EQ is defined as a set of competencies
demonstrating the ability one has to recognize his or her behaviors, moods,
and impulses, and to manage them best according to the situation. Typically,
"emotional intelligence" is considered to involve emotional
empathy; attention to and discrimination of one's emotions; accurate
recognition of one's own and others' moods; mood management or
control over emotions; response with appropriate (adaptive) emotions and
behaviors in various life situations (especially to stress and difficult
situations); and balancing of honest expression of emotions against courtesy,
consideration, and respect (i.e., possession of good social skills and
communication skills).
Additional, though less often mentioned,
qualities include selection of work that is emotionally rewarding to avoid
procrastination, self-doubt, and low achievement (i.e., good self-motivation
and goal management) and a balance between work, home, and recreational life.
In essence, EQ is the pattern of how people's biases in their views lead
them to think one thing or choice is better than another, as well as their
clarity in differentiating within those biases to exercise clear and sound
judgment.
"People see what they want to see."
~Red Barber
How Is EQ Different from Personality?
In psychology, personality refers to the emotions, thoughts, and behavior
patterns unique to an individual. Personality influences one's
tendencies, such as a preference for introversion or extroversion. Like
intelligence quotient (IQ), personality cannot be used to predict EQ.
However, as EQ can identify both the biases and clarity in one's thinking
patterns that allow one to make good, sound decisions, personality only
refers to the biases in the behaviors themselves.
Personality tests typically only distinguish four categories of
temperament but do not distinguish which melancholy person is actually high
in ambition. For example, business people know that they want an extrovert to
fill the sales position, but they cannot tell from a temperament test which
ones will be persistent from those who will be insistent. It is desirable for
salespeople to have persistence, which allows them to have the energy, drive,
and thick skin to develop and close new business. Less effective, however,
are insistent salespeople who (1) turn off prospective buyers because they
are too pushy and (2) cannot give up on a prospect who is not going to buy
when they could be focusing their efforts on more promising opportunities. We
know we want an extrovert, sensor, thinker, and judger (ESTJ) from the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator for the vacant leadership role, but we cannot
tell which ESTJ will make sound judgments under stress and which ones will
maim everyone in their path when under stress.
An employee with a "good" personality may be fun, social,
energetic, and outgoing. However, having a "good" personality
doesn't necessarily equate to success in the workplace. A
"good" personality tells you nothing about the fact that the
employee can also make errors in judgment due to lack of "clarity"
when making decisions within his or her own biases. This is why people with
varying personality styles can successfully perform the same job. It boils
down to their ability to exercise clear and sound judgment in the situations
their job/role presents on a regular basis.
An employee with high emotional intelligence can manage his or her own
impulses, communicate with others effectively, manage change well, solve
problems, and use humor to build rapport in tense situations. These employees
also have empathy, remain optimistic even in the face of adversity, and are
gifted at educating and persuading in a sales situation and resolving
customer complaints in a customer service role. This "clarity" in
thinking and "composure" in stressful and chaotic situations is
what separates top performers from weak performers in the workplace.
As managers and business executives, we have often asked ourselves the
following questions: Why do certain employees get into accidents more often
than others do? Why do they violate company ethics and policies? Why do they
ignore the rules of the organization? Why do they use illegal drugs while on
the job? Why do some people cause conflict while others are so gifted at
resolving it? Why do they put self-interest ahead of the organizational
values? Why do some salespeople build large books of new business with ease
while others struggle to do so even though they seem to be putting forth the
required effort?
In many cases, the answer to the above questions lies in "emotional
intelligence" rather than the individual's "personality
type."
"Unmet emotional needs cause the majority of
problems at work." ~EQI.org
EQ Competencies That Correlate to Workplace Success
The following outlines a set of five emotional intelligence competencies
that have proven to contribute more to workplace achievement than technical
skills, cognitive ability, and standard personality traits combined.
Social Competencies
These competencies determine how we handle relationships and are discussed
below.
Intuition and Empathy. Our awareness of others'
feelings, needs, and concerns. This competency is important in the workplace
for the following reasons:
- Understanding others: an intuitive sense of others' feelings and
perspectives, and showing an active interest in their concerns and
interests
- Customer service orientation: the ability to anticipate, recognize, and
meet customers' needs
- People development: ability to sense what others need in order to grow,
develop, and master their strengths
- Leveraging diversity: cultivating opportunities through diverse
people
Political Acumen and Social Skills. This is one's
adeptness at inducing desirable responses in others. This competency is
important in the workplace for the following reasons:
- Influence: using effective tactics and techniques for persuasion and
desired results
- Communication: sending clear and convincing messages that are
understood by others
- Leadership: inspiring and guiding groups of people
- Change catalyst: initiating and/or managing change in the
workplace
- Conflict resolution: negotiating and resolving disagreements with
people
- Building bonds: nurturing instrumental relationships for business
success
- Collaboration and cooperation: working with coworkers and business
partners toward shared goals
- Team capabilities: creating group synergy in pursuing collective
goals
Personal Competencies
These are competencies that determine how we manage ourselves, as
discussed below.
