Emotional Intelligence at Work

• #Staff management

The concept of "emotional intelligence" is not new. However, many HR professionals have recently begun to incorporate it into their HR strategies as well as their work with job seekers.

Let's take a closer look at what is developed emotional intelligence and how is it useful in work?

Let's start with a definition. Emotional intelligence is an individual's ability to recognize and manage his or her emotions, as well as to understand and analyze the emotional state of those around a person.

High emotional intelligence helps one to recognize the impact of emotions on behavior, decisions and outlook.

At work, it makes it easier to cope with failures and emerging stress, to overcome conflict situations, to minimize tensions in interaction with colleagues and to reduce the degree of tension when solving complex or ambitious tasks.

Emotional intelligence is somehow related to positive thinking. Positive emotions and thinking as optimistically as possible improve cognitive processes, increase attentiveness and stimulate innovative or unusual decisions. Thus, the ability to recognize and make sense of one's emotions has a significant impact on one's productivity.

Emotional potential is most evident in job interviews. Employers should pay attention to how the applicant handles excitement, how he responds to non-verbal cues (a smile, a nod, eye contact) and, most importantly, how he adapts and responds to the emotional messages of others.

If you want to learn more about emotional intelligence, we suggest reading «Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ» by renowned expert in the field Daniel Goleman.