A

PROJECT REPORT

ON

" A STUDY OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AMONG BPO EMPLOYEES"

SUBMITTED TO

SAVITRI BAI PHULE UNIVERSITY, PUNE

In Partial fulfilment of the degree in M.com

SUBMITTED BY

MISS. SARAH DINESH SHRISUNDER

GUIDED BY

Dr. Shette Sir

SUBMITTED THROUGH

St. Vincent College of Commerce

2022-2023
 DECLARATION

It is hereby declare that, the Project Report work is written by me and the work done of
conclusions as well as suggestions, in this project work has not been submitted by any student for
any other award of degree in this or any other university.

Date : Signature of candidate

Place : Pune (Miss Sarah Dinesh

Shrisunder)
 Acknowledgement

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my assistance manager

"Sir Moben Shaikh", my office colleague 'Miss Nikita Nikale" and my family members for their able
guidance and support in completing my Project. I am glad that they helped me like their good
friend by guiding me with their invaluable support, advice and love which helped me to do this
project with the given time frame.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to my teacher “Franklin Sir and "Dr. Shette Sir"
for providing me with all the facility that was required, who gave me a golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project on the topic, “Study of emotional intelligence among BPO employees”. Which
helped me to learn a lot in the research and course of completion of this project.
 Date : Signature of candidate

Place : Pune (Miss Sarah Dinesh

Shrisunder)

INDEX

Chapter Topic Name Page

No No

1 Introduction of Research Methodology

1.1 Introduction 1-2

1.2 Statement of problem 3 -7

1.3 Selection of subject 8

1.4 Objective of study 9-13

1.5 Limitation of study 14

2 Research knowledge

2.1 Data analysis 15-17

2.2 Bibliography 18

2.3 Finding 19

2.4 Conclusion 20

2.5 Suggestions 21

2.6 Interpretation 22
 CHAPTER NO: 01

INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 Topic No.1

Introduction and Research Methodology

1.1 Introduction

The world’s economy, which becomes more complex with the massive influx of information and
new technologies, now makes working conditions more

Challenging and competitive. There is no doubt that somebody should have a relatively good IQ to
succeed at work, but many people do not know how well their EI will perform. The Emotional
Intelligence (EI) of an individual is closely related to the work performance of an employee.

Employee performance positivity requires self-consciousness, self-control, relationship

management, and social awareness. EI is closely involved within the organization from the
recruiting stage to the promotion stage. In 1990 the concept was defined as intelligence in their key
paper. Emotionally intelligent companies can draw on their workers ‘strengths to solve problems
more effectively. Managers and employees need to collaborate to affect others positively and need
to find faster and creative ways of performing tasks. Therefore, if emotions are carefully managed,
confidence, loyalty, and dedication can be guided.

Creativity and performance can also be improved within the individual team and in the
organizational environment. In order to ensure the success of an
Employee’s EI, the idea of a competitive business advantage should be nurtured and embraced by
all levels of workers. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the most powerful indicator of personal success
and organizational efficiency. EI is a human behavioural aspect, which can be considerably
improved. A person who is

Emotionally intelligent accepts, behaves consistently with a high level of emotional intelligence
know what they feel and affect their emotions.

Such Emotional understanding is essential to good leadership. Emotionally intelligent

decision-making makers can decide their effective role in the decision process through
self-awareness and their representative powers in objective self-assessment and self-confidence.

Why the emotional intelligence is important?

Research and the day to day working strategy of a business company where a employee is offered
or hired for a job it shows that people with high emotional intelligence have more job success,
better relationships, better leadership skills and are happier than those with low emotional
intelligence. Organizations are starting to worry about how they can further develop their workforce
and recruit high-quality people. Emotional intelligence (EQ) can be produced as compared to the
stable IQ.

Emotional intelligence can lead us to a happy and fulfilled lives by providing a sense in which
intelligence concepts can be applied to emotional responses and how such responses are
compatible or incompatible with specific emotional beliefs. The research community supports
people (from staff members to managers) as their workplace grows with higher IT skills to work
together more.

