Emotional intelligence in the workplace
Emotional intelligence in the workplace is a must-have for the future of work. Learn how to leverage it in your workplace.
Published: June 26, 2024 | by Natasha K. A. Wiebusch, Brightmine Marketing Content Manager
Emotional intelligence is one of the top skills professionals will need in the age of AI, especially CHROs. With the rise of AI-powered tools, emotional intelligence is now one of the few differentiators between AI and humans.
But emotional intelligence has always been an invaluable skill for successful leaders. In “What Makes a Leader,” the father of emotional intelligence himself, Daniel Goleman, found that emotional intelligence is twice as important to high performance as technical skills and intelligence quotient (IQ) — at all job levels. Studies also show that employees with high emotional intelligence perform better under pressure and in times of change.
In this guide, we provide an in-depth overview of emotional intelligence and how you can leverage it to take on the future of work.
What is emotional intelligence in the workplace?
Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to identify, understand and manage one’s emotions, as well as recognize and influence another person’s emotions. People often refer to people with high emotional intelligence as having a high emotional quotient or “high EQ.”
Having high emotional intelligence helps people manage their personal and professional lives in many ways. Most notably, it helps improve communication, relationship building, conflict resolution and stress management.
In the workplace, emotional intelligence is key to managing relationships with colleagues, conflicts and stress.
The 4 domains of emotional intelligence
What exactly makes someone emotionally intelligent? In the 90’s, Daniel Goleman established five components of emotional intelligence:
- Self-awareness.
- Self-regulation.
- Social skills.
- Motivation.
- Empathy.
Then, in 2002, he redesigned the model to include four domains, each of which sit in a quadrant:
Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence Model
Self-awareness
A person who is self-aware can recognize their own mood and how it impacts their behavior and others. People who are self-aware are able to understand why they’re feeling a certain way.
Emotional self-awareness
Accurate self-assessment
Self-confidence
Self-management
Also called self-regulation, self-management is a person’s ability to manage their behavior, emotions and thoughts. A person’s self-management impacts their self-confidence, well-being and ability to manage changes in their environment.
Self-control
Trustworthiness
Conscientiousness
Adaptability
Achievement drive
Initiative
Social awareness
Social awareness is the ability to recognize and understand the emotions of others. People with high social awareness can “read the room” accurately. They can generally read another person’s facial expressions, body language and tone of voice to understand how they’re feeling. Empathy, which is the ability to recognize, feel and understand someone else’s emotions, falls under the social awareness umbrella.
Empathy
Service orientation
Organizational awareness
Relationship management
The ability to manage relationships is the ability to manage and influence social relationships and interactions. High relationship management ability usually requires high aptitude in social awareness, self-management and self-awareness. That is, these other domains provide the information a person needs to choose the right course of action.
Developing others
Influence
Communication
Conflict management
Leadership
Change catalyst
Building bonds
Teamwork and collaboration
Benefits of emotional intelligence in the workplace
Supporting and nurturing emotionally intelligent people in the workplace has many proven benefits:
Leadership
A study by Daniel Goleman found that emotional intelligence skills are twice as important as technical skills and IQ. In his paper, “What Makes a Leader,” Goleman also noted that 90% of the differences between high and average performing leaders can be attributed to emotional intelligence.
“90% of the differences between high and average performing leaders can be attributed to emotional intelligence.”
Besides Goleman’s study, research has consistently shown that emotional intelligence is critical to effective leadership. Having high emotional intelligence helps leaders identify strengths and weaknesses in themselves and others, which is key to talent management. It also helps them understand individual perspectives, as high EQ leaders are excellent active listeners.
Additionally, emotional intelligence is extremely beneficial to leaders in times of change, as organizational change often requires leaders to influence, collaborate and build momentum. To do this, they must be able to manage relationships effectively.
Performance
Research has also found that 90% of the top performers have high emotional intelligence. Aside from key leadership skills, emotional intelligence helps employees manage relationships with colleagues and collaborate as a team.
Specifically, high EQ employees have the ability to understand how colleagues are feeling and what they need. This helps employees work together towards common goals and objectives. High EQ employees are also better able to navigate conflict in a productive way, which supports innovation and growth.
Studies have also shown that employees with high emotional intelligence handle pressure and perform better under stress. This is in great part because employees with high emotional intelligence have increased confidence and feelings of self-efficacy. These traits help employees stay calm and better handle the pressures of deadlines, set-backs and other challenges at work.
Well-being
Naturally, employees with high emotional intelligence are better able to handle workplace stress. One study specifically found that self-awareness and self-management abilities were the best predictors of effective job stress management.
Here, it’s important to note that employees (and leaders) can improve their emotional intelligence through learning and development. One common form of emotional intelligence learning is mindfulness training. According to a study by SIGMA Assessment Systems and Western University, mindfulness training improved employee well-being by:
- Lowering perceived stress.
