The influence of leaders' personality types and emotional intelligence on retention factors

Abstract

The objectives of the study were: (1) to determine whether staff and leaders differ significantly in terms of their perceptions of leaders’ emotional intelligence and retention factors; (2) to investigate the relationship between personality types (as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), emotional intelligence (as measured by the Emotional Competency Profiler), and retention factors (as measured by the Retention Factor Scale); and (3) to determine whether demographical groups differ significantly in terms of the retention factor variables. A non-probability purposive sample of 160 working adults from an organisation within the asset management industry participated in the study. The research findings indicated that there is a difference in terms of leaders’ and staff’s perceptions of leaders’ emotional intelligence and retention factors. There is a relationship between leaders’ personality types, emotional intelligence and retention factors. Biographical groups (gender, race and age groups, and business units) differed in terms of the retention factors. The findings contributed valuable new knowledge that may be used for organisational retention practices.