Emotional intelligence, often termed EQ, is defined as the ability to recognise, understand, and manage emotion, both our own and those of others. Traditionally perceived as part of the imprecise arena of ‘soft-skills’, EQ is rapidly coming to the fore of desirable workplace attributes. Workplaces that prioritise emotional intelligence, from leaders through to new joiners, are consistently attracting and retaining top talent. It has been identified as one of the most essential skills for the future of work. Those that have trialled emotional intelligence programmes frequently see a significant increase in productivity across a spectrum of workplace roles. At the same time, however, challenges to the “wholesale” adoption of EQ metrics in the workplace are emerging.
This “explainer article” explores emotional intelligence in the workplace. It explains what emotional intelligence is, how emotional intelligence is measured, what it means to be emotionally intelligent and how beneficial it can be to the workplace.
What is emotional intelligence in the workplace?
The concept of emotional intelligence drew on the work of clinical psychologist Reuven Bar-On, whose study focused on two key questions: “what makes people successful?” and “what makes people happy?” The concept matured and entered mainstream culture in the 90s through Daniel Goleman’s book Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more the IQ. Drawing on brain and behavioural research, Goleman offered an answer to why the people with the most impressive career trajectories were often not the people with the highest IQ. Emotionally intelligent people, Goleman argued, succeed in work and in their relationships and they are even more likely to be physically healthy. Goleman also explains that emotional intelligence is not fixed - through conscious effort anybody can improve their emotional intelligence.
What are the five components of emotional intelligence?
Goleman’s study provided a framework for emotional intelligence, condensing the concept into 5 components:
Self-awareness: the capacity to recognise your emotions, strengths, and values and how they impact on others.
Self-regulation: the ability to manage your emotions and control your impulses, adapting to changing circumstances.
Motivational skills: using your emotions to push yourself towards a goal and maintain that drive in the face of set-backs.
Empathy: the ability to understand and relate to the feelings and circumstances of others.
Social skills: the ability to manage relationships.
How is emotional intelligence measured?
The best measure of emotional intelligence has been the subject of much academic debate. Broadly. tests of EQ are divided between self-reporting and ability-based questions. However, sometimes a 360-feedback approach is also incorporated. Self-reporting requires a participant to rate themselves in relation to various statements, whereas ability-based questions require participants to solve emotion-based problems, where the answers are either correct or incorrect.
Self-reporting is a generally accepted to be a better gauge of typical behaviour, whilst ability-based questions demonstrate maximal performance. However, some regard self-reporting tests as fundamentally flawed: Sigal Barsade of Wharton and Donald Gibson of Fairfield University stated “one might compare this approach to assessing mathematical skills by asking respondents, ‘How good are you at solving algebraic equations?’ rather than asking the person to actually solve an algebraic equation.”
What does it mean to be emotionally intelligent?
What it means to be emotionally intelligent is a complex questions best explained by abilities often attributed to people with particularly strong EQ:
Adept at reading a room.
Awareness of when others are struggling.
Able to embrace change.
Good judges of character.
Able to identify complex emotions.
Often difficult to offend.
How can you tell if someone is emotionally intelligent?
Indicators of emotional intelligence are something people would recognise in the day-to-day, but may not actively acknowledge. Recruitment is one of the key moments when employers will seek to identify candidates who are emotionally intelligent. Whilst EQ is something that can be tested for, an interview can prove just as useful, potentially even bypassing the challenges associated with self-reporting.
EQ red-flags in an interviewee:
Inconsistencies in body language, such as getting visibly flustered when saying they cope well under pressure. This may potentially demonstrate both lack of self-awareness and difficulty with self-regulation.
Blaming past failures on others, which could demonstrate a lack of empathy.
Misplaced humour or arrogance which may indicate show poor social skills.
A lack of preparation may be a sign that motivation is not a strength.
Social intelligence vs emotional intelligence
Howard Gardener established a theory of multiple intelligences. Two of these intelligences are: interpersonal intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence. These form the bases of social and emotional intelligence respectively. Social intelligence is largely recognised as outward looking whilst emotional intelligence focuses on the internal. Whilst several studies find it simpler to consider the two as distinct competences, it is easy to see how the two are inextricable. An example of social skills and empathy generally attributed to emotional intelligence is the ability to understand the emotion of others and capitalise on that knowledge. This example is a decidedly outward facing approach to emotional intelligence skills.
Benefits of emotional intelligence in the workplace
From technological advances and the impact of globalisation in the workplace, to acquiring new skills and coping with stress, the benefits of high emotional intelligence in the rapidly evolving world of work are clear, as Aneta Buckthought explains in her article. Some examples are explored below.