Many studies show that the impact of emotional intelligence on corporate efficiency is significant,
helps direct the workplace’s social intricacies, leads and motivates others, and shines out in the
profession. It also affects physical health through the management of stress levels which can lead
to serious health problems if left uncontrolled.
 1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

People who fail to use their emotional intelligence skills are more likely to turn to other, less
effective means of managing their mood.

They are twice as likely to experience anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and even thoughts of
suicide

1. You get stressed easily

When you stuff your feelings, they quickly build into the uncomfortable sensations of tension,
stress, and anxiety. Unaddressed emotions strain the mind and body. Your emotional
intelligence skills help make stress more manageable by enabling you to spot and tackle
tough situations before things escalate.

People who fail to use their emotional intelligence skills are more likely to turn to other, less
effective means of managing their mood. They are twice as likely to experience anxiety,
depression, substance abuse, and even thoughts of suicide.
 2. You have difficulty asserting yourself

People with high EQs balance good manners, empathy, and kindness with the ability to assert
themselves and establish boundaries. This tactful combination is ideal for handling conflict.
When most people are crossed, they default to passive or aggressive behaviour. Emotionally
intelligent people remain balanced and assertive by steering themselves away from unfiltered
emotional reactions. This enables them to neutralize difficult and toxic people without
creating enemies.

3.You have a limited emotional vocabulary

All people experience emotions, but it is a select few who can accurately identify them as they
occur. Our research shows that only 36% of people can do this, which is problematic because
unlabelled emotions often go misunderstood, which leads to irrational choices and
counterproductive actions. People with high EQs master their emotions because they
understand them, and they use an extensive vocabulary of feelings to do so. While many
people might describe themselves as simply feeling “bad,” emotionally intelligent people can
pinpoint whether they feel “irritable,” “frustrated,” “downtrodden,” or “anxious.” The more
specific your word choice, the better insight you have into exactly how you are feeling, what
caused it, and what you should do about it.

4. You make assumptions quickly and defend them vehemently

People who lack EQ form an opinion quickly and then succumb to confirmation bias, meaning
they gather evidence that supports their opinion and ignore any evidence to the contrary. More
often than not, they argue, ad nauseam, to support it. This is especially dangerous for leaders,
as their under-thought-out ideas become the entire team’s strategy. Emotionally intelligent
people let their thoughts marinate, because they know that initial reactions are driven by
emotions. They give their thoughts time to develop and consider the possible consequences
and counter-arguments. Then, they communicate their developed idea in the most effective
way possible, taking into account the needs and opinions of their audience.

5. You hold grudges

The negative emotions that come with holding on to a grudge are actually a stress response.
Just thinking about the event sends your body into fight-or-flight mode, a survival mechanism
that forces you to stand up and fight or run for the hills when faced with a threat. When a
threat is imminent, this reaction is essential to your survival, but when a threat is ancient
history, holding on to that stress wreaks havoc on your body and can have devastating health
consequences over time. In fact, researchers at Emory University have shown that holding on
to stress contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease. Holding on to a grudge means
you’re holding on to stress, and emotionally intelligent people know to avoid this at all costs.
Letting go of a grudge not only makes you feel better now but can also improve your health.

6. You don’t let go of mistakes

Emotionally intelligent people distance themselves from their mistakes, but they do so without
forgetting them. By keeping their mistakes at a safe distance, yet still handy enough to refer to,
they are able to adapt and adjust for future success. It takes refined self-awareness to walk
this tightrope between dwelling and remembering. Dwelling too long on your mistakes makes
you anxious and gun shy, while forgetting about them completely makes you bound to repeat
them. The key to balance lies in your ability to transform failures into nuggets of improvement.
This creates the tendency to get right back up every time you fall down.

7. You often feel misunderstood

When you lack emotional intelligence, it’s hard to understand how you come across to others.
You feel misunderstood because you don’t deliver your message in a way that people can
understand. Even with practice, emotionally intelligent people know that they don’t
communicate every idea perfectly. They catch on when people don’t understand what they are
saying, adjust their approach, and re-communicate their idea in a way that can be understood.
 8. You don’t know your triggers

Everyone has triggers—situations and people that push their buttons and cause them to act
impulsively. Emotionally intelligent people study their triggers and use this knowledge to
sidestep situations and people before they get the best of them.

