Abstract
Background: Healthcare organisations, such as hospitals, are largely seen as task-oriented, width different people expected to work in interdependent teams. The objective of this study was to investigate the relevance of individual factors (job satisfaction) and individual competences (emotional competence) for organisational commitment in a sample of healthcare professionals.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 96 healthcare professionals from March to June 2018 in the catchment area of five clinics in Bavaria, Germany. The present research examined the moderating role of emotional competence on the relationship between job satisfaction and organisational commitment using moderated regression analysis and simple slope analysis.
Results: Multiple regression analysis indicated that emotional competence moderated the relationship between satisfaction with the job and commitment to the job. The results showed that healthcare professionals with high emotional competence are able to deal more effectively with dissatisfaction in the workplace so that organisational commitment remains unaffected.
Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study emotional competence of healthcare professionals is important for increasing job satisfaction and commitment to the job. Especially for healthcare professionals whose job satisfaction is low, a high level of emotional competence enables them to maintain a high level of organisational commitment. The findings of the study are discussed at the theoretical level for researchers and practical level for hospital managers interested in fostering emotional competence and improving healthcare professionals’ job satisfaction and their organisational commitment, which ultimately may lead to effective performance.
Background
Prior research findings showed that competent, satisfied and committed employees performed effectively in several domains [1–3]. Among other competences, there is an increasing interest to understand the role of emotional competence (EC) as another significant competence at the workplace [4, 5]. Previous research related to the importance of EC by health professionals as crucial competence which seems to promote adaptive reactions in emotionally charged situations [6]. Mintz and Stoller’s [7] systematic review documents that health professionals need to be able to regulate their own emotions and those of others. Research studies highlighted the impact of EC on job satisfaction [1, 6, 8– 10] or on organisational commitment [1, 6, 10]. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the moderating effect of EC on the relationship between job satisfaction and organisational commitment.
Conclusions
Moreover, hospital managers must consider the EC of employees when they assign jobs that require organisational commitment in accordance with person-job fit or person–task fit, which is an important human resource practice [73]. Drawing on the evidence established in this study, it can be concluded that healthcare professional’s scores on EC tend to be correlated with their scores on job satisfaction and organisational commitment. This study proves the Nightingale et al. [74] findings that EC has begun to influence healthcare professionals and is a crucial component of medical education [4, 5]. We suggest improving medical education training and programs by helping healthcare professionals to develop emotional abilities in ways that help them to focus on their needs as well as on patients’ needs. Further studies are required to expand the burgeoning evidence base on the relationship between EC and other work-related variables among healthcare professionals. Finally, examining how job satisfaction and EC jointly affect healthcare professional’s outcomes beyond organisational commitment, including patient interaction and trust as well as career success, is also an interesting research direction.
