Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a powerful indicator of the level of satisfaction and success in both life and work It can be defined as the ability to identify, understand and regulate one’s own emotions and those of others. That is, it is the ability to manage emotions well. Both ours and those of others.
Since Daniel Goleman made this concept famous, the study of feelings and emotions has taken off. The tensions of modern life, the great competition in the personal and work fields, the stress and the demand for constant professional improvement, among other factors, contribute to altering the emotional state of most individuals and their well-being
Emotional intelligence and professional development
Therefore, emotional intelligence is closely related to emotional balance. This balance not only affects personal life, but is important for work and professional development. In other words, Emotional intelligence plays a fundamental role in the workplace
Within the organization, emotional intelligence is beneficial for job satisfaction, for better leadership by superiors, for reducing stress, for teamwork, etc. Fortunately, it is possible to learn emotional skills that provide benefits on a personal and work level and that also allow for better organizational results.
Emotional intelligence in companies
Individual and collective emotional intelligence affects the organization in positive and negative ways. Organizations in which their workers have a high level of emotional intelligence experience greater employee commitment. Instead, Companies in which their workers have a low level of EI have a greater turnover of personnel higher levels of burnout, low productivity and fewer sales.
But, in addition, the negative behavior of coworkers and superiors (for example, fights, bad moods, etc.) also increases when there is a low level of emotional intelligence in the organization, which causes a work environment that favors stress and burnout.
Self-knowledge and self-regulation: two key competencies in the work environment
He self-knowledge either self-awareness It is a skill that positively affects self-confidence and success in the workplace. Besides, allows an individual to evaluate his or her values ​​and belief system , since in many cases limiting beliefs interfere with potential and professional development. Self-knowledge also allows you to evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses.
On the other hand, emotional self-regulation is extremely important in different areas of work, and in summary it is necessary for emotional control, confidence and initiative. It is also essential, for example, for making difficult decisions by executives.
Benefits of emotional intelligence at work
Evaluate the emotional intelligence of workers It can be beneficial for a company for many reasons
In addition to those we have already mentioned, below we explain other benefits and advantages of promoting emotional intelligence at work.
1. Greater productivity
The same study revealed that 10% of research subjects with a higher level of emotional intelligence performed better in their jobs than those with a lower level of EI.
Another study carried out by a Dallas company, which evaluated the emotional intelligence of all its workers, concluded that those with higher EI scores were up to 25% more productive than those with low scores.
2. More sales
In a study in the journal Fortune revealed that to those salespeople who, with a high level of emotional intelligence, managed to sell up to 50% more than those with a low level of EI.
A prestigious ranking company Fortune 500, which used personality assessment for years in an attempt to reduce its high turnover on its sales team, realized that strategy was ineffective. So, by implementing the EI assessment, which includes topics such as stress management, self-awareness or social skills, was able to reduce its high turnover by up to 67% The company estimates that more than $30 million has been saved as a result.
4. Worker satisfaction
A bank was forced to reduce its staff by 30% due to the recent economic crisis. The level of emotional intelligence of the workers who remained in the company was evaluated to place the workers in positions in the organizational structure according to the results. Due, The bank performed better with fewer staff, and workers reported being happier in their new jobs
5. Improvement in handling difficult situations
Two investigations, one in a company retail and another in a company in the construction sector, showed that workers with high EI scores handled difficult situations better and suffered fewer work accidents.
6. Better customer service
A luxury car sales company that focused its entire marketing plan on customer experience was expanding and wanted to hire the right employees to carry out the task of offering the best possible customer service. In the personnel selection process, the EI evaluation was used to select the candidates with the best profile. One year later The company was ranked in the top 10% of the best-rated automotive companies
7. Improve organizational communication
A study by the Towers Watson company concluded that EI improves communication with employees which has a positive impact on the results obtained by the company.
