Is emotional intelligence the ultimate soft skill your managers need to succeed?

In the pursuit of exceptional talent, don’t overlook the power of emotional intelligence.

Alongside technical expertise and work experience, a candidate's emotional intelligence in the workplace plays a pivotal role in their ability to lead and connect with others. When interviewing for managerial positions, assessing a candidate's emotional intelligence is as important as evaluating their technical skills and work experience. Emotional intelligence in the workplace entails being self-aware, managing emotions effectively, and demonstrating empathy and understanding towards others. It plays a critical role in establishing positive work relationships, problem-solving, and fostering teamwork.

With businesses transforming rapidly, it’s more important than ever to have a leadership team that can get employees on board for the journey ahead. Managers with a high level of emotional intelligence in the workplace can help create a collaborative culture, motivate their employees, and prioritize open communication. They can be empathetic, perceptive, and responsive to the needs of their team members. By emphasizing emotional intelligence, leaders promote effective leadership, enhance team dynamics, and cultivate a positive work environment. To identify candidates that fit with your company's values, it is essential to incorporate thoughtful interview questions and use observation to evaluate them as far as possible.

Emotional intelligence plays a pivotal role in the workplace. Employers should actively seek out individuals with technical expertise but also demonstrate strong emotional intelligence skills. It is possible to enhance emotional intelligence through training programes, improving communication, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence skills. However, some candidates naturally excel in emotional intelligence. So, if you are a candidate preparing for interviews, it's important to showcase your understanding of emotions, empathy, and your ability to build and manage relationships effectively. These qualities will set you apart from the competition.

Emotional intelligence is the key to better communication, collaboration and conflict resolution. It can help employers create high-performing agile leadership teams to overcome any challenges. It can also help encourage a dynamic working environment with empowered employees helping each other to achieve their true potential.

So let’s dig a little deeper on emotional intelligence in the workplace to see if it really is the ultimate soft skill, and how we can identify it in candidates.

Why is Emotional Intelligence Important in the Workplace?

Having a high level of emotional intelligence is not only crucial for managing internal dynamics but also plays a significant role in external interactions. It’s crucial in the supplier negotiation process, as the ability to understand and manage emotions, can lead to more successful working partnerships & outcomes. It can help successfully negotiate with suppliers, improving working relationships leading to better results.

Relationship building with colleagues is supported by emotional intelligence; having the ability to empathize, patience, and communicating effectively helps businesses overcome the many challenges they face. Individuals can understand colleagues’ perspectives, manage interpersonal dynamics, and work towards collaborative solutions. Additionally, emotional intelligence promotes a collaborative workplace by fostering pleasant and supportive relationships between employees.

The use of emotional intelligence in the workplace goes far beyond the four walls of an office, leading to more positive results generally. 

The Importance of a Learning Mindset

An important attribute for those in leadership roles is a 'learning mindset.' Unlike the widely recognized 'growth mindset,' which focuses on the belief in infinite learning possibilities, a learning mindset is about taking action, and continuously acquiring new knowledge and skills. It goes beyond simply belief and reflects a proactive approach to seeking learning opportunities and embracing personal & professional growth. 

Leaders with a learning mindset are committed to ongoing development and are motivated to apply their knowledge and insights to drive positive change within the company. This creates a culture of continuous improvement and inspires their teams to achieve their full potential.

Emotionally intelligent people are more likely to want to keep on learning rather than settling to stay in one place. This includes learning from mistakes and also reframing a mistake as an opportunity. 

Leaders with a learning mindset also help create more leaders, though a learning environment needs to be cultivated in the workplace. Let’s look at some of the other traits to help you identify emotional intelligence in a candidate.

How to Identify Emotional Intelligence in Candidates

As more and more employers seek to develop a higher level of soft skills among their workforce, it is important to be able to identify those already possessing soft skills such as emotional intelligence. We can do this by understanding the typical traits of emotionally intelligent people, these include:

• A strong sense of self-awareness
• Empathy for others
• Balanced perspectives
• Attentive listening
• Conflict management
• Receptive to feedback
• Curious and eager to learn
• Instinctively collaborative

It’s important to be able to recognize these traits in an interview setting. Questions can be structured to see if the candidate demonstrates self-awareness and empathy for other people, or they can also be about how the candidate feels about feedback to see if they mention using it to improve. 

Here are some markers to look out for:

• Do they listen attentively?
• Do they prefer to solve a problem by themselves, or find a collaborative solution?
• Can they provide an example of a time when they effectively managed their emotions in a challenging work situation?
• How do they handle feedback and criticism? Are they open to feedback and able to respond constructively?
• Can they describe a situation where they demonstrated empathy and understanding towards a colleague?
• How do they handle stress and pressure? Can they share strategies they used to stay calm and focused during demanding times?

These questions provide markers to observe and assess various aspects of emotional intelligence in candidates. It's essential to consider them within the context of the role and organization you are hiring for.

Do you need help identifying emotional intelligence in prospective employees? Our recruitment solutions include 1st stage video interviewing by our consultants skilled in identifying the talent you need to succeed. Get in touch here.