Client facing
The ability to understand a client’s perspective is crucial to many forms of employment. Studies have shown that those with particularly high emotional intelligence flourish in careers such as: real estate, salesperson, call centres. These employees rely on their strong empathetic skills to build personal relationships with individuals. Emotional intelligence is particularly important when dealing with a difficult or disgruntled individual, enabling an employee to take on the underlying concerns without getting offended or side-tracked by a hostile delivery.
Coping with stress
Coping with stress comes more naturally to those who have high self-awareness and self-regulation capabilities. They are able to identify stress triggers and moderate their behaviour before their work is affected.
Teamwork
Emotionally intelligent people are generally adept at communication, picking up on both verbal and non-verbal cues. Seamless teamwork is often the product of people high in social skills.
Leadership
Leaders are able to set the tone of a company. As discussed below, leaders with particularly high emotional intelligence are able to get the most out of their employees because their employees want to do more.
Presenting
Considering the audience is integral to a successful presentation. Empathetic employees are strong at identifying what will have the desired emotional impact in a particular group and tailoring a presentation to suit a particular audience.
Feedback
Emotionally intelligent people are simultaneously well-placed to give and receive feedback. Empathetic supervisors can give difficult feedback sensitively and clearly having considered the perspective of the employee. An emotionally intelligent person receiving feedback is able to self-regulate emotions that arise when receiving negative feedback and use them to motivate change. Emotionally intelligent people can better move on from mistakes and take learning points forward.
Examples of emotional intelligence in the workplace
One of the benefits of having an emotionally intelligent workplace, led by leadership with a high EQ, is the discretionary effort employees will put in. Discretionary effort is the difference between ‘have to do’ and ‘want to do’. A headline grabbing ‘Pizza’ study acts as a prime example. Dan Ariely, behavioural psychologist conducted a week-long study of a semiconductor factory and explains the study in his book Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations. Employees were promised one of three things if they were able to assemble a certain number of chips per day: a cash bonus, a voucher for free pizza or a complimentary text-message saying ‘Well done!” from the boss. A fourth control group were offered nothing. Whilst pizza increased productivity the most on day one, earning the study its popular title, the overall motivator was the compliment. Perhaps the most surprising result was that the productivity of those offered the cash bonus actually decreased. Feeling supported and acknowledged by superiors is a key to increased discretionary effort.
Emotional intelligence activities in the workplace
How to build emotional intelligence of employees
Prioritise self-awareness: encourage employees to pay attention to how they are feeling and the actions they take as a consequence. Self-assess what their strengths and weaknesses are and consider under what circumstances these attributes come into play.
Techniques for self-regulation: as part of self-awareness, an employee will learn to identify particular emotional triggers. Self-regulation is what an employee does in response. Developing techniques for managing spikes of emotion is important, such as taking a minute to cool off before you respond, or recognising when you need help and asking for it.
Build social skills: active listening is a fundamental component of social skills, not just to what people say but interpreting their entire body language. Incorporate communication workshops to your regular training programme across all levels.
Enhance empathy: encourage employees to put themselves in the place of others, particularly in conflict circumstances.
Encourage self-motivation: motivation comes more easily when focusing on the aspects of your job that give you fulfilment. Encourage employees to identify what drives them and see how they can further incorporate that into their working life.
Is there an emotional intelligence skills gap?
Global recruitment specialists Michael Page have conducted a study of employers establishing how highly they value emotional intelligence. Frequently ranking higher than work experience (45%), emotional intelligence is clearly a desired attribute. However, when considering the CVs submitted by candidates, key emotional intelligence attributes, such as listening and empathy, are rarely cited. Equally, the wording of job adverts does not reflect the desire for emotional intelligence; like CVs, job adverts rarely mention empathy or listening skills.
So perhaps, rather than a skills gap, it is a communication gap. Employers, whilst desiring emotionally intelligent workers, are not adequately identifying those desirable traits in their recruitment materials and, as a result, candidates are not highlighting those skills in their CVs, prioritising instead academic achievements and relevant work experience.
Emotional intelligence and communication in the workplace
A more effective line of communication with employers can be opened up through accurate articulation of emotions. In terms of support, an employer is better placed to offer the right kind of support if an employee or a supervisor can specifically identify negative emotions: stress, anxiety, frustration, sadness, anger, disappointment. These are often difficult to identify separately, but adequate support for one will not necessarily address the other.
Additionally, studies have shown that emotionally intelligent people can adeptly challenge their employers when they feel it is needed, i.e. addressing perceived injustices or possible improvements with senior management.
Low emotional intelligence in the workplace
Low emotional intelligence can become a problem in the workplace, particularly in periods of change or when trying to address performance issues. The ability to adapt and assimilate feedback is crucial to progressing in the workplace. But people with low EQ are likely to struggle more with these skills than others. Employers should take these differences in emotional intelligence into account when facing challenging personnel situations.
