This study examines the impact of emotional intelligence (EI) and employee motivation on employee performance within the telecommunication industry in the Sultanate of Oman. The target population consisted of 4344 non-managerial employees across nine telecommunication companies, including Omantel, Ooredoo, Vodafone, Oman Broadband Company, Awasr Oman & Co, TEO, Oman Tower Company L.L.C, Helios Tower, and Connect Arabia International. Employing a deductive research approach, finally data were collected via an online survey from 354 respondents. The hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that all dimensions of EI self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills positively and significantly influence employee performance, with social skills having the strongest effect. Furthermore, both intrinsic motivation factors, such as work itself and career development, and extrinsic motivation factors, including wages, rewards, working environment, and co-worker relationships, significantly enhance employee performance. The interaction between EI and employee motivation was found to amplify these positive effects. Among control variables, age and education level showed significant impacts, while gender did not. These findings underscore the critical role of both emotional intelligence and motivation in driving employee performance. The study suggests that managers and policymakers should adopt integrated strategies that develop EI competencies and enhance motivational factors to optimize employee performance, thereby contributing to the success of organizations in the telecommunication sector.

Adekola, B. (2011). Career planning and career management as correlates for career development and job satisfaction. A case study of Nigerian Bank Employees. Australian Journal of business and management research, 1(2), 100-112.

Al Bahri, A. A. S. K. (2022). Relationship between leadership role and employees’productivity with the motivation as the mediator in oman water sector [PhD thesis]. Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia.

Al Balushi, A. (2012). Leadership of private universities and colleges in the Sultanate of Oman [PhD thesis]. University of Southampton.

Al Darmaki, S. J., Omar, R., & Malaysia, U. (2020). Moderating the Relationship Between Work Life Balance and Employee Innovative Work Behaviour in the Context of EPC Companies in the Sultanate of Oman. London Journal of Research in Management and Business, 20(4), 1-13.

Al Marshoudi, F. B., & Jamaluddin, Dr. Z. (2023). The Mediating Effect of Leadership Style in Relationship of Employee Motivation towards Employee Performance for Production Media in Oman. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Analysis, 06(04). https://doi.org/10.47191/ijmra/v6-i4-10

Al Marshoudi, F. B., Jamaluddin, Z., & Al Balushi, F. I. (2023). Transformational leadership mediates the relationship between employee engagement and performance in production media. International Journal of Management Thinking, 1(2), 84-106. https://doi.org/10.56868/ijmt.v1i2.25

Al Zefeiti, S. M. B., & Mohamad, N. A. (2017). The Influence of organizational commitment on Omani public employees’ work performance. International Review of Management and Marketing, 7(2), 151-160.

Al-Araimi, M. F. (2012). The relationship between the full range of leadership styles and employees’ creative performance in Civil Service organizations: a field study of Omani Civil Service managers [PhD thesis]. University of Manchester.

Al-Busaidi, Z. A. H., Alias, R. B., & Alam, M. N. (2021). The influence of human resource management practices on employee performance at private companies in Oman: Moderating role of organizational politics. Review of International Geographical Education, 11(12), 1667-1683.

Al-Haziazi, M., & Hussainy, S. S. (2023). A Study of Employees’ Emotional Intelligence and Its Impact on Work–Life Balance and Work Performance in the Telecom, Banking, and Insurance Sector of Oman. Remittances Review, 8(4), 1946-1963.

Al-Maamari, H. M., & Matriano, M. (2019). A Critical Investigation on the Impact of Employee’s Engagement on Employee’s Productivity at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry-Oman. Journal of Student Research, 14(1), 1-19.

Al-Yaqoobi, T. H. S. (2020). Exploring the Influence of Transformational Leadership Style on Knowledge Workers’ Performance: The Case of Oman [PhD thesis]. Brunel University London.

Ansari, M. S. A., Farooqui, J. A., & Gattoufi, S. M. (2018). Emotional Intelligence and Extended Service Profit Chain in Telecom Industry in Oman—An Empirical Validation. International Business Research, 11(3), 133-148.

Ansari, M. S. A., Farooquie, J. A., & Gattoufi, S. M. (2016). Does emotional intelligence influence employees, customers and operational efficiency? An empirical validation. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 8(6), 77-88.

Aqqad, N., Obeidat, B., Tarhini, A., et al. (2019). The relationship among emotional intelligence, conflict management styles, and job performance in Jordanian banks. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 19(3), 225-265.

Asif, M., Idrees, M., Ghazal, S., et al. (2022). Relationship of emotional intelligence and life satisfaction: Mediating role of affectivity in medical students. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, 23(2), 1-8.

Aziz, M. F., & Hamdi, S. S. (2019). Does Emotional Intelligence Predict Charisma in the Leaders. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 7(7), 244-255.

Barling, J., Slater, F., & Kelloway, E. K. (2000). Transformational leadership and emotional intelligence: An exploratory study. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 21(3), 157-161.

Bar-On, R. (2006). The Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI)1. Psicothema, 18, 13–25.

Brotheridge, C. M., & Lee, R. T. (2003). Development and validation of the emotional labour scale. Journal of occupational and Organizational Psychology, 76(3), 365-379. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317903769647229

Côté, S., & Miners, C. T. (2006). Emotional intelligence, cognitive intelligence, and job performance. Administrative science quarterly, 51(1), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.51.1.1

Darazi, M. A., Khoso, A. K., & Mahesar, K. A. (2023). Investigating The Effects of ESL Teachers’ feedback On ESL Undergraduate Students’ level of Motivation, Academic Performance, And Satisfaction: Mediating Role of Students’ motivation. Pakistan Journal of Educational Research, 6(2), 342-364. https://doi.org/10.52337/pjer.v6i2.807

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7

Gagné, M., & Deci, E. L. (2005). Self-determination theory and work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26(4), 331-362. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.322

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The motivation to work, 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons.

