Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a powerful indicator of the level of satisfaction and success both in life and at work . It can be defined as the ability to identify, understand and regulate one’s own emotions and those of others. In other words, it is the ability to manage emotions well. Both our own 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 field, 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 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, for reducing stress, for teamwork, etc. Fortunately, it is possible to learn the emotional skills that provide benefits at the personal and work level and that also allow for better organizational results.

Emotional Intelligence in Business

Individual and collective emotional intelligence affects the organization in both positive and negative ways. Organizations where their workers have a high level of emotional intelligence experience greater employee engagement. On the other hand, companies in which their workers present a low level of EI have a greater change of personnel , higher levels of burnout, low productivity and less sales.

But, in addition, the negative behavior of co-workers and superiors (e.g., fights, moodiness, etc.) also increases when there is a low level of emotional intelligence in the organization, resulting in a work environment that promotes stress and burnout.

Self-knowledge and self-regulation: two key competencies in the work environment

self-knowledge or self-awareness is a competence that positively affects self-confidence and success in the field of work. Furthermore, allows an individual to evaluate his/her values and belief system , as in many cases limiting beliefs interfere with professional potential and development. Self-knowledge also allows for the evaluation of one’s strengths and weaknesses.

On the other hand, emotional self-regulation is extremely important in different areas of work, and in short 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

Evaluating the emotional intelligence of workers can be beneficial to a company for many reasons .

In addition to those already mentioned, we explain below other benefits and advantages of promoting emotional intelligence at work.

1. Increased productivity

The same study revealed that 10% of the research subjects with a higher level of emotional intelligence performed more in their jobs than those with a lower level of IQ.

Another study carried out by a Dallas company, which assessed the emotional intelligence of all its workers, concluded that those with higher EI scores were up to 25% more productive than those with lower scores.

2. More sales

In a study by the magazine Fortune revealed that to those commercials with a high level of emotional intelligence managed to sell up to 50% more than those with a low level of IE.

3.Employee stability

A company in the prestigious Fortune 500 ranking , which used personality assessment for years in an attempt to reduce its high turnover in its sales team, realized that this strategy was ineffective. Then, by implementing IE assessment, which includes topics such as stress management, self-awareness or social skills, was able to reduce her high turnover by up to 67% . The company estimates that more than $30 million has been saved as a result.

4.Worker satisfaction

One 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. As a consequence, the bank had better results with less staff, and the workers claimed to be happier in their new positions .

5.Improvement in handling difficult situations

Two investigations, one in a retail company and one in a construction company, showed that workers with high IE scores handled difficult situations better and suffered fewer accidents at work.

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 the right employees to do the job of providing the best possible customer service. IE’s assessment was used in the recruitment process to select the candidates with the best profile. One year later the company was in the top 10% of the best rated automotive companies .

7.Improve organizational communication

A study by Towers Watson concluded that EI improves communication with employees , which has a positive impact on the company’s results.