Management skills can be taught, and learned with self-discipline, dedication, and time. Knowledge and skills of management are needed to motivate the students for learning purposes. Teachers are supposed to be expert in using their conceptual, technical and human skills to prepare the students for learning with motivation and willingness (Hosseinpour, Tamimi, Hosseinpour, Hashami, Jafarzadeh, 2014). Teachers play many other roles in the classroom, they set the quality of their classrooms, build favorable environment, mentor the students, serve as role models, manage instructional materials and always care for the future of students under them (Wilson-Morgan, 2015).

Teachers are the crucial change agents who steer their school structures, cultivate relationships and lead students to achievement as role models using a collaborative strategy with the students and fellow teachers (Anho, 2015). Current work environments are facing new challenges therefore need to get more dynamic every next day. Due to global competition and developing expectations of stakeholders, new managerial requirements are cropping up continuously. An efficient management is anchored on several management skills including communication, motivation, and negotiation as the main pillars of interpersonal relations in the workplace (Hosseinpour et al., 2014). The employees with adequate management skills are reportedly far better in giving good performance as compared to those co-workers who are poor in commanding these skills to manage their work and work environment effectively and efficiently (Templer, 2018).

Teachers are managers in the classroom and across the learning environing for their students including library work, lab assignments, tests, assignments, exams and a diversity of extracurricular activities. Teachers need management skills to play their different roles as a teachers like managing the instructional procedures, learning activities, attitudes and feeling of the students as well as the classroom atmosphere (Anho, 2015). Classroom and teaching management cannot be detached because both are characterized by discipline, suitable teaching methods, best use of teaching materials, effective communication as well as a prompt students’ evaluation (Wilson-Morgan, 2015).

Teacher performance is critical for every educational institution from school to college to university. There are several models to measure the employee performance like teachers in higher education institutions (Chegini, 2010). One of the widely used model includes the measurement of efficiency, effectively, innovativeness and responsiveness of the employees’ behavior of every individual employee (Nsour, 2012). These four constructs are believed to collectively demonstrate the performance of employees irrespective or the type and size of the organization or institution (Zirra & Mambula, 2019).

Emotional intelligence is the ability of an individual to understand his emotions and that of others with whom he has to interact like the co-workers in an organization. Teacher’s emotional intelligence is critical because he has to motivate, inspire, stimulate and influence the students for learning (Zeidner, Matthews & Roberts, 2004). All this possible only if the teacher is emotionally intelligent enough to identify and measure the intensity of emotionally state of mind of the students (Yaghoubi, Mashinchi, & Hadi, 2011). There is personal and social emotional intelligences in every human being (Mehmood, Qasim, & Azam, 2013). Both personal and social aspects of a teacher’s emotional intelligence help teachers in managing their work environment for teaching and learning thereby giving best possible performance in the favor of the learners and the institution (Malik & Shahid, 2016).

Current study measures statistical significance of the relationships between TMS and TP as supported by the EI of teachers in their workplace of higher education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The findings highlight the roles of both personal EI and social EI in relations of TMS with TP. The performance of teachers is fully mediated by their social EI, while social EI has emerged as supporting the relationship partially in line with teacher management skills.

Philosophy and Approach

In ‘Positivist’ philosophy of social research, knowledge is a verifiable entity. The researcher extracted the research-model from literature and used it as guideline for verification of knowledge with primary data from field survey. Statistical tools were applied to test the hypotheses emerging from the model. Literature and field surveys were used for data collection while statistical procedures assisted to verify links between the research variables in the context of sample. Qualitative data was processed with ‘Thematic-analysis’ (Stirling, 2001) and ‘Argumentation’ by Toulmin (1958). For quantitative analysis, statistical procedures were applied including mediation model of Baron and Kenny (1986) besides correlation and regression analysis.

Reliability and Validity

Validity measurement refers to know the ability of a construct/instrument to measure precisely what it is supposed to compute. While reliability is the estimation of consistent use of the instrument across different situations (Field, 2009:11). Croanbach Alpha was used to compute reliability scores while factor analysis procedure was run to measure validity statistics to test for linear relationships among the variables, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin [KMO] tool for sampling adequacy was used. Kaiser, (1970) suggested 0.6 as the minimum score KMO test. Barlett’s Test of Sphericity (Bartlett, 1954) helped to know the statistical significance t (p?0.001) of factorability of matrix.

