MENTORING AND EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT: THE MODERATING ROLE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN PAINT MANUFACTURING COMPANIES IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

This work examined mentoring and employee commitment, the moderating role of emotional intelligence in paint manufacturing firms in Rivers State. The objective of the study was to examine the extent to which dimensions of mentoring such as career support, psychological support and knowledge sharing affects measures of employee commitment such as affective commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment. The study adopted the explanatory cross sectional survey research design.
A sample size 248 was drawn from a population of 700 staff of 19 paint manufacturing firms in Rivers State. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained using Cronbach alpha. After validation by the supervisor, 248 copies of structured questionnaire were administered while 240 copies were retrieved. Mean and standard deviation were used for the univariate analysis, Spearman Rank Order Correlation was used for the bivariate analysis while Partial Correlation was used for the multivariate analysis. The following findings were made: there is a significant positive relationship between career support and employee commitment It was also found that individual emotional intelligence significantly moderates the relationship between mentoring and employee commitment.
The study concluded that mentoring is a major motivational tool that enhances employee commitment in paint manufacturing firms in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study recommended more deliberate effort on the part of managers and senior staff to strengthen mentoring relationships so as to promote employee commitment in paint manufacturing firms in Rivers State, Nigeria.