The Effect of Emotional Intelligence on Work Performance: A Study on Employees in Forwarder Companies in Vietnam

This study investigates the impact of Emotional Intelligence (EI) on employee work performance in freight forwarding enterprises in Vietnam, a sector facing increasing competitive pressures and rising service quality demands yet remaining underexplored in prior empirical research. Adopting a quantitative research design, data were collected from 297 employees through structured questionnaires. The study is grounded in Cherniss & Goleman’s (2001) Emotional Intelligence competency framework and the work performance model proposed by Koopmans et al. (2014). The empirical results reveal that EI has a positive and statistically significant effect on work performance, with self-awareness, self management, social awareness, and social skills demonstrating the strongest predictive power. Moreover, the strength of EI’s impact varies across different job position groups, indicating contextual differences within organizational roles. These findings suggest that freight forwarding firms should integrate EI development into recruitment, training, and performance management systems to enhance workforce effectiveness. By providing empirical evidence from Vietnam’s freight forwarding industry, this study contributes to extending EI research within the logistics sector of an emerging economy.