Table 1. Reliability Statistics

Validity-Statistics

Required Critical-values

1. KMO test [Sampling Adequacy]: = or > 0.7

2. Bartlett’s test [test of Sphericity]: = or < 0.05

3. Factor-loading: = or > 0.4

Table 3. Factor-Loadings

Management-Skills

Management skills refer to the knowledge and ability of the managers/teachers to perform some specific managerial functions or duties. These skills can be learned and used to work professionally. Thus, one can develop these skills with the help of learning and practicing as a manager in the classroom or educational institution (Hosseinpour et al., 2014). There are several groupings of the managerial skills and different skills are more relevant to a specific work situation (Anho, 2015). For example, teacher as a manager has to handle students, co-workers and the work environment therefore the tensions and worries are different from the one who is working in some non-teaching organization. Though management skills like conceptual, technical and human can be learned through training and experiences however, command over skills needs extra attention and dedication to learn and really command so everybody cannot show the same results as the other manager (Templer, 2018). Following types of skills are indispensable for every manager or administrator in any institution:

Conceptual Skills

Conceptual skills characterize the abstract thinking of the managers, meaning that they have to create the ability to think over the available facts and figures for performing managerial functions. Imaginations, innovations and creativity are the fundamental requirements for having conceptual skills (Hosseinpour et al., 2014). Conceptual powers enable the managers to see the whole issue or assignment through diagnosis and analysis of all the relevant information to develop a unique and educated view of the situation. Conceptually competent managers can predict the future of the institution or department as a corporate entity. The conceptual skills help managers to search outside for the betterment and improvement of the organization while making decisions relating to the workforce and functioning of the organizational units/sections (Wilson-Morgan, 2015).

Technical Skills

Technical skills or hard skills are rudimental for every employee to perform his duties or functions as per technical requirements of the organization. Technical skills are scientific therefore based on scientific knowledge and practices as per prevailing standards and yardsticks (Hosseinpour et al., 2014). Almost every activity undertaken in any organization has some basic level of technical considerations, which must be in the knowledge-cache of the managers and visible from his practical actions performed for the achievement of organizational, group and individual objectives or goals in the organization. Technical skills need formal and proper training by professional managers, which are then used as per work requirements. Inability of a manager in any required skill negatively effects the performance at employee, group and corporate levels (Anho, 2015).

Human or Interpersonal Managerial Skills

The most critical and decisive set of skills for every manager particularly a teacher in higher education institution are the interpersonal management skills to generate teamwork spirit so that all the group members are welded together into a single compact mindset which obviously strengthens the group performance as well as corporate productivity. These skills enable the managers to lead and motivate the human resources for better work outputs (Anho, 2015). Human skills like communication, motivation, negotiation, emotional intelligence, self-confidence, self-esteem etc., are indispensable to create humanly and friendly work conditions to inspire and prepare employees to work with interest, attention and dedication thereby making best performance possible and achievable (Templer, 2018).

Teacher-Performance

Employee or organizational performance is the output by workforce using organizational facilities as per standards of the organization and other stakeholders. Every employee has to perform individually in his area of work assignment thereby make valid contributions to the group and corporate performance. An employee like teacher has to perform according to the formal standards of higher education for the achievement of objectives and goals of organizational performance (Nsour, 2012). It is however notable that an employee’s performance is dependent on many factors including personal, group and organizational, for instance, research tells that satisfied employees give better performance than the dissatisfied workforce (Landy, 1985). Likewise, the employees are more likely to turnover if they are not happy or demotivated in the work environment (Zirra & Mambula, 2019).

