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Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the relative importance of personal-demographic and positional factors in predicting emotional intelligence (EI) among service workers in the Greek context. Design/methodology/approach: The study involved administering Schutte et al.'s SREIT test to employees engaged in retailing, insurance, banking, tourism, entertainment, professional and public services. Altogether data were collected from a total of 330 survey responses. Findings: The overall results of the data analysis suggest that twenty two percent of the variance in EI may be explained by the combined effect of personal (occupational choice) and positional factors (managerial level). Contrary to expectations, female gender and boundary-spanning role responsibilities were not statistically significant in the sample studied. Practical implications: These findings endorse the validity of incorporating EI interventions alongside the recruitment, selection, and training and development process both of supervisory and non-supervisory employees who choose to pursue a career in services. Originality/value: This paper establishes a link between EI, personal-demographic and positional factors. (Contains 4 tables.)

Purpose – The paper aims to contribute to the stream of research on empowerment by investigating the construct of psychological empowerment among Greek public employees. The primary objective is to further the limited amount of empirical research on the concept of empowerment as "experienced" by those working in public administration. Specifically, the study aims to extend the empowerment literature by determining the transferability of Menon's instrument in a Greek public service context; and by examining the relationship between psychological empowerment and internal service climate, defined here as employee quality perceptions of internal service encounters. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on 330 surveys from tax officers in a mid-sized town in Northern Greece. Findings – Factor, reliability, correlation, and regression analyses were performed providing satisfactory results. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses faithfully reproduced the three dimensions suggested by Menon – namely perceived control, perceived competence and goal internalization – in a culturally diverse environment compared to the original study. Also, support was provided for the usefulness of the measure in the Greek tax administration. In addition, internal service climate was positively associated with psychological empowerment according to expectations. Research limitations/implications – It may be relevant for future research to replicate the present study in other types of Greek public organizations utilizing probabilistic sampling techniques. Longitudinal and/or quasi-experimental research designs might be employed to address issues of causality. Ways of dealing with common method variance also need to be given consideration. Further, examining the predictive validity of individual and contextual antecedents and consequences of psychological empowerment identified in the private sector, investigating the nature of these relationships (causational, mediational, or moderational), and incorporating organizational effectiveness indices in the proposed model should enhance our understanding of the dynamic nature of the variables analyzed. Originality/value – Results demonstrate the transferability of Menon's instrument in a culturally diverse work environment. In addition, the applicability of the scale in a Greek public service context is well illustrated. The link between an under-researched facet of organizational climate, namely internal service climate, to psychological empowerment is highlighted and discussed. To the knowledge of the researchers, no prior study has attempted to investigate these issues in Greek public organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]