The Impact of Emotional Intelligence in C-Suite Executives on Employee Motivation and Voluntary Turnover in Medium-Sized Healthcare Organizations in the United States

Author

• Pujan DesaiFollow

Completion Date

Spring 4-11-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Program or Discipline Name

Project Management

First Advisor

Tedd A Wheeler

Abstract

This quantitative study sought to determine whether emotionally intelligent behaviors exhibited by C-suite executives in medium-sized US healthcare businesses were linked to increased employee motivation and decreased retention related outcomes rates. Employee burnout, staffing shortages, and workforce instability were just a few of the persistent issues facing healthcare businesses that highlighted how crucial good executive leadership was to be fostering organizational sustainability. Few empirical studies had examined emotional intelligence's influence at the C-suite level in healthcare organizations, even though it was widely acknowledged as a crucial component of good leadership. Research on the function of executive emotional intelligence and how it related to voluntary turnover and employee motivation was still in its infancy. Goleman's emotional intelligence theory, which highlighted self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills as crucial leadership qualities, served as the foundation for this study. For the study, the use of the cross-sectional correlational quantitative research design was applied. Emotional intelligence of the executives was measured by the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale while the employee motivation was measured by the Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale. The absence of analyzable archival data on turnover led to conducting the study of the outcomes related to turnover using measures of retention in the survey. Relations between the study variables were analyzed based on the application of the descriptive, correlation and regression analyses

Recommended Citation

Desai, P. (2026). The Impact of Emotional Intelligence in C-Suite Executives on Employee Motivation and Voluntary Turnover in Medium-Sized Healthcare Organizations in the United States. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.harrisburgu.edu/dandt/97