While there is no doubt that the success of an organization heavily depends on its talent pool and technical capabilities, emotional intelligence and social skills are being recognized as the essential differentiators in achieving excellence in workplaces, both business yield, and mental happiness.In other words, our ability to manage our own emotions, recognize, understand, and influence the feelings of others is the key to a flourishing organization.
The first-ever book addressing emotional intelligence in the workplace appeared in 1995 by Daniel Goleman,”Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.”Though a relatively recent realization,the past few decades sawan increasing rate of employee depression, loneliness, and poor mental health across industries making us stop and think- How did we get here? Can we go on like this forever? – Extensive research and studies to understand the factors leading to this unfavorable workspace situation have finally shone a light on some definite and reliable measures to change this course.
Some key inferences include: The Institute for Health and Human Potential’s research indicates that Emotional Intelligence skills account for 85 to 90 percent of what is required for exceptional performance and leadership. This percentage keeps growing as more Millennials enter the workforce. Another article from The World Economic Forum has ranked Emotional Intelligence as one of the top 10 skills required to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution in 2020 and beyond.
As human beings, our emotions are a significant part of our existence, and we carry them along with us everywhere. It is impossible to constrict our emotions as work emotions to stay at the workplace and personal life emotions to stay home.As per a CNBC article from Jan 2020, 61% of adults report that they sometimes or always feel lonely,which is 73% for the age group 18-22. Companies need to recognize this and adapt to the evolving emotional needs of their employees.
The role of Emotional Intelligence in workplaces
We all inherit varied levels of creativity in us. Everybody has great ideas on how to grow or improve a company’s productivity, and we would love for our inputs to be considered in what matters to us. However, the only thing that may be stopping our creativity today is our emotions. So,we need to beaware of these emotions in certain situations so that we can gauge how others will feel in a similar environment.This will help us with favorable social interactions and evoke favorable reactions from others.People with high EQ have extraordinary abilities to resolve conflict and manage team sexceptionally well.
“By teaching people to tune in to their emotions with intelligence and expand their circles of caring, we can transform organizations from the inside out and make a positive difference in our world “— Daniel Goleman.
So, what are the EQ competencies, and how do we achieve them?
After 25 years of research on the topic of EQ in the workspace, Daniel Goleman, the internationally known psychologist, formulated four domains of EQ:
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Management
- Social Awareness
- Relationship Management
The journey of Emotional Intelligence starts with Self-awareness, that is, understanding your own behavior patterns, trigger points, cognitive ability, and how these impact your decision-making ability.This is followed by Self-Management,which further builds upon your awareness by expanding your skills and learning to manage your emotions more tactfully during conflicts and work pressure.
Social awareness is to develop the ability to understand and connect to the emotions that drive the behavior of others. Your emotional connection with others is critical in building or being a part of robust and agile teams. An essential extension of emotional connection is Relationship Management.This involves the skill of holding critical conversations to address crucial matters and inspire open communication from all stakeholders. This necessary skill makes it possible to have difficult conversations that can establish trust instead of fear in colleagues.
Employees and leaders with high EQ and social skills are adept at recognizing other people’s emotions and can respond appropriately. They not only communicate their ideas effectively with their teams but build excellent rapport with colleagues. They are recognized as great team players and can easily take on leadership roles when the situation demands.The flourishing workplaces in the future with positive company culture will be built and sustained by the core competencies of the skill of Emotional Intelligence.