- Lowering rates of negative mood.
- Increasing resilience.
- Increasing rates of positive mood.
Aside from mindfulness, high levels of emotional intelligence in employees — managers in particular — support employee well-being through improved relationship management. In fact, 70% of employees say their manager has more influence over their mental health than their therapist or doctor.
Managers with high levels of empathy are better able to support employees, understand their needs and influence their performance. They’re also better able to communicate with their employees, which is key to building a healthy manager-employee relationship.
Culture
Finally, emotional intelligence supports a healthy workplace culture, and in turn, a better employee experience. First, teams that communicate effectively and resolve conflicts in a productive manner are more likely to achieve their goals. This is particularly important when teams are managing change.
Additionally, employees and leaders with high empathy are more likely to support psychological safety. And, psychological safety is key to creating a supportive, high-performance workplace culture.
Examples of emotional intelligence in the workplace
Emotional intelligence manifests in the workplace in many ways. The following are a few common examples emotional intelligence at work:
Adapting to change
Employees with high emotional intelligence are better able to adapt to change. They’re able to understand how a change impacts them and their colleagues — and what they need to navigate the change. Also, high EQ leaders are better at leading employees through change through effective communication, support and conflict management.
Communicating effectively
Communicating effectively with team members is key to productive teamwork. And, effective leaders will recognize that not all employees have the same communication style. For example, a manager with low EQ may not be able to recognize how different employees prefer receiving feedback. Because feedback is so important, this can lead to a poor relationship and poor performance.
Employees who have high emotional intelligence can communicate effectively with individual colleagues by understanding their needs and feelings. They’re also able to communicate their ideas clearly in meetings and influence decisions.
Supporting an employee through a challenge
If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, it’s that employees want their employers to treat them as whole people. It also showed us that leaders who recognized their employees’ struggles and concerns, and acted with empathy, were much more successful in retaining talent. Unfortunately, the Great Resignation proved that many employers were not successful.
Employees will have challenges at work and in their personal lives that will impact their well-being and performance. Emotional intelligence can help leaders and managers understand and react to these challenges in a positive way.
Accepting feedback
Being able to accept feedback while maintaining a growth mindset is just as important as providing feedback. Having high levels emotional intelligence, which often leads to better self-confidence and self-awareness, can help employees accept feedback productively. It can also help employees understand why they’re receiving feedback and how it relates to the organization’s business goals.
How HR can influence emotional intelligence
So what’s HR’s role in promoting emotional intelligence in the workplace? As people leaders, HR can make emotional intelligence a priority for hiring, influence emotional intelligence development and much more. Here’s how:
Make high EQ a desired skill in hiring
HR can ensure the recruitment team and hiring managers value high emotional intelligence in the hiring process. To make this a priority, include skills associated with high EQ in job requirements (or desired skills and abilities). You can also include interview questions or pre-employment tests that measure emotional intelligence.
Implement emotional intelligence training
You can also invest in emotional intelligence training for employees and managers. Because emotional intelligence is a skill, training should be continuous and include clear workplace exercises and applications.
Measure emotional intelligence aptitude and perceptions
Though emotional intelligence can be challenging to measure quantitatively, you can gain insights into their organization’s emotional intelligence through employee opinion surveys. You can also gain important insights from psychological safety questionnaires and metrics.
Model emotional intelligence
As tone setters, leaders must be able to model emotional intelligence to effectively promote it in the workplace. You can model emotional intelligence by communicating with empathy and instilling confidence in times of change or strife.
Emotional intelligence and the future of work
The critical importance of emotional intelligence cannot be understated. In a future of work where change is rapid and constant, emotional intelligence will play a central role in maximizing performance and well-being. A workforce with high emotional intelligence will enjoy improved communication, innovation and productivity. And, high EQ will help managers support their employees and help employees manage their own workplace stressors.
Supporting high emotional intelligence is just one way to take your people — and your business — to new heights. Learn how Brightmine can help you maximize HR’s business impact.
Talk to our team about how we can work together
Whether you’re looking to attract talent, build a fair culture or stay on top of your legal obligations, Brightmine has a range of specialist HR software to help you meet your goals.
About the author
Natasha K. A. Wiebusch
Marketing Content Manager, Brightmine
Natasha K. A. Wiebusch is the marketing content manager at Brightmine. Before transitioning to the marketing team, she covered a variety of topics as a Brightmine legal editor, including benefits, compensation, workplace flexibility, and the future of work.
Natasha holds a Bachelor of Science in communication science and rhetorical studies from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a juris doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School. Prior to joining Brightmine, Natasha was a practicing attorney and HR compliance and training specialist.