Emotional intelligence and leadership
Relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership
Emotionally intelligent leaders are often best placed to motivate employees to contribute the greatest discretionary effort. Whether increasing output in basic production, or encouraging the contribution and development of innovative ideas, high EQ leaders can revolutionise a workplace.
Building this kind of relationship between management and workers occurs not just in recognising achievements but in effectively handling failures. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, is often cited as a leader with particularly high EQ. His leadership is attributed with re-energising the tech-giant, attracting, retaining and listening to innovative individuals across the organisation. One example of his emotionally intelligent approach to leadership comes in the disastrous launch of the company’s twitter bot Tay in March 2016. Within 16 hours Tay was shut down having been co-opted by hackers posting offensive content. Nadella’s response to the team was far from admonishing; he said “know that I am with you… key is to keep learning and improving.” When asked what inspired this encouraging response in the face of a spectacularly public failure, Nadella answered that it was critical for leaders to give employees “air cover to solve the real problem. If people are doing things out of fear, it’s hardor impossible to actually drive any innovation.” Nadella empathised with his employees, identifying their fear of reprimand, and recognised its lack of utility in the situation. His response re-defined the event as a learning experience.
A key trait of emotional intelligence in the workplace is the capacity to utilise criticism to motivate beneficial change. The CEO of Gap received an email from a 5 year old, Alice Jacob, criticising the selection of girls-wear when compared with the boys. She wanted more than just “pink” and “princesses”. CEO Jeff Kirwan personally responded to Alice. He detailed the options girls currently had, which included “dinosaurs, firetrucks, sharks, footballs, and some of our superheroes.” But crucially, whilst highlighting the diversity currently in stock, Kirwan also acknowledged that GapKids could be doing more. By writing to Alice, and acknowledging her genuine criticism as an opportunity for company growth, Kirwan displayed emotional intelligence in a way that was both commercially effective, generating customer loyalty and good publicity, whilst establishing an internal precedent that all feedback, whether from CEOs or 5-year-olds, will be valued.
Emotional intelligence and effective leadership
Prioritising emotional intelligence brings a human element to the fore in a corporate environment. Sheryl Sandberg COO of Facebook clearly demonstrated this by altering the company’s bereavement policy in the face of the loss of her husband. Sandberg took the time, whilst coping with devastating loss, to recognise the company could do more to support their employees in similar circumstances.
Whilst emotionally intelligent leaders have the potential to turn personal heartbreak into a moment for supportive policy change, they also have the capacity to capitalise on a ‘heartbreak’ moment to garner support. Founder of the Body Shop, Anita Roddick, explained in a study led by Stanford University professor Joanne Martin, that employees’ emotions could be tactically leveraged : “whenever we wanted to persuade our staff to support a particular project we always tried to break their hearts.” She was particularly aware of how timely deployment of visible emotion could garner the most support. It is worth noting that the projects Roddick was trying to gain support for were the company’s chosen charities. But, as Adam Grant, organisation psychologist, says in his critical piece on emotional intelligence, “there is a fine line between motivation and manipulation.” In a recent article, Goleman explained that this behaviour can demonstrate a lack of ‘empathetic concern’, i.e. the aspect of empathy that allows someone to care about others, instead of merely understanding how the think and feel.
Emotional intelligence and graduates
Why do graduates need to develop emotional intelligence?
Employers want diversity in their workforce. As stated in the Michael Page study referenced above, employers increasingly desire emotionally intelligent employees over those that may have, traditionally, had the most impressive CV.
Emotional intelligence is something that one can build throughout life. Therefore, by practicing some of the techniques set out above, a graduate can get a better grasp on their own emotions and how to make them work for themselves whilst also making themselves more appealing to an employer and better prepared for meet the challenges of an increasingly unpredictable world of work.
Trends towards recruiting high EQ graduates
Building emotional intelligence techniques into daily life is a time-efficient way to develop one of the most desirable traits employers will look for and, increasingly test for. Adopting emotional intelligence techniques is a way to become familiar with the sort of concepts that may be encountered during these tests.
Performance in interviews, presentations, networking events, would all be improved by an increased understanding of your own and other’s emotions. Increased emotional intelligence would enable graduates to effectively manage stress under tough questioning or devise a presentation that sways the minds of recruiters.
High EQ graduates can compete with AI
As mentioned above, AI and automation are significant drivers of change in the future of work. To stand out not only against other candidates, but against the machines of tomorrow’s workforce, graduates must build their emotional intelligence. The importance of the human element in the workplace is also emphasized in this report by Workhuman.
