PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of emotion management ability of leaders on employee job performance by highlighting the mediating role of employee perception of job characteristics.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses were developed and tested using multi-source data collected from 65 dyads of heads of department and their subordinates.FindingsResults show that leaders’ emotion management ability relates positively to employee job performance, and that this relationship is mediated by employees’ perception of job characteristics.Research limitations/implicationsCross-sectional data were used to test the hypotheses. Generalizability of the findings is limited as the sample is taken from only one industry in India.Originality/valueThe findings contribute to HRM and leadership literature. The study has implications for jobs that require a high degree of interpersonal interaction with subordinates. Unique value also lies in the context of the study as this study is one of the first to explore the phenomenon in India.