9. You don’t get angry

Emotional intelligence is not about being nice; it’s about managing your emotions to achieve
the best possible outcomes. Sometimes this means showing people that you’re upset, sad, or
frustrated. Constantly masking your emotions with happiness and positivity isn’t genuine or
productive. Emotionally intelligent people employ negative and positive emotions intentionally
in the appropriate situations.

10. You blame other people for how they make you feel

Emotions come from within. It’s tempting to attribute how you feel to the actions of others,
but must take responsibility for your emotions. No one can make you feel anything that
you don’t want to. Thinking otherwise only holds you back.

11. You’re easily offended

If you have a firm grasp of who you are, it’s difficult for someone to say or do something that
gets your goat. Emotionally intelligent people are self-confident and open-minded, which
create a pretty thick skin. You may even poke fun at yourself or let other people make jokes
about you because you are able to mentally draw the line between humour and degradation.
 Selection of the subject

This topic is selected by me as its important to understand that Emotional intelligence in employs
could help us to understand the most important aspects which are fruitful, beneficial and profitable
in any business organisation, so that if we think and decide to start business processing
outsourcing opportunity which would be a good start up for us by working for a industry/
organisation offering the business overseas for example the Multinational Companies. By which
the business organisation will lead to a future growth and development and many challenges can
be avoided and taken care of. And this study has the ability to identify and regulate the employee’s
emotions and understand the emotions the others.

This research concludes that a high EQ helps you to build relationships, reduce team stress, defuse
conflict and improve job satisfaction.

Below are some purpose and importance to study the emotional intelligence in/among employees:
To find reasons for the Employees to Move to the Next Level

Emotional intelligence study teaches the level among the employees to develop leadership skills
and characteristics executives.

For example: 1.Being calm in a crisis

2. Dealing well with upset customers and employees

3. Exemplifying self-control

4. Approaching problems methodically

Objectives and Scope of the subject

The objective to study this topic is to understand in what ways this study can help us to gain
knowledge about dealing with the employees and how the employees working in a BPO sector
should be portrayed and this subject will help us understand how to deal with a particular situation
while working in BPO sector , Below are some important points which shows the reasons and
necessity to study their emotional intelligence.

1)It help assess candidates' ability to control their own emotions

2) To check employees ability to empathetically interact with other workers.

3) Emotional intelligence study is important in leadership because it improves self-awareness,

increases accountability, fosters communication, and builds trusting relationships
4)This study guides the leaders and us to process employees emotions in a more positive way
that allows to address challenges more effectively.

5) This study helps to understand the mental capacity of the employees and their behaviour which
helps the employer of the company to provide with different tasks which is suitable, effective and
manageable for the candidates (employees).

2. Reduces Stress

It’s perfectly normal for a workplace to be stressful. That’s a sign of growth, encountering new
challenges, and working towards new goals. Unfortunately, workplace stress can lead to
maladaptive behaviours and reduced productivity.

Thankfully, this is one more thing that emotional intelligence training can address. Employees with
a high EQ can:

1. Manage their reactions to other’s emotions

2. Recognize and control their own negative feelings

3. Take responsibility for their reactions

4. Manage their expectations

5. Engage in positive interpersonal relationships

6. One of the most undeniable benefits of emotional intelligence training is that teams learn to
work together under stress.

3. Teaches Employees How to React to Constructive Criticism

Nobody enjoys receiving negative feedback. It can drive people to become defensive or bite back
with an emotional reaction.

That does nothing to improve the performance issue at hand and creates a hostile atmosphere.
Who wants to work with an employee who cannot absorb criticism and improve based on that input?

4. Helps Employees Conquer Their Fears, Doubts, and Insecurities

Everybody has setbacks, failed projects, and doubts about themselves from time to time. They get
upset, disappointed, and anxious.
5. Improves Communication Skills

When someone can’t manage their emotions, they end up expressing their feelings. That’s not
always a good thing for workplace communication.

