Robert Kerr

Managers who are good at reading the emotional state of employees get the best results from their workers, according to research conducted by a University of Ulster academic.

Robert Kerr, who graduated with a PhD in Business and Management at the winter graduations at Jordanstown today carried out an in-depth study of 68 managers at three major Northern Ireland companies – BT, Montupet and Stream International.

He study was aimed a gauging the impact of emotional intelligence on operator performance.

He then asked more than 1,200 employees at the companies to rate their managers.

Robert (29), from Omagh, found that those managers who were best able to read the emotional expressions of staff rated highest.

He said: “Some people might argue that employees rated those managers highest because they thought they were a soft touch, but the evidence does not sustain that argument. Instead I found that staff working under those managers were more effective and better at their jobs and there was least absenteeism in those departments.”

He added: “It appears that soft skills such as emotional intelligence are key for managerial effectiveness. I used an established test, although this was the first time it had been applied in a managerial context.”

He suggested that HR departments should incorporate the test in its selection process when screening for new managers or in devising training and development processes. “Currently they do not have a valid test to gauge a candidate’s soft skills”.

Since completing his PhD course, Robert has gained a post as a lecturer in Organisational Behaviour in the University’s School of Business Organisation and Management.

Winter Graduation News 2005

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David Young
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