The benefits of emotional intelligence at work
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, 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 labor fields, the stress and the demand of a constant professional improvement, among other factors, contribute to alter the emotional state of most individuals and their well-being .
Emotional intelligence and professional development
Therefore, emotional intelligence is intimately 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 field of work .
Within the organization, emotional intelligence is beneficial for job satisfaction, for better leadership of superiors, to reduce stress, to work as a team, etc. Luckily, it is possible to learn the emotional skills that provide benefits in the personal and work plane and that, in addition, allow to obtain better organizational results.
Emotional intelligence in companies
Individual and collective emotional intelligence affects the organization in a positive and negative way. Organizations in which their workers have a high level of emotional intelligence experience a greater commitment on the part of employees. Instead, the companies in which their workers have a low level of EI have a greater change of personnel , higher levels of burnout syndrome, lower productivity and fewer sales.
But, in addition, the negative behavior of co-workers and superiors (for example, fights, bad humor, 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 competences in the workplace
The self-knowledge or self-awareness it is a competition that positively affects self-confidence and success in the workplace. Further, allows an individual to evaluate their values and belief system , since in many occasions the limiting beliefs interfere in the potential and the professional development. Self-knowledge also allows one to evaluate one's strengths and weaknesses.
On the other hand, emotional self-regulation is extremely important in different areas of work, and in a summarized way it is necessary for emotional control, trust and initiative. It is also essential, for example, to make difficult decisions on the part of 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 the ones 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 the research subjects with the highest level of emotional intelligence yielded more in their work than those with a lower level of IE.
Another study conducted by a Dallas company, which evaluated the emotional intelligence of all its workers, concluded that those with higher IE scores were up to 25% more productive than those with low scores.
2. More sales
In a magazine study Fortune revealed that to Those who, with a high level of emotional intelligence, managed to sell up to 50% more than those with a low level of IE.
3. Stability of employees
A company of the prestigious ranking Fortune 500, who used the personality assessment for years in an attempt to reduce his high turnover in his commercial team, realized that this strategy was ineffective. Then, through the implementation of the IE evaluation, 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 calculates that they have saved more than 30 million dollars thanks to it.
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 the positions of the organizational structure according to the results. Due, the bank had better results with less staff, and the workers claimed to be happier in their new positions .
5. Improvement in the handling of difficult situations
Two investigations, one in a company of retail and another in a company in the construction sector, showed that workers with high IE 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 the customer experience, was expanding and wanted to hire qualified employees to carry out the work of offering the best possible customer service. In the personnel selection process, the IE evaluation was used to select the candidates with the best profile. One year later the company ranked in the top 10% of the best automotive companies rated .
7. Improve organizational communication
A study by the Towers Watson company concluded that EI improves communication with employees , which has a positive effect on the results obtained by the company.
