 items of perceived organizational support adapted from [34], and 6 items of job performance adopted by. Consistent with the rule-of-10 minimum sample size for this study was 300 (30 × 10).

Measures
All variables of the study measured through standard instruments developed and validated previously.
Emotional intelligence: All the participants are giving their response on sixteen item scale of emotional intelligence, and the scale was generated by Wong and Law [2]. Previous researches support the scale factor structure, convergent, internal consistency, and validity [2,14] and established the scale as a solid measure with sound validity and reliability. The WLIES specifically designed for organizational use [2,14] and found it was a better predictor of job performance. The WLIES include all the four dimensions of Mayer and Salovey's [18] ability model. And the sample question of EI is "I have a good sense of why I have certain feelings most of the time"? All the participants in current study giving their response on five point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Goleman [28] reported the value of Cronbach's Alpha of EI was (.78).
Perceived organizational Support: We used Eisenberger et al. [34] short version for the survey of perceived organizational support (POS) to assess the extent to which employees perceived that organization value their contribution and cared about their wellbeing. This version of POS contain 8 of the 36 items that loaded highly on the main POS factors reported in the scales source of article by Eisenberger et al. [8] and widely apply in the variety of organizations [34]. The sample of POS questionnaire is "The organization values my contribution to its well-being"? All the participants in current study giving their response on five point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Confirmatory factors analysis of the short version of POS indicated a unitary factor structure, and the items showed high internal reliability [34].
Job performance: Job performance of the employees was measured by using the scale of Day and Carroll [19] and this scale was modified by Settoon et al. [37]. All the participants in current study giving their response on five point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The sample of the JP questionnaire is "How do you rate yourself in terms of your performance potential among co-workers in your company"?

Data Analysis and Discussion
Three hundred (300) was the sample size of current study. 338 questionnaires were distributed among the employees working in both public and private sector banks operating in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Of these, 316 usable questionnaires were returned (rate of return is 94 percent).

Demographic results
All the result gathered from 316 respondents is presented in frequency table, along with their percentages and all demographics of this study are as follows

• Age
• Gender • Qualification Table 1 shows the result of respondents demographic; by which include Age, Gender and Education. Most of the respondents are below than 36 years (80%), 68% of respondents are male and 65 % respondents are having the degree of Master.

Correlation and descriptive statistic among study variables
Descriptive statistics: In descriptive statistic include mean, standard deviation, correlation and reliabilities of all variables of the study are presented in Table 2. The mean of emotional intelligence 3.85 (SD=0.554), the mean of perceived organizational support 3.56(SD=0.509) and the mean of job performance 3.72 (SD=0.575)

Bi-variate correlation analysis:
The bi-variate correlations of all variables are conducted and the results of correlation analysis, all variables are significantly correlated with each other. Perceived organizational support positively correlated with emotional intelligence (p<0.01, r=0.56). Job performance positively with emotional intelligence (p<0.01, r=0.707) and also found positive correlation between job performance and perceived organizational support (p<0.01, r=0.603). I was measured the reliability of each variable by using the Cronbach Alpha and the Cronbach Alpha of emotional intelligence (0.88), perceived organizational support (0.741) and job performance (0.760). The level of significant reliability is 0.70 which is recommended by Nunnally [40] and this level was also recommended by Ndubisi [21].

Regression analysis
Liner regression analysis were conducted to test the emotional  intelligence as a predictor on job performance, and perceived organizational support as a moderator in the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance.
Main effect regression analysis: Hypothesis predicts that Emotional intelligence (EI) is positively related to job performance (JP). And the result of that regression revealed that emotional intelligence is a predictor of job performance (p= .000 less than .05, β = .707). The valve of R 2 is .501 which means explained 50% variance in job performance. Hypothesis 1 was accepted because results were significant (Table 3).
Moderation with perceived organizational support: In order to test hypothesis 2 moderation regression analysis was performed. Perceived organizational support entered as a moderator in the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. Hypothesis 2 stated that perceived organizational support moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. To test this hypothesis dependent variable i.e., job performance (JP), independent variable i.e. emotional intelligence (E) and moderator variable i.e. perceived organizational support (POS) were cantered into their means.
In step 1 means of independent variable i.e. emotional intelligence (E), moderator variable i.e. perceived organizational support (POS) entered together. In step 2 interaction term (EPOS) of independent variable i.e. emotional intelligence (E) and moderator variable i.e., perceived organizational support (POS) entered, keeping job performance (JP) as dependent variable Hypothesis two stated that Perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance, such that the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance will be stronger/positive when POS is high. Results shows that perceived organizational support moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance because the interaction term is insignificant (P value=0.032<0.05). The result revealed that interaction term (.032) and R square change (0.006) are significant. And by adding interaction term (EPOS) the value of emotional intelligence (p value=0.000) and perceived organizational support (p value=0.000) are significant.
In step 2 by adding interaction term between emotional intelligence and job performance we found significantly more variance as compare to emotional intelligence and job performance themselves, change in R 2 =0.006, p=.032 indicating that there is a significant moderation between emotional intelligence and job performance in banking sector. So its means perceived organizational support (POS) moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence (E) and job performance (JP) in baking sector. And that's why hypothesis two was accepted (Table 4).