Self-Awareness. Knowing one's internal states,
preferences, resources, and intuitions. This competency is important in the
workplace for the following reasons:
- Emotional awareness: recognizing one's emotions and their effects
and impact on those around us
- Accurate self-assessment: knowing one's strengths and limits
- Self-confidence: being sure about one's self-worth and
capabilities
Self-Regulation. This involves managing one's
internal states, impulses, and resources. This competency is important in the
workplace for the following reasons:
- Self-control: managing disruptive emotions and impulses
- Trustworthiness: maintaining standards of honesty and integrity
- Conscientiousness: taking responsibility and being accountable for
personal performance
- Adaptability: flexibility in handling change
- Innovation: being comfortable with an openness to novel ideas,
approaches, and new information
Self-Expectations and Motivation. In other words, these
are the motional tendencies that guide or facilitate reaching goals. This
competency is important in the workplace for the following reasons:
- Achievement drive: striving to improve or meet a standard of excellence
we impose on ourselves
- Commitment: aligning with the goals of the group or organization
- Initiative: being ready to act on opportunities without having to be
told
- Optimism: being persistent in pursuing goals despite obstacles and
setbacks
Emotional Intelligence's Impact on the Bottom Line
To date, many companies have focused their selection criteria and training
programs on hard skills (e.g., technical expertise, industry knowledge,
education) and the assessment of personality traits. Topics including
competencies such as stress management, assertiveness skills, empathy, and
political/social acumen were never measured in the selection process or
focused on in training and development programs. In reality, these are
critical success factors that should not be dismissed and have a direct
impact on the bottom line.
For example, the Hay Group states that one study of 44 Fortune 500
companies found that salespeople with high EQ produced twice the revenue of
those with average or below average scores. In another study, technical
programmers demonstrating the top 10 percent of emotional intelligence
competency were developing software three times faster than those with lower
competency were.
Additional research unearthed the following success stories.
- A Fortune 500 company in financial services proved that its high EQ
salespeople produced 18 percent more than the lower EQ salespeople
produced.
- One recent study conducted by a Dallas corporation measured that the
productivity difference between its low-scoring emotional intelligence
employees and its high-scoring emotional intelligence employees was 20
times.
- A Texas-based Fortune 500 Company had utilized personality assessments
for candidate selection for years with little results in reducing turnover
in its high-turnover sales force. After turning to an emotional
intelligence-based selection assessment and EQ training and development
program, it increased retention by 67 percent in the first year, which it
calculated added $32 million to its bottom line in reduced turnover costs
and increased sales revenues
- A large metropolitan hospital reduced its critical care nursing
turnover from 65 percent to 15 percent within 18 months of implementing an
emotional intelligence screening assessment.
- A community bank that reduced staff by 30 percent due to the sluggish
economy assessed the remaining workforce for their emotional intelligence
competencies and placed them in the right role for those competencies, and
the bank is now producing more with fewer people.
Conclusion
When it comes to hiring intelligent employees, it seems companies prefer
people smarts to book smarts, a new survey finds. The job site's survey
also found that, in this post-recession era, more than a third of employers
place greater emphasis on hiring and promoting people who have high emotional
intelligence quotients, or EQ.
Further, CareerBuilder found that 61 percent of employers surveyed said
they are more likely to promote workers with high emotional intelligence
instead of candidates with a high IQ. What's more, 59 percent of hiring
managers said they wouldn't hire someone with a high IQ but a low EQ.
"In a recovering economy, employers want people who can effectively
make decisions in stressful situations and can empathize with the needs of
their colleagues and clients," Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human
resources at CareerBuilder, said in a statement accompanying the release of
the survey data.
Lastly, through a series of recent studies conducted by ZERORISK HR, Inc.,
a correlation was found among low emotional intelligence and theft and
shrinkage. One other study in the construction industry yielded results
showing that workers with low emotional intelligence had a higher likelihood
of getting injured while on the job.
All of these cases are starting to prove the value of having highly
emotionally intelligent employees make up your workforce if you want a
competitive advantage in this highly competitive business world.
Mike
Poskey is president of ZERORISK HR, Inc., a Dallas-based human
resources risk management firm and exclusive provider of ZERORISK Hiring
System. For more information, visit www.ZERORISKHR.com or e-mail Mike at