Influence of Emotional and Social Intelligence on Employee Retention in Malaysia's ICT Sector: The Mediating Role of Employee Engagement

Organizations need to reconsider their work after the pandemic considering new working practices and other disruptions. Talent retention and employee engagement have been elevated to the top of leaders' and HR managers' priorities. There is a dearth of studies that examined the effect of emotional (EI) and social intelligence on employee engagement and retention. This study looked at the impact of social and emotional intelligence on employee engagement and retention in the ICT industry. This study also examined the mediating role of employee engagement. This quantitative study gathered data from 170 employees in Malaysia's ICT industry via a self-administered questionnaire and the convenience sampling method. SmartPls and SPSS were utilized to analyze the data and display the findings. The findings demonstrated that employee engagement was significantly impacted by social and emotional intelligence (EI). EI strongly influenced employee engagement. The best indicator of employee retention was employee engagement. Employee engagement was a full mediator between EI and retention. Employee engagement was also a full mediator between social intelligence and retention. The findings imply that organizational leaders and HR managers should concentrate on increasing retention through employee engagement. EI and social intelligence can increase employee engagement. Employee engagement is the key to retaining and keeping employees on board. The study's findings shed new light on the critical role that emotional intelligence (EI) and Social Intelligence play in raising engagement levels and the enormous impact that employee engagement has on retention.