Why emotional intelligence is a must in the workplace

Emotional intelligence in the workplace can be easily overlooked, however, it’s often a key factor in organisational success. Not only is it important for us as business leaders, but for everyone on the company ladder.

We’re taking a closer look into emotional intelligence at work, why it should be a continuous focus for your company and the benefits it can offer along the way.

What is emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence (EI), also referred to as emotional quotient (EQ), essentially refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotion. While emotional intelligence and organisational success may feel seemingly unrelated, it’s become increasingly clear that they go hand and hand.

Overall, high emotional intelligence makes better and more effective employees in the workplace. In fact, a report from Vantage Circle found that EI is responsible for 58% of job performance. When it comes to EQ at work, these skills can help your organisation with:

• Improving communication and collaboration: Taking the time to listen, recognise and understand coworkers gives your team members a strong foundation for working together productively. This creates a shared sense of empathy and allows your workforce to prioritise communication and collaboration at all times.

Why emotional intelligence is a must in the workplace

• Keeping motivation high: Emotional intelligence also goes a long way toward both self-motivation and motivating others at work. Those with a high EQ tend to understand the deeper meaning behind their goals, which results in a strong intrinsic motivation to achieve these objectives. Moreover, as employees with emotional intelligence continue to stay productive and work toward these goals, their co-workers will be determined to keep pace. Statistics from SavOfNs even found that 80% of employees consider emotional intelligence crucial for developing their careers.
• Building resilience and stress-management abilities: As a result of disruptions across industries, managing uncertainty has become a requirement for businesses and their employees. This means resiliency, agility, stress management and other skills for coping with change are critical. Luckily, emotional intelligence improves your ability to engage emotions and rational thinking simultaneously. Subsequently, these individuals tend to have more contained and comfortable reactions to stressful situations and uncertainty.
• Improving conflict resolution: Conflict typically arises at work as a result of clashing ideas and overwhelming emotions. This can quickly escalate if individuals allow these emotions to take over and control the process. Employees with great EQ, which includes self-awareness, interpersonal skills and empathy, are better able to understand their feelings and the emotions of other individuals. With empathy and understanding at the forefront of their actions, they can avoid conflict before it arises and manage the situation more effectively.
• Elevating the decision-making process: Emotions are a critical part of any decision making process. EQ skills can help individuals recognize how emotions are affecting their decision making, as well as how to manage them moving forward. After this understanding, emotional skills can then be used to work in your favour when making decisions or avoided when an emotional response would be disadvantageous.

Emotional intelligence isn’t always something you’re simply born with — it’s a skill like any other that can be honed with the proper training. This means anyone, from us business leaders to every employee at your company, can boost their EQ and be more productive.

When it comes to improving EQ skills in the workplace, ICML can help. Contact us to discuss training options or learn more about our emotional intelligence course.