EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

INTRODUCTION

Salovey and Mayer (1990) was the first to establish the term “emotional intelligence” (EI).  They implied that the two distinct mental processes, thinking and feeling, actually work together.  Being able to deal with people effectively is central to the social success.  People began to see that managers who were aware of their own emotions as well as those of others were better able to challenge, motivate and inspire teams into productive work than the more traditional manager who has tried to divorce emotion from the workplace.  In an emotionally intelligent people the mind is trained to detect and control the brain’s natural tendency to over-ride reason with emotion.

Emotional intelligence (EI) and social intelligence (SI) are convenient phrases focusing attention on the underlying emotional and social components of human talent.  This skill can be broken down into two sub-competencies: self-awareness and self-regulation.  The expression “emotional intelligence” is described in terms of four domains that is perceiving, using, understanding and managing emotions.  Emotional intelligence is now considered an important factor in workplace performance.  Emotional intelligence can also be understood as being related to personality traits.  There are 4 cognitive abilities of emotional intelligence that is the:

• ability to accurately perceive emotions in oneself and others;
• ability to use emotions to facilitate thought;
• understanding how different emotions arise and change over time; and
• ability to use the knowledge from the first three branches to manage emotions and translate them into constructive action

An integrated concept of emotional, social, and cognitive intelligence competencies is a convenient framework for describing human dispositions and as a theoretical structure for the organization of personality.  The traditional views of intelligence are:

• emotional intelligence competency that is the ability to recognize, understand, and use emotional information about oneself that leads to or causes effective or superior performance;
• social intelligence competency which is the ability to recognize, understand and use emotional information about others that leads to or causes effective or superior performance; and
• cognitive intelligence competency which is the ability to think or analyze information and situations that leads to or causes effective or superior performance

According to Boyatzis, (1982) emotional Intelligence competencies have been shown to be significantly related to individual performance both in cognitive tasks where the individual is under stress and in tasks where individuals are interdependent on one another.  Goleman (2001) and Boyatzis et al. (2000) identifies the 4 overarching clusters of EI skills as:

• self-awareness
• self-management
• social awareness, and
• relationship management

 

DEFINITION

Emotional intelligence (EI) is being define as “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions.”  Mayer and Salovey (1993, p. 434) define EI as the “ability to advantageously deal with one’s own emotions and those of others in problem solving and decision making”.  The goal here is to be able to utilize your own emotions as well as the emotions of others to accomplish a prescribed action.  The two sides of emotional intelligence can be seen as individuals being able to deal with both their interpersonal and intrapersonal.  When one explores the emotions, one is looking at attributes such as: empathy, self-image (values, beliefs, goals, etc.), social skills, feelings, flexibility, happiness, stress tolerance, optimism, assertiveness, and impulse control, just to name a few.

Emotional intelligence is the capacity to understand emotions and manage them effectively, and also to understand and effectively manage the emotions of others.  Most of EI’s definition consists of 3 categories of abilities:

• evaluation and expression of emotion,
• regulation of emotion, and
• using emotions in decision-making.

Salovey and Mayer (1990) initially defined emotional intelligence as a set of 4 specific cognitive abilities that involve the capacity to identify, reason with and utilise emotions effectively that are:

(1)   perceive emotion;

(2)   integrate emotion to facilitate thought;

(3)   understand emotions; and

(4)   manage emotions.

On the other hand Bar-On’s (1997) measure of EI incorporates the 5 sub-constructs of:

(1)   interpersonal skills;

(2)   intrapersonal skills;

(3)   adaptability;

(4)   stress management; and

(5)   general mood.

 There are 2 distinct EI models that is the ability model and a mixed model.  The ability model is derived from the combination of emotion and intelligence.  The ability models focuses on traditional forms of intelligence combined with emotion.  The key dimensions of an ability model are the ability to:

• monitor own and others’ feelings and emotions;
• discriminate those emotional states; and
• use this information in effectively guiding one’s thinking and action

The mixed model of EI combines traits with social behaviours and competencies.  The elements of a mixed model are measured by assessing 5 scales:

·         intrapersonal (High scores indicate that individuals are in touch with their feelings and have positive feelings about their life)

·         interpersonal (High scores indicate good interpersonal skills)

·         adaptability (High scores indicate ability to cope with environmental demands and pressures)

·         stress management (High scores indicate ability to handle stress)

·         general mood (High scores indicate ability to enjoy life)

Most researchers found that both the mixed and ability models have a positive relationship between non-cognitive capabilities and desired interpersonal and organizational outcomes.

 

DEVELOPING EQ

EI help to reduce some of the negative aspects of work life that may inhibit a positive climate.  By developing emotional intelligence, managers or group leaders have been able to acquire greater self-understanding, exhibit better health, improve morale and quality of work life, and have been able to foster and build better working relationships.  Emotional intelligence also determines the potential for learning practical skills based on 5 competencies: self-awareness, motivation, self-regulation, empathy, and adeptness in relationships.  EI can be improved through appropriate training.  All of these are considered to be important influences on organizational performance.

An individual may be able to excel in an environment which requires minimal social interaction, but become frustrated in one which requires complex communications and interactions.  EI could become a significant component in identifying the skills needed to successfully perform a job, and an EI assessment can be utilized in the recruitment, hiring, and promotion process by trained human resource professionals.  Bringing on the right people once the determination is made for what would be the best for the organization, EI looks beyond the KSA (knowledge, skills, and abilities), and delves into the more soft skills, the emotions.

EQ AND LEADERSHIP

It is found that a leader’s ability to influence the behavior of their followers can strongly influence performance outcomes.  Mayer et al. (2000a) hypothesized that employees who have high levels of EI may have smoother interactions with members of their work teams.  Individuals who have high rates in the ability to perceive accurately, understand, and appraise other peoples’ emotions will better able to respond flexibly to the changes in their social environments and are able to build supportive networks.  A high level of EI in individuals might enable them to be better leaders and better able to monitor the feelings of work group members, and take the appropriate action needed.

 

EQ AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT

There are emotional elements underlying the dynamics of many aspects of today’s organization(s): change management, empowerment, team-work, shared learning, and open communications are among the few dynamics.  One of particular interest is how an organization handles the significant change transformation.  Empathy by the change agents for the concerns of the recipients can help alleviate some of the tension and avoid projecting the negative sentiments.

In an organization’s quest to either maintain or gain the completive edge, the emphasis shifts to the human asset of the organization.  One of the key benefits to be gained by an organization using EI is having staffs that are able to regulate their own emotions when dealing with others.  EI assessments can be an effective tool in identifying the proper placement.  Occasionally, organizations promote individuals who performed well in their current job function, only to have the individual fail upon promotion.

 

CONCLUSION

Whether one is looking for a better method to recruit and hire, or a means to make the best of the assigned organizational staff, the ultimate goal is to improve overall performance and make the group more effective and efficient.  Emotional intelligence is seen as an influential means to provide valuable insight in trying to enhance the chances of the organization to achieve its strategic goal(s).

Individuals with high EI are found to be

• more aware of their own feelings as well as the feelings of others,
• better able to identify their feelings, and
• better able to communicate them when appropriate

Studies have also found that individuals high in emotional intelligence are expected to progress more quickly.  No matter who we are, and where we work, play, or socialize, we are always trying to influence someone about something.  Emotions can influence behaviour choices in the workplace, and it can also affect the rational courses of action.

 

References:

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Virginia K. Bratton, Nancy G. Dodd, F. William Brown, (2011),"The impact of emotional intelligence on accuracy of self-awareness and leadership performance", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 32 Iss: 2 pp. 127 - 149