One of the notable benefits of emotional intelligence training is that rather than expressing
emotions (usually negative), your team members will learn to:

6. Enhances Social Skills

Between the increasing number of remote teams, murky RTO plans, and a globalized workforce,
employees spend less time interacting with one another.

That can harm their social and interpersonal skills. With emotional intelligence training, teams will
have some tools available to them to navigate social situations smoothly.

7. Creates a Positive Environment

ㅡ
Most managers have seen it before someone have a negative, emotional reaction to something,
and they share their bad mood with the team. Before long, the negativity spreads. Morale
nose-dives.

8. Increases Frustration Tolerance

Frustration tolerance is the ability to deal with setbacks, inconveniences, and irritations without
having an adverse, unproductive reaction.

That is a key skill to develop in any workplace, especially when it’s crucial to deal with other people’
s behaviours rationally.

9. Shows Employees Their Limits

Emotional intelligence study doesn’t serve to eliminate negative emotions. It simply provides tools
and techniques for dealing with them.

As part of this training, employees learn to recognize their feelings and their personal limits. Then,
they can plan their interactions and activities accordingly.

For example, an employee who realizes that they are irritable may decide to reschedule a
potentially contentious conversation with a co-worker to avoid becoming too emotional.

10. Helps Employees Deal with Change And Uncertainty

Things can become emotionally charged when change occurs. Employees may experience feelings
of uncertainty and doubt.

Stress can peak while morale and productivity take a nosedive. All of these feelings intensify if the
change is sudden or negative.

11. Shows Leaders How to Identify Potential Mental Health Risks

When workplaces become stressful, or conflict is the norm, that can seriously impact employee
mental health.

Emotional intelligence in the workplace isn't a skill only for employees to learn. It should be
mandated for management, as well.

These courses can teach leaders to recognize negative emotions, inadequate coping mechanisms,
and other indicators that an employee or even an entire team is struggling.

12. Increases Sense of Accountability

Mistakes happen. Employees fail to meet their goals. Teams work on projects that end up failing
miserably.

Sadly, when management fails to support EQ development, the after-effects of these setbacks
often include:

• Defensiveness
• Assigning blame
• Refusal to communicate
• Inability to see the situation from different perspectives
• Lack of empathy

Ultimately, employees with poor emotional intelligence will spend too much time fighting about the
problem or passing blame rather than resolving the issue.

On the other hand, employees with high EQ are capable of taking responsibility for their mistakes.
When failures happen, it’s easier for them to control their

Emotional responses and focus on problem resolution instead.

13. Fosters Better Leadership

When team management can use EQ skills to understand employee emotions and responses, they
can draw intelligent conclusions.

Specifically, they can identify things that act as positive motivators for each team member and
other things that discourage employees.

That is exceptionally helpful in identifying things that could increase employee engagement and
productivity.

14. Strengthens Team or Group Cohesiveness

Imagine an environment where people express themselves positively, take responsibility for their
emotions, and deal with negative feelings productively.

That is what teams need to communicate with one another, understand each other’s needs, and
avoid being bogged down by confrontation.

When employers offer quality emotional intelligence training, they can achieve that.

15. Improves Client Service

It’s difficult enough to deal with a customer who is rude or unreasonable. The situation worsens if
an employee becomes flustered or emotional.

You certainly don’t want employees to become so frustrated that they become defensive or
attempt to match wits.

Sadly, these are all things that can happen if someone lacking in emotional intelligence faces an
angry or simply rude customer.

This study has helped to understand me to

1. Recognize the customer’s emotions without taking them personally

2. Identify and control my own negative emotions

3. To Show empathy for the customer

4. To Work towards a solution without allowing their emotions to take over

5. Develop intelligence over emotions

By which the customer's satisfaction and trust is gained while interacting with them.

Limitations of study

The drawbacks of higher EQ include lower levels of creativity and innovation potential.

People with high EQ tend to be great at building relations and working with others but may lack the
necessary levels of nonconformity and unconventionality to challenge the status quo.

