The Impact Of Emotional Intelligence Of Leaders On Staff Morale At The Technical And Vocational Education And Training Sector (TVET) In The Free State Province

Abstract

A plethora of documentary evidence continues to posit that effective leaders guide and facilitate work to accomplish tasks and objectives, while at the same time maintaining cooperative relationships and teamwork. The contention of this study is that an effective leader is not someone who merely uses a mix of task and relations behaviour, but rather someone who selects specific forms of behaviour that simultaneously reflect a concern for both task and people. Thus, the emotional state of any leader becomes a key focal point. A leader who is able to intelligently take charge of their emotions is able to get the best out of their subordinates and consequently, improve morale and organisational performance. The key focus of this study was to explore the impact of TVET College leaders’ emotional intelligence (EI) on staff morale (i.e. teaching and non-teaching staff) amidst numerous transformational challenges this sector had to undergo in the post-democratic dispensation in South Africa. The study followed a positivist paradigm, that is, a quantitative research approach. The adopted methodology allowed the researcher to utilise obtained data to explore and examine the relationship between variables and provide responses to the research questions and objectives. A descriptive and correlation research design was adopted, which focused on describing the variables and examining the relationship between the variables. A sample of N = 188 from the TVET sector in the Free State was obtained. A semi-structured questionnaire was used in this study to randomly collect data from the teaching and non-teaching staff members of four (4) TVET colleges in the Free State Province, for the purpose of determining the impact of a leader/manager’s emotional intelligence (EI) of college leaders on staff morale. A response rate of 47% was achieved. Cronbach Alpha was used to test the reliability and validity of the measuring instrument, while Pearson correlations coefficient was used to determine the relationship between variables. The findings from the multiple regression analysis showed that there are significantly positive relationships between a leader’s EI and individual factors, such as job satisfaction; inclination towards teamwork; perceived organisational commitment; fostering task-oriented behaviours among subordinates; and staff morale (i.e. teaching and non-teaching staff) of the TVET college sector in the FS Province. The research further investigated the relationship between demographic variables and the six constructs of this study. The results of this relationship revealed that position or occupation significantly affects all six constructs under study followed by qualification which affects five, with race significantly impacting on affecting (cf. Table 7). Despite this study’s contribution to the body of knowledge, specifically within the discourse around this topical issue namely, a leader’s EI on staff morale, the study further impresses upon management of the TVET sector, especially HR policy makers to draw lessons from the findings of this study to inform and develop attributes required for anyone aspiring to be a leader for the purpose of enhancing staff morale, productivity, efficiency and fostering healthy working relationship in the workplace.