Major findings
The key objectives of present study were examining the role of emotional intelligence on employee's job performance and to analyse whether more emotionally intelligent people tend to show greater job performance. Second objective of the study was to examine whether perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. Hypotheses H1 & H2 were performed and both hypotheses found to be true • Emotional intelligence has a positive impact on job performance.
• Perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance, such that the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance will be stronger/positive when POS is high.
In present study the researchers investigate the effect of emotional intelligence on job performance and as well as investigate the moderating effect of perceived organizational support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. The result of present study revealed that employees with high level of emotional intelligence have higher level of job performance and these results are supporting the previous studies [2]. These results are suggesting that employees with higher level of emotional intelligence are more adept at using their emotions to facilitate their performance at job [1]. Employees with higher level of emotional intelligence more aware of how certain emotions influence their behaviour and their work performance at job. And high EI employees more adept to regulate their emotions in such a way that are associated with task requirements. For example employees with higher level of emotional intelligence are more expert   at regulating their emotions so they experience more confidence and control over work requirements at job.
Emotionally intelligent employees have different skills such as (conflict management strategies, adaptive performance, achievement motivation and organizational commitment) that are essential for success in existing workplace and all these skills from lower level of emotional intelligence employees with same level of experience and education [16]. Additional possible reasons for positive link between emotional intelligence and job performance may be that employees with high EI are more successful than low level EI employees at completing their cognitive tasks, creatively solving problems and interacting with other employees at work [41,42].
The results of present study revealed that there is significant relationship between perceived organizational support and job performance. This result is according to previous studies conducted on different areas [7,24,36,43]. Perceived organizational support moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance and the logic behind that is when employee with high level of emotional intelligence perceive that his/her organization giving him support than his/her performance level would increase and if the employees with high EI perceive low organizational support than their performance would decrease. The findings of present study stated that perceived organizational support moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance.
In general the findings of present study are consistent with the hypothesis set and based on the finding researcher give the suggestion that organization provide training related to emotional intelligence to their manager so that they can identify, regulate and use their own emotions and the emotions of other employees. The practical implications of present study is not just limited to improving emotional intelligence of employees but also focused on organizational support for employees so that employees performance will reached at maximum level. As stated earlier there is positive relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. Many studies have found a positive link between emotional intelligence and job performance [2,4,5].
The results of the present study reveals that managers should improve their employee's perceptions regarding their organizational support by giving them reward and appreciations after doing good job or successful achievement of tasks. And also mangers appreciate their employees by giving them intangible rewards. These findings study can contribute in the existing literature of emotional intelligence, job performance and perceived organizational support. Mostly emotional intelligence was studied in western culture because mostly studied have been done in western culture. The HR department of the organization must/should give training to their manger regarding emotional intelligence and organizational support on regular basis which can help in educating them easily identify the employee's emotions and use these emotions to achieve organizational goals. This training session can also help manager to give adequate support to their employees at job so that they perceive organization giving them support by giving them rewards after achieving tasks and goals [44][45][46][47][48][49].
On the basis of present study results emotional intelligence was significantly related to job performance, and perceived organizational support moderate in the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. The emotional intelligence of managers and employees can be improved by giving them training and coaching. While at the time of employees recruitment organization used emotional intelligence test so that they hire right man for right job at right time.
The results of present study shows there was a significant impact of emotional intelligence on employees job performance and thus organization pay attentions on giving training to their managers as well as employees on how they can improve their emotional intelligence. So that they are able to identify their own emotions, identify the emotions of other, regulate his/her emotions and also regulate emotions of others, use of his/her emotions and use others emotions for the achievement of organizational goals.

Limitations of the study
Findings of the present study are based on cross sectional data; if collected longitudinal data than more variance could be observed. As there is always room for development, this study comprises the views regarding impact of emotional intelligence on employee's job performance by utilizing convenience sampling, analyzing this view from short sample size and conducted in capital city of Pakistan Islamabad. Surveys were distributed and filled mainly from employees of different banks in Islamabad. Thus a more comprehensive study needs to be examined with more generalizability by increasing sample size. Study was conducted only one industry (Banking). More industries should have studies and compared to each other as to investigate whether the different industries have any impact on employee's job performance and what kind of impact emotional intelligence has on employee's job performance.

Future directions
The findings of present study reveals that there is positive relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance and also perceived organizational support moderate the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance, such that the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance more stronger/positive when POS is high. However there can be other possible factors which can be studied and investigate as future research such as organizational politics.
Present study was conducted by using quantitative approach. Data were collected through questionnaire survey using convenience sampling from banking industry at Islamabad. Therefore in future its recommended data will collected through qualitative approach such as interviews which can help and provide details of relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance in depth. Similar research design will be implemented in other cities and with different types of industries as a future research in order to test whether the finding obtained are general and consistent across different samples.
The present study investigates the moderating role of perceived organizational support in the relationship between emotional intelligence and employee's job performance. But still there is a gap which needs to fulfil such as emotional intelligence, job performance, task performance and organizational politics with moderating role of perceived organizational support. The researcher hopes this study will make a good contribution in the existing literature and knowledge and provide some useful recommendations for Pakistan banking industry.