• An Upset Employee Finds a Compassionate Ear We all get moody sometimes, even at work.
How a person deals with her co-workers or employees when they are having a bad day is a
good indication about her EI/EQ level.

• People Listen to Each Other in Meetings Unfortunately, not all meetings are positive and
productive; sometimes meetings can devolve into everyone talking at once, no one offering
any input at all, or-worst of all-shouting and heated arguments.
 • People Express Themselves Openly : A person who is comfortable speaking up about
things that are important, and is just as comfortable listening to others talk about their own
opinions, is showing high workplace EI/EQ. She is probably also adept at expressing her
own emotions in an appropriate way and accepting of others who express their own
emotions.

• Most Change Initiatives Work If a workplace is generally high in emotional intelligence, it

likely handles change well. Change initiatives are probably taken seriously and carried out
in earnest.

• Flexibility A workplace that offers flexibility and understanding of the complex, busy lives of
organization members is one that is probably high in EI/EQ. Managers and executives who
accept that people have differing needs and offer ways to work smarter are displaying a
good sense of emotional intelligence.

• People Have the Freedom to Be Creative Similarly, workplaces that allow their employees
the opportunity to be creative and innovative are high in EI/EQ. Giving people the chance to
practice their creativity and think outside the box is not only a welcome gesture for
employees, it’s also a smart move for the workplace.

Data analysis

The low-skilled United States and Indian services workforces are most
impacted
So what does this look like when we drill down to the country levels of the main global delivery
locations: UK, US, India and Philippines? Let’s start with the low-skilled positions, greatest at risk
from robotic process automation (RPA):
INTEPRETATION: As the graphic illustrates, India is set to lose 640,000 and the US 770,000
low-skilled positions by 2021- 2022 – these are decreases of 28% and 33% respectively. This is
largely because there are a large number of non-customer facing roles at the low-skill level in these
countries, when you take into account the amount of back office processing and IT support work
that are likely to be automated and consolidated across a smaller number of workers. On the flip
side, the Philippines is expected to be the least impacted, due to its heavy reliance on voice-based
customer support and high-touch healthcare operations work undertaken – and the location’s
reputation for low-cost, high-quality services. The UK has a very large customer service call centre
industry, in addition to IT and back office clerical processing work, which protects the impact
somewhat, but we still expect the impact to be high at the low-skill end (200,000 jobs at 27%
decrease)

Philippines, UK and India set to benefit the most from medium/high skills job
creation by 2021
The whole counter-argument to job losses caused by automation is the new work created in the
future to focus on higher value work. In addition, most of the low-end skills jobs are
in any case, hence many workers will be challenged to migrate and evolve their skills to
take on roles with higher degrees of complex problem solving, autonomy, creativity and emotional
intelligence. Based on the make up of the workforces, education levels anticipated service delivery
work, we expect the Philippines to make the move higher up the mid/high value skills value chain
(48% growth, albeit from a low base), the UK creating 131,000 new services jobs at 16% growth,
India 160,000 at 14% growth and the US lagging with 7% expected growth at 173,000 new jobs:

So what impact is all this having on the overall likely scenario to these countries’ service delivery
workforces?
Overall, India’s services industry set to endure the largest negative impact with
a 14% decline in its workforce
With 640,000 low-skilled jobs at risk, only being offset by 160,000 mid-high skilled jobs being
created, HfS’ model predicts a 14% decline for India:
INTEPRETATION :The US service industry is also expected to suffer a notable decline with 12%
total workforce reduction, with the UK at a more modest decline of 4%. The Philippines is actually
expected to increase overall by 8%.
 Research Methodology/Bibliography

Date- 2/05/2023 - 2:30pm

1.Emotional intelligence: What it is and why it matters. Proceedings of the annual meeting
of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, New Orleans, LA: Society for Industrial
and Organizational Psychology. Retrieved from
http://www.eiconsortium.org/pdf/what_is_emotional_ intelligence.pdf

Date- 2/05/2023 - 3:15pm

2. The emotionally intelligent teacher: A transformative learning model. Retrieved from

http://eprints.qums.ac.ir/1741/1/emotionally%20intelligent%20teacher.pdf.

