EI is a measure of one’s ability to recognize, assess and control emotions (Cherniss & Goleman, 2001). Peter Salovey and John Mayer coined the term in 2001 (Mayer et al., 2001). These two individuals believed that human beings had a set of social intelligences that allowed them to monitor other people’s emotions and feelings. Furthermore, it caused them to distinguish those emotions and thus use the information to direct their actions and thoughts.
Emotional intelligence has four main facets: perception of emotions, cognitive use of emotions, understanding emotions and managing those emotions. Perception is the first category. Prior to using or understanding emotions, one must first detect them. This entails analysing people’s non verbal cues, facial expressions, and body language. The cognitive aspect entails the facilitation of better thinking through the use of emotions. Emotions guide the cognitive process by telling the mind what to prioritise (Weisenger, 1998). This is because emotions will already have drawn attention to those things. Step three entails understanding the emotions. Here, one must understand the context behind the emotion.
For instance, a co-worker may seem happy and energetic, but this does not necessarily imply that the individual is pleased about his colleagues’ group efforts. The person might have received a present from his wife, or may be looking forward to the end of the month when he can receive his salary. Therefore, one emotion may mean so many things. An emotionally intelligent person needs to establish the meaning behind them. The last and most complex step is managing emotions. A person who needs to cope with other individuals should know about the right emotional responses at any given time. One should control those emotions, and respond to other people’s emotions in the right way; all the latter processes make the ability model.
In order to determine whether someone is emotionally intelligent, one must carry out one or more assessment tests. Some of them include the Goleman model, the Bar-on-model, and the Trait Emotional intelligence model. These tests focus on various items, but the common thing among them is that they analyse one’s self regulatory ability, motivational ability, empathy, social skills and self awareness. People with self awareness abilities tend to understand their own emotional weaknesses, drives, needs and strengths. Additionally, they are quite truthful about themselves. They also have a fair grasp of what to expect from others. Self awareness also means staying away from too much criticism or unrealistic hopefulness. Such a trait allows one to know how people’s emotions change in the workplace (Bradberry & Greaves, 2009).
Self regulatory ability entails freeing oneself from one’s emotions. A person with this trait can cope with unpredictable external circumstances in their workplace. For instance, if an industry faces competition from external manufacturers, then people with self regulatory abilities can handle such a situation better than those who do not have such a trait. Furthermore, these people do not succumb to their impulses; they are logical and thoughtful about their decisions (Kluemper, 2008).
Motivational ability refers to one’s capacity to perform beyond others’ expectations. This person wants to achieve irrespective of the incentives or payments at stake. In this regard, the person will act passionately about his responsibilities. The person always looks for challenges and has a longing to learn. Motivation causes people to become restless. When such people go through immense failures, most of them may pick themselves up after. They have an ability to maintain optimism after such setbacks, and commit highly to organizational gaols.
One must also be empathetic. Such a person considers other people’s feelings. He/she realises that differences in cultures and upbringing cause people to respond differently to similar events. Lastly, the person must also have social skills. This means that the individual should be friendly towards others. Furthermore, the person needs to have a wide circle of friends or acquaintances. He/she should build rapport easily with others.
Relevance of emotional intelligence in modern organisations
Globalisation is a critical factor in modern organisations. People from different countries and cultures are now working together under one firm. Therefore, this presents a different set of challenges in the workplace. Emotional intelligence allows employees to build a rapport between one another even when they have diverse backgrounds (Saavedra, 2000).
The competitive landscape has increased tremendously in many western nations. Consequently, employers need to retain a higher number of employees than ever before. Since emotionally intelligent people have mastered their emotions, then they can handle significant or negligible changes in a company’s internal or external environment. Furthermore, they can stick to organisational goals and thus enhance productivity.
These employees are highly valuable and often increase a company’s ability to retain talent. Skills that emanate from emotional intelligence are also relevant in mentoring and coaching programs. These people can create rapport with colleagues, subordinates or other individuals who need to do training or coaching. Many of them can contribute towards maintenance of a company’s workforce (Book, 2000).
Emotional intelligence also plays a role in promoting healthy workplace relations, especially with regard to conflict. A company with an emotionally intelligent culture will have employees who can tolerate each other’s differences. Therefore, many of them will welcome different ideas in their workgroups. This means that such organizations are rich in creative ideas. Emotional intelligence fosters innovation and organizational development.
Research shows that communication is a central constituent of business success. Companies habitually succeed in different areas of business when they promote a reasonable level of assertiveness amongst their employees. Emotionally intelligent employees have superior communication skills that enhance workflows in their organisations. They also have a certain degree of autonomy that allows them to explore their respective talents (Salovey & Sluyter, 2002).
One of the most crucial roles of emotional intelligence in businesses is its ability to improve or inspire leadership skills. When a leader is overly reactive to his emotions, he or she might sidetrack from his company’s goals (Goleman, 2000). Emotional intelligence allows one to control these feelings thus facilitating better leadership. Additionally, it causes a person to connect with one’s followers. This means that the leader can easily inspire others when the need arises. Emotional intelligence causes leaders to cope with the stresses and strains of handling enormous responsibilities (Stock, 2001). Leaders need to stay focused on company goals but still be motivated enough to keep trying after facing a setback. These qualities are always prevalent among emotionally intelligent people. Additionally, the leaders need to build teams that work cohesively. This can only be done if the person has an ability to perceive other people’s emotions, and control one’s emotions.
References
Book, H. (2000). One big happy family: emotional intelligence in the office. Ivey Business Journal, 65(2), 44.
Bradberry, T. & Greaves, J. (2009). Emotional intelligence. San Francisco, Publishers Group West.
Cherniss, C. & Goleman, D. (2001). The emotionally intelligent workplace. The consortium for research on emotional intelligence in organisations, 4, 56.
Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business review, 12, 45-55.
Kluemper, D. (2008). Trait emotional intelligence: the impact of core self evaluations and social desirability. Personality and Individual differences, 44(6), 1402-1412.
Mayer. J., Caruso, D., Sitarenios, G. & Salovey, P. (2001). Emotional intelligence as a standard intelligence. Emotion, 1, 232-242.
Saavedra, J. (2000). EQ figures. Tampa Bay Business Journal, 20(38), 30.
Salovey, P. & Sluyter, D. (2002). Emotional development and emotional intelligence: implications for educators. NY, Basic books.
Stock, B. (2001). Emotional intelligence and CEO succession. Corporate Board, 22(128), 11.
Weisenger, H. (1998). Emotional Intelligence at work. San Francisco, Jossey Bass.