Emotional intelligence and employment law
There is, however, a risk to employers in placing too much reliance on EQ. Whilst emotional development varies from person to person, certain groups of people present as outliers in an emotional intelligence scale. In a study conducted by livingautism, individuals with Asperger’s syndrome scored significantly lower on an emotional intelligence questionnaire. Focusing on emotional intelligence as an indicator of workplace success, both during the recruitment process and through performance reviews, may therefore disadvantage employees, or prospective employees, who are neurodiverse. Not only does that lead to a significant risk of excluding potentially valuable talent but it is important to be aware that neurodivergent applicants or employees may fall within the protection of the disability provisions of the Equality Act. Employers need to consider if their use of EQ places or could place those applicants or employees at a disadvantage and, if so, take steps to mitigate that risk.
It is important to recognise that not all roles require a high level of emotional intelligence. Client-facing roles lend themselves to those with higher EQ. However, studies have shown that people with particularly high emotional intelligence struggle in comparison to their colleagues in particular roles, such as: mechanic, scientist, and accountants.
Strong consideration should be given to deploying EQ assessments strategically where they will provide the employer with the greatest benefit but not viewing it as an essential quality across all roles and responsibilities.
Neurodiversity in the workplace
Emotional intelligence and neurodiverse talent
It is estimated that around 15% of the UK population is neurodivergent. Neurodivergent people (as opposed to neurotypical) can be autistic, have ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, or a range of other neurodivergent experiences. Around 50% are not aware of their neurodivergence. It follows, therefore, that a lot of workplaces are already unintentionally neurodiverse.
Living with autism or ADHD means thinking in a different way than most people, which brings benefits but also challenges in a workplace designed for neurotypical people. Thinking differently affects the way one experiences emotions and social interactions, which means that all 5 components of EQ mentioned above are impacted. Overreliance on EQ as a metric of potential and success could result in excluding the breadth of talent and innovation that can be brought to the workplace by neurodivergent employees.
Accessing neurodiverse talent
The CIPD notes that lack of awareness and understanding around neurodiversity has led to hiring processes, management practices and workspaces being designed only with neurotypical people in mind. This can exclude people from accessing the jobs they would excel at or, in some cases, excludes them from employment altogether.
In order to provide equal opportunities to neurodiverse candidates, employers should review recruitment processes and consider any adjustments or alternatives to make the process fair and accessible to all. Employers may also need to think about how to attract neurodivergent applicants to their workplace in the first place, and how to retain them. Basic considerations such as office lighting, noise levels and equipment can have a significant positive impact on someone who is neurodivergent, whilst also being low-cost to implement and, in practice, benefiting everyone. Ensuring that there is an appropriate level of support and mentoring, as well as an open culture with relevant training and awareness is essential. These steps will not only help an employer access and retain neurodiverse talent but might also be necessary to comply with legal obligations to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.
Encouraging neurodiversity in the workplace
Diversity consultant Susan Woods writes: ‘Diversity of thought is fundamental to understanding the power of diversity and inclusion. It’s what creates learning, stimulates the possibility of innovation and actively demonstrates respect.’ The different way a neurodiverse person thinks has commonly been associated with positive attributes, including creativity and innovation, lateral thinking, strategic analysis, bringing a 'different perspective', development of highly specialised skills and consistency in tasks once mastered, amongst others.
Advances in technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are significant drivers of change in the future of work. The way we work, the types of work we undertake, and our expectations of work are changing. Many labour intensive, repetitive, and mechanic tasks are increasingly at risk from automation and this trend will only continue. Demand for talent that can think outside the box and bring creativity and innovation to the workplace will increase.
Emotional intelligence and the future of work
As the workplace incorporates more technology into work processes there is an increasing concern that the need for people to undertake certain tasks is diminishing. What distinguishes machines and people is, arguably, their emotional capacity. Whilst employers may be automating many aspects of working life, there is still a vacuum for a technological replacement for the very human ability to read a room, or support employees through failure, or lead a company out of stagnation through inspirational and inclusive leadership.
Comment on emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence or EQ is a concept that has had a dramatic impact on the workplace. Since entering the mainstream, EQ tests have swamped the marketplace, driven by the evident organisational benefits of an emotionally competent workforce.
As discussed above, putting too much onus on emotional intelligence as a metric for assessment of candidates or current employees can be a risk to employers and employees. Adopting EQ as an arbiter of value could mean placing those with a low EQ at a disproportionate disadvantage when compared with the needs of their job role, or unfairly excluding neurodiverse people from opportunities.
However, dedicating time and effort into cultivating emotionally intelligent practices in the workplace, with emotionally intelligent leaders setting the example, can be a positive force for change. A workforce that understands their own emotions and those of others cannot help but stand out from competitors.