Date -03/05/2023 - 11:00 pm

3. Second Year M.com Textbook - Industrial Economic Environment And Research

Methodology for Business

Date - 04/05/2023 - 7:30pm

4.
https://www.horsesforsources.com/indias-services-industry-set-to-lose-640000-low-skilled-jobs-to-
automation-by/
 FINDINGS

There have been several studies conducted on emotional intelligence (EI) in business
process outsourcing (BPO) employees, and the findings suggest that EI plays a significant
role in their job performance and overall success in the industry.

One study found that BPO employees with higher levels of EI were more likely to have better
job performance, job satisfaction, and higher levels of commitment to their organization.
These employees were also more likely to effectively manage their own emotions and
those of their colleagues and customers, leading to better communication and
problem-solving.

Another study in WNS Company was found and was conducted in a Managerial session for
the employees that BPO employees with higher levels of EI were more likely to adapt to
changes in their work environment and be resilient in the face of stress and pressure. These
employees were also better able to build and maintain positive relationships with
colleagues and customers, leading to higher levels of customer satisfaction.

Overall, the findings suggest that EI is a crucial factor for success in the BPO industry and
that developing EI skills can lead to better job performance, job satisfaction, and overall
success in the industry.
 CONCLUSIONS

The main objective of all BPO organizations is to achieve the most feasible results. In order to
maintain high performance and improve competitiveness, companies have to focus on emotional
intelligence as a daunting variable. According to previous studies, EI plays a central role in
increasing efficiency.

Various studies indicate that someone with high emotional intelligence often enjoys a good job
performance. Individuals who promote EI succeed in their careers because there is a connection
and they are affected by each other. Emotional intelligence has numerous advantages, but it is a
significant downside to measure emotionally. The main concern with testing methods is whether
emotional intelligence relies on the individual’s temperament and personality or whether it is a
learned reaction generated by interpersonal abilities and experiences. Temperamental tests will
analyse the personality, emotional stability, and consciousness of the person to test emotional
intelligence.

In short, emotional intelligence is capable of recognizing and interpreting feelings and their effects
on actions and behaviour. Those with high levels of IE deal with their own thoughts and feelings.
Recently, the task of emotional intelligence became more sensitive to organizations ‘emotions.
 SUGGESTIONS TO THE RESEARCH

Below are the suggestions of emotional intelligence in action in the workplace include:

1. Constructive feedback instead of personal criticism and challenging behaviours, not people.

2. Supporting colleagues through recognizing their emotions and working to reduce stress.

3. Keeping calm and productive under pressure.

4. Helping to resolve conflicts that arise between team members.

5. a workplace where people are free to express themselves openly.

6. Another term for EI is emotional quotient (EQ), with researchers often comparing it to intelligence
quotient (IQ). While IQ measures a person’s knowledge and problem-solving skills, EQ focuses on
their emotional awareness and their skills.

7. IQ and EQ are not static metrics, and individuals can work to improve both their intellectual and
emotional capacity.
 INTERPRETATION

(An explanation / Brief understanding of the Subject matter)

▶ Emotional intelligence is a set of skills and abilities related to the awareness and
management of one's own emotions and those of others. In the context of the BPO industry,
emotional intelligence is particularly important because employees in this field often deal
with high levels of stress and interactions with customers and colleagues from diverse
cultural backgrounds.

▶ The interpretation of emotional intelligence in BPO employees is that those with higher
levels of emotional intelligence are more likely to perform well on the job and provide better
customer service. They are able to understand and manage their own emotions, as well as
read and respond appropriately to the emotions of others. This helps them to build stronger
relationships with customers, colleagues, and supervisors, which can lead to higher job
satisfaction, better team collaboration, and improved performance outcomes.

▶ Moreover, emotional intelligence can also help BPO employees to cope with job-related
stress and manage conflicts more effectively, leading to reduced burnout and turnover
rates. Overall, emotional intelligence is a valuable skill set for BPO employees and can be
developed through training and practice to improve job performance, customer service, and
overall well-being in the workplace.