THE BENEFITS HIGH LEVELS
OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
BRING TO ORGANIZATIONS
Studies have found that high emo-tional
intelligence in organizations is
associated with increased productivity,
higher engagement levels, lower turnover
and absenteeism rates and increased
market share. Daniel Goleman, author
of a 1995 bestselling book, Emotional
Intelligence, has theorized that 80 to 90
per cent of the competencies that differ-entiate
high-performing workers from
average-performing workers can be found
in the emotional intelligence domain,
and one study found emotional intelli-gence
to be two times more predictive
of business performance than employ-ee
skills, knowledge or expertise. Another
study of IT professionals found a posi-tive
relationship between an IT leader’s
emotional intelligence scores and his or
her subordinates’ job performance ratings.
Other studies have found that high emo-tional
intelligence can boost career success,
entrepreneurial potential, leadership tal-ent,
health, relationship satisfaction,
humor and happiness. And a study con-ducted
by business consulting firm Genos
found a positive correlation between the
emotional intelligence of business lead-ers
and the employee engagement levels of
their direct reports.
HOW TO IMPROVE
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
IN THE WORKPLACE
Emotional intelligence can be devel-oped,
but it will take time and patience. A
three-hour seminar simply will not have a
long-term effect. HR and talent manage-ment
professionals who want to improve
their organization’s emotional intelligence
should consider the following steps offered
by Cary Cherniss and Daniel Goleman in
their numerous studies on the subject.
1. SELECT FOR EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE
HR and talent management profession-als
should assess for emotional intelligence
during the employee selection process.
Cherniss and Goleman caution that emo-tional
intelligence cannot be measured
through the usual vetting process, like re-sume
screening and the review of a job
candidate’s previous work history, edu-cation,
skills and expertise. There are a
number of assessments that can be used,
however, to gauge a candidate’s emotion-al
intelligence. These assessments include
Goleman’s revised emotional intelli-gence
competency model, the emotional
Photo by Anne-Louise Quarfoth / Photos.com
feature
A SUCCESSFUL
EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE
INITIATIVE
SHOULD BE
VOLUNTARY,
BECAUSE
ADULTS LEARN
BEST AND ARE
MORE OPEN TO
CHANGE WHEN
THEY ARE SELF-MOTIVATED.
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ MARCH/APRIL 2014 ❚ 23