The command over management skills is the basic factor which determines the performance of the employees. Conceptually, technically and humanly competent workers/managers know about the niceties of the work assignment therefore their performance is expected to the closer to the required standards of the organizational for individual, group and corporate performance. There are different factors for individual, group and organizational performance. Individual performance is mostly based on the personal knowledge and skills of the manager; however, group and organizational performance needs social skills and corporate policies and procedures to assist individuals and groups to perform effectively (ILO, 2015). The measurement of employee performance is done through different models, such as the following is one of the widely used framework to compute employee or teacher performance:

1. Effectiveness: The effectiveness of the teacher performance refers to the production of wanted results. The effectiveness is the successful process, which helps in achieving the organizational goals and objectives. It is about the awareness of teachers, administrators and support staff about the organizational vision, missions and objectives of the university. Thus, the measurement of effectiveness consists of all the performance related data, which verifies the understanding and achievement of organizational goals as per expectations of the stakeholders (Nsour, 2012).

2. Efficiency: Efficiency is giving results without wasting material, time and energy/effort. It is the input-output ratio, for instance, reduction in the number of workforces assigned to make a product. Efficient performance means consuming minimum resources and giving best possible results. Efficiency is critical for the countries and organizations with limited resources because efficient working is characterized with minimum wastage of resources to give desired output (Zirra & Mambula, 2019).

3. Innovativeness: Innovation is the transformation of new ideas into the real product or service that is salable and usable. The innovation is founded on the creativity of the employees at individual, group and corporate levels. To capture the changing needs of the public, all organizations, both public and private have to innovate using the latest technologies to meet one or another new needs of the public. Creativity is the process of preparation, incubation and illumination while innovation is the conversion of creative ideas into physical and practical methods and procedures to come up with improved products and services (Zirra & Mambula, 2019).

4. Responsiveness: It is the ability of an employee to keep track of stakeholder needs and search for new methods and procedures to meet the emerging requirements of the concerned people (Nsour, 2012). Technologies keep on emerging for better and improved organizational performance and service of the stakeholders therefore it is the responsibility of management to stay sensitive to the changing needs of the stakeholders and identifying the technologies to meet those needs with new modus operandi.

Descriptive Results

Analysis: PEI has got maximum mean-score followed by SEI, TP and TMS.

Testing of Hypothesis

H1. Predictors [MS, PEI & SEI] are significantly associated with TP

Analysis: All predictors are significantly associated with the dependent variable therefore H1 is accepted as true and substantiated.

H2. Personal-EI significantly mediates between MS and TP

Table 6. Computing ‘a’ (H2)

Analysis: Path ‘a’ is significant therefore pre-condition is established for further processing.

Table 7. Computing ‘c, b, & ?’ (H2)

Analysis: Both path ‘b’ and ‘?’ are significant thereby suggesting that there is partial mediation by PEI between TMS and TP. Further, there is 0.297 change in R2 showing the weight of the change in TP due to the mediator. Thus, H2 is substantiated.

H3. Social-EI significantly mediates between MS and TP

Table 8. Computing ‘a’ (H3)

Analysis: The pre-condition of significant path ‘a’ is substantiated.

Computing ‘c, b, & ?’ (H3

Table 9. Model Summary

Analysis: R2 of 0.241 shows that SEI has made substantial addition to the change in test variable. Further, path ‘?’ has also gone insignificant thereby declaring that SEI has fully mediated between TMS and TP.

H4 is therefore accepted as true.

Teacher management skills are necessary to give performance in the class and the institution (Hosseinpour et al., 2014). Teacher performance is concerned with teaching, mentoring and contributing to the overall management of the institution. The quality of teacher management skills primarily define his/her role however, there are other organizational and personal factors which also help teachers to effectively use their management skills to give best performance (Anho, 2015). In the current work environment in Pakistan, the emotional intelligence is indispensable for any teacher working in school, college or university (Baczy?ska, 2015).

It is therefore concluded that the empirical study verifies the impacts of personal and social EI in strengthening the connections between teacher management skills with his/her performance as a teacher. The results show that there is role of personal EI in connecting teacher management capabilities with organizational performance however, the social EI has bigger impact and decisive role through FULL mediation between management-skills and teacher-performance. The stakeholders are therefore expected to take note of these findings and incorporate the consideration of teacher EI in their HRM practices so that the positive role of teacher’s personal characteristics are properly capitalized on for the best performance and development of the educational institution.