Hofstede, G. H. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations, 2nd ed. Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(02)00184-5

Judge, T. A., Thoresen, C. J., Bono, J. E., et al. (2001). The job satisfaction–job performance relationship: A qualitative and quantitative review. Psychological bulletin, 127(3), 376-407. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.3.376

Kafetsios, K., & Zampetakis, L. A. (2008). Emotional intelligence and job satisfaction: Testing the mediatory role of positive and negative affect at work. Personality and individual differences, 44(3), 712-722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.10.004

Khoso, A. K., Darazi, M. A., Mahesar, K. A., et al. (2022). The impact of ESL teachers’ emotional intelligence on ESL Students academic engagement, reading and writing proficiency: mediating role of ESL students’ motivation. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 14(1), 3267-3280.

Khoso, A. K., Khurram, S., & Chachar, Z. A. (2024). Exploring the Effects of Embeddedness-Emanation Feminist Identity on Language Learning Anxiety: A Case Study of Female English as A Foreign Language (EFL) Learners in Higher Education Institutions of Karachi. International Journal of Contemporary Issues in Social Sciences, 3(1), 1277-1290.

Law, K. S., Wong, C.-S., & Song, L. J. (2004). The Construct and Criterion Validity of Emotional Intelligence and Its Potential Utility for Management Studies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(3), 483–496. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.3.483

Lee, X., Yang, B., & Li, W. (2017). The influence factors of job satisfaction and its relationship with turnover intention: Taking early-career employees as an example. Anales de Psicología/Annals of Psychology, 33(3), 697-707. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.33.3.238551

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.57.9.705

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2004). What should we do about motivation theory? Six recommendations for the twenty-first century. Academy of management review, 29(3), 388-403. https://doi.org/10.2307/20159050

Lopes, P. N., Côté, S., & Salovey, P. (2006). An Ability Model of Emotional Intelligence: Implications for Assessment and Training. In: Druskat, V. U., Sala, F., & Mount, G. (editors). Linking emotional intelligence and performance at work: Current research evidence with individuals and groups. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. pp. 53–80.

Luthans, F., & Stajkovic, A. D. (1999). Reinforce for performance: The need to go beyond pay and even rewards. Academy of Management Perspectives, 13(2), 49-57. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1999.1899548

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346

Mayer, J. D., Roberts, R. D., & Barsade, S. G. (2008). Human abilities: Emotional intelligence. Annual Review of Psychology, 59(1), 507-536. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093646

Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2004). TARGET ARTICLES:” emotional intelligence: Theory, findings, and Implications”. Psychological inquiry, 15(3), 197-215.

Porkodi, S., Al Balushi, S. S. K., Al Balushi, M. K. M., et al. (2023). Digital employee experience and organizational performance: a study of the telecommunications sector in Oman. Business, Management and Economics Engineering, 21(2), 248-268. https://doi.org/10.3846/bmee.2023.19498

Porter, L. W., & Lawler, E. E. III. (1968). Managerial attitudes and performance. R.D. Irwin.

Rich, B. L., Lepine, J. A., & Crawford, E. R. (2010). Job engagement: Antecedents and effects on job performance. Academy of management journal, 53(3), 617-635. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.51468988

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020

Saadouli, N., & Al-Khanbashi, M. (2021). Evaluation of factors affecting employee performance: The case of government employees in Oman. Management Science Letters, 11(5), 1443-1450. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2021.1.004

Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, cognition and personality, 9(3), 185-211. https://doi.org/10.2190/dugg-p24e-52wk-6cdg

Sawant, K., & Pise, A. (2021). The impact of high-performance work systems on service quality in the telecom industry of oman. Polish Journal of Management Studies, 24(1), 337-353. https://doi.org/10.17512/pjms.2021.24.1.20

Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Hall, L. E., et al. (1998). Development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personality and individual differences, 25(2), 167-177.

Singh, S. (2004). Development of a measure of emotional intelligence. Psychological Studies-University of Calicut, 49(2-3), 136-141.

Smith, P., Farmer, M., & Yellowley, W. (2012). Organizational Behaviour, 1st ed. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203765326

Sy, T., Tram, S., & O’Hara, L. A. (2006). Relation of employee and manager emotional intelligence to job satisfaction and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(3), 461–473. https://doi.org/10.17512/pjms.2021.24.1.20

Thomas, D. C., & Inkson, K. (2009). Cultural intelligence: Surviving and thriving in the global village, 3rd ed. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Van den Broeck, A., Vansteenkiste, M., De Witte, H., et al. (2010). Capturing autonomy, competence, and relatedness at work: Construction and initial validation of the Work‐related Basic Need Satisfaction scale. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 83(4), 981-1002. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317909x481382

Van Rooy, D. L., & Viswesvaran, C. (2004). Emotional intelligence: A meta-analytic investigation of predictive validity and nomological net. Journal of vocational Behavior, 65(1), 71-95.

Wong, C. S., Foo, M. D., Wang, C. W., et al. (2007). The feasibility of training and development of EI: An exploratory study in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Intelligence, 35(2), 141-150.

Wong, C.-S., & Law, K. S. (2003). The effects of leader and follower emotional intelligence on performance and attitude: An exploratory study. In Hooper, A. (editor). Leadership perspectives, 1st ed. Routledge.

Zeidner, M., Matthews, G., & Roberts, R. D. (2004). Emotional intelligence in the workplace: A critical review. Applied psychology, 53(3), 371-399. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2004.00176.x