Emotional intelligence refers to the ability individuals have to recognize and control their emotions. Self-awareness, motivation, self-regulation, empathy, as well as social skills, are all key components of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence has become a widely used term in HR departments around the world, but researchers believe it is past time for it to be taken seriously. Embracing the complexities of human emotion in the workplace can result in practical benefits like improved employee collaboration and a happier workplace.
What is emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence (EI) relates to the ability to understand, regulate, and analyze emotions. According to some, emotional intelligence can be trained and enhanced, whereas others believe that it is an inherent trait.
It’s important to be able to express and control emotions, but it’s also important to be able to understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. Think about a world where you could not discern whether a friend or coworker was sad. Emotional intelligence is a keyword used by psychologists to talk about this capacity. Some specialists believe it is more significant than IQ regarding overall life success.
Why is emotional intelligence important?
We all know that the smartest people aren’t always the most successful or the most fulfilled in life. You will likely know someone who is very smart intellectually, but also socially awkward and has shortcomings at their job or in their personal relationships.
Intelligence, or your intelligence quotient (IQ), isn’t enough to be successful in life. Your IQ can assist you with getting into college, but it’s your emotional intelligence (EQ) that will allow you to deal with the stress and emotions of your final assessments and examinations. Both IQ and EQ exist together and work best when they complement one another.
Emotional intelligence affects:
- Your performance at work: High emotional intelligence can assist you in navigating the social difficulties of the job, leading and motivating people, and achieving professional success. When evaluating potential candidates, many companies now consider emotional intelligence to be just as important as technical ability and use EQ testing before onboarding.
- Your physical health: If you can’t control your emotions, likely, you can’t control your stress. This can result in major health issues. Uncontrolled stress elevates blood pressure, inhibits the immune system, boosts the risk of heart attacks and strokes, causes infertility, and accelerates the aging process. Learning to manage stress is essential to improving emotional intelligence.
- Your mental health: Uncontrolled emotions and stress can have a negative impact on your mental health, putting you at risk for anxiety and depression. You’ll find it difficult to create strong connections if you can’t comprehend, accept, or manage your emotions. This could then make you feel lonely and isolated, exacerbating whatever mental health concerns you already have.
- Your relationships: You will be better equipped to express yourself and comprehend how others feel if you understand your emotions and how to control them. This allows you to communicate with others more effectively and build stronger relationships in both your professional and personal lives.
- Your social intelligence: Being in touch with your emotions is a social benefit, as it allows you to connect with other people and the world around you. You can differentiate a friend from an enemy, judge when someone is interested in you, alleviate stress, manage your nervous system through social dialogue, and feel appreciated and happy if you have social intelligence.
How is emotional intelligence measured?
A range of different tests exists to assess emotional intelligence. Self-report exams and ability tests are the best way to measure emotional intelligence. Because they are the easiest to administer and assess, self-report tests are the most popular. Individuals who take the test rate their own behaviour in response to questions or remarks.
For example, a test taker might agree or disagree with a statement like “I often feel that I understand how others are feeling.” Ability tests, on the other hand, including putting people in circumstances and then evaluating their abilities. People are frequently required to demonstrate their abilities, which are subsequently graded by a third party.
Here is a popular emotional intelligence test:
- ID – Emotional Intelligence is a self-report assessment that detects your preferred style from 16 different personality types and then describes how that style affects you in different situations. It gives you insight into how you handle your emotions and connect with others. As a result, it provides a comprehensive image that can help you better understand and manage your style and preferences.
The 3 components of emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is divided into four levels: emotional perception, the ability to reason using emotions, the ability to understand emotions, and the ability to control emotions.
1. Perceiving emotions
In order to comprehend emotions, it’s important to observe them. In many cases, understanding nonverbal indicators such as body language and facial emotions are necessary.
2. Reasoning with emotions
Using emotions to enhance thinking and cognitive activity is the next phase. Emotions help us in prioritizing what we pay attention to and how we respond to it. We emotionally respond to elements that grab our attention.
3. Understanding emotions
Our emotional impressions might take on a variety of meanings. When a person expresses unpleasant emotions, the observer must determine what is causing the individual’s anger and what it could indicate. If your supervisor is enraged, it might be because they are unhappy with your job, because they received a speeding ticket on their way to work that morning, or because they had a disagreement with their partner.
4. Managing emotions
The ability to appropriately manage emotions is a fundamental component of emotional intelligence. Emotional management involves regulating emotions and behaving appropriately, as well as reacting to the emotions of other people.
Impact of emotional intelligence
In recent years, there has been a surge in interest in teaching and learning social and emotional intelligence. Many schools now include social and emotional learning (SEL) lessons as part of their curriculum.
These projects hope to better kids’ health and well-being while at the same time helping them with their academic success and helping to prevent bullying. Emotional intelligence can be used in a variety of situations in everyday life, including in the workplace.
Thinking before reacting
Emotionally intelligent people understand that emotions are powerful, but they are also fleeting. When a highly charged emotional event occurs, such as getting upset at a coworker, the emotionally sensible answer is to wait before responding. This allows everyone to control their emotions and think more clearly about all the issues at hand.
Greater self-awareness
Emotionally intelligent individuals are very good at imagining how others might feel, but also at comprehending their own thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, individuals with greater self-awareness can understand the various circumstances that might have an impact on their emotions.
Empathy for others
Being able to think about and sympathize with what other people are experiencing is a big aspect of emotional intelligence. This usually requires considering how you would react if you were in a similar situation.
How to use emotional intelligence
If you’re self-aware, you’ll be able to predict how your actions will affect your emotions and those of your coworkers. This allows you to take a more holistic approach to your work and, as a result, boost your productivity.
There are times in every workplace when tensions rise. This can often result in powerful emotions, which can lead to unhealthy behaviours. You can maintain a check on these behaviours and stay in control if you can apply self-management.
You’ll be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes if you can show empathy. Furthermore, you’ll see how this translates into increasing their productivity and ensuring their well-being. Employee engagement and conflict resolution become more efficient when you have good social skills and relationship management.
How do you improve emotional intelligence?
It’s important to be emotionally knowledgeable, but what can you do to develop your own social and emotional abilities? Here are a few suggestions.
Listen
The best way to understand what other people are feeling is to pay attention. Pay attention to what people are attempting to say to you, both verbally and nonverbally. Body language conveys a lot of information. Consider the various things that may be contributing to someone’s emotions when you sense that they are feeling a specific way.
Empathize
It’s important to be able to read people’s emotions, but you also need to be able to put yourself in their shoes to genuinely grasp what they’re saying. Attempt to be empathetic to others. Think about how you might react if you were in their shoes. Such activities can help you acquire a deeper emotional knowledge of a situation and, in the long run, greater emotional skills.
Reflect
Emotional intelligence also includes the ability to reason with emotions. Think about how your emotions might have an impact on your decisions and actions. Furthermore, have a look at the role that other people’s emotions play while also thinking about how they react.
Why is this person in such a terrible mood? Could there be any elements that you are not aware of that could be the cause of these feelings? What makes your feelings different from theirs? It might be easier to understand the role of emotions in how individuals think and behave when you investigate such problems.
Book your emotional intelligence assessment
HRID has more than 20 years of experience designing assessment tools in a web-friendly environment to meet various corporate workforce selection demands. The ID-Emotional Intelligence Test not only provides you with insightful information about your emotional intelligence and your personality. It also offers meaningful tips as to how you can improve your emotional intelligence considering your profile. Human resource specialists, academics, and psychometric testing experts collaborated to create our solutions. HRID’s success stems from its inventive spirit as well as its excellent customer service.