The Impact of Social and Emotional Intelligence on Employee Motivation in a Multigenerational Workplace

Abstract

In today's globally competitive corporate environment, effective employee motivation is essential to the success of any organization. The classical perspective of management was essentially analytical and rational, and employee's emotions were not considered. Nonetheless, it is crucial for organizations to recognize that employee motivation goes beyond the usual monetary reward systems for a multigenerational workforce. In motivating today's human capital, organizations have to engage their minds and captiveate their hearts, which can be achieved by incorporating social and emotional intelligence. Social and emotional intelligence equip managers with skills to turn challenges of generational differences into positives. These skills assist managers attend to individual employee needs irrespective of their generation. Socially and emotionally intelligent managers enable their organizations to offer an environment that motivates and develops employees despite the generational differences in the workplace. This study discusses the implications of emotional and social intelligences by outlining how these skills can enable organization to cultivate cultures that enhance employee motivation.