Beyond ‘soft skills:’ The roles of emotional intelligence and mindfulness in listening, engagement, and employee advocacy

Zifei Fay Chen & Place, K. R. (2026, June). “Beyond ‘soft skills:’ The roles of emotional intelligence and mindfulness in listening, engagement, and employee advocacy.” Paper presented at the 33rd International Public Relations Research Symposium, Bled, Slovenia.

Abstract: In the post-COVID workplace, organizations are facing sustained challenges posed by employee disengagement and discontent, an issue that is intensified by the sense of isolation from remote work, heightened sociopolitical polarization, and information overload. For leaders and public relations professionals responsible for organizational culture and internal communication, a critical question emerges: what factors enable employees to remain connected, engage constructively, and advocate for their organizations in today’s complex environments? To address these challenges, this study draws in interdisciplinary insights on emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and listening research to examine how emotional intelligence and mindfulness are cultivated in organizational settings (RQ1) and how they influence employee engagement and advocacy (RQ2). This study further examines active-empathic listening as a key interpersonal mechanism through which emotional intelligence and mindfulness influence employee outcomes (RQ3). Data were collected through a survey with 1,159 full-time employees in the United States.