| This is a qualitative exploratory study about use of emotional intelligence by hotel managers for a more successful leadership. The research question for the study was: How hotel managers use emotional intelligence to lead their front-line customer service staff? This study is about leading hotel employees, first line customer services staff, using emotional intelligence skills. Hospitality industry has critical issue with employee retention which has direct effect on productivity and bottom line. For that reason, it is essential to retain competent employees given the excessive employee turnover rates in the industry (Karatepe & Kaviti, 2016; Jeon, 2016). Research includes open ended interviews, 12 interview questions and 10 hotel managers). Using NVivo 11 software to analyze the data collected from audio recorded transcribed interviews (approximately 120 pages of single-spaced transcriptions). Three major themes emerged from data analysis to indicate how hotel managers use EI to lead their front-line customer services staff, including relationship management, self-management, and social awareness. |
