Why Emotional Intelligence Training is Key to Your Success

Did you know emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of success in the 21st-century workspace? Emotional intelligence has been ranked among the top 15 skills needed for professional success by the World Economic Forum. 

So, what’s emotional intelligence, how does emotional intelligence training work, and how can you benefit from it in the workspace and beyond?   

What is emotional intelligence (EQ), and why is it important?  

Emotional intelligence (EI or EQ) was coined by two American psychologists, Peter Salovey and John Mayer, and brought into fashion by Dan Goleman in his book of the same name. Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions, as well as the feelings of others. It is essential because it allows us to navigate social interactions, build strong relationships, make better decisions, and effectively manage stress and conflicts.
  
“The emotionally intelligent person is skilled in four areas: identifying emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions, and regulating emotions,” as Salovey and Mayer write in their research.
   
Emotional intelligence is a power skill that can be learned and developed to help you advance personally and professionally.   

Empathy for Others  

Empathy is an essential aspect of Emotional Intelligence. It is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. When we develop empathy for others, we become more aware of their emotional states and can respond accordingly, which can help build better relationships. It also allows us to communicate more effectively with others, as we can see things from their perspective. Empathy helps us positively impact people’s lives and fosters a sense of community and connectedness.  

Building EI Skills is Fundamental  

Building emotional intelligence (EI) skills is fundamental to personal and professional growth. EI involves understanding and managing your own emotions and those of others. It’s critical to building strong relationships, effective communication, and effective leadership. Developing EI skills can help you navigate complex social situations, increase your empathy and compassion for others, and improve your ability to manage stress and conflict. By building your EI skills, you can become more self-aware, better able to regulate your emotions, and more effective at communicating with others.  

What are the benefits of having high emotional intelligence?  

High emotional intelligence has numerous benefits, including better self-awareness, improved communication and relationships, effective conflict resolution, enhanced leadership skills, increased empathy and understanding of others, and higher personal and professional success.  

Emotional intelligence: a critical skill for career success   

Emotional intelligence has a tremendous impact on your professional success and the success of your organization. The World Economic Forum studied people working in various industries and found that 90% of top performers are also high in emotional intelligence.
   

Moreover, research by TalentSmart tested emotional intelligence alongside 33 other essential workplace skills and found that it’s the strongest predictor of performance, explaining a complete 58% of success in all types of jobs. Emotional intelligence is vital for leadership roles. 
  

” When it comes to building strong leaders, organizations are now turning to the concept of emotional intelligence to help give leaders a new type of intelligence edge above and beyond technical aptitudes,” wrote the authors of a Hay Group study that surveyed 44 Fortune 500 companies. 
  

The study concluded that organizations that value and widely use emotional intelligence are 3.2 more effective at leadership development.   

Emotional intelligence in practice   

What does improved emotional intelligence look like within the workplace? It begins with better self-awareness. Employees can better understand their biases when they might be reacting poorly to things or how their actions may impact those around them. This kind of understanding is a critical foundation for improving behaviors.
   

Building from that self-understanding is self-management. This is when employees can use techniques to address emotions at the moment. This could be as simple as counting backward or doing a breathing exercise, but it makes all the difference in a heated moment. These techniques help minimize conflict within the workplace. 
  
The last step is social awareness, wherein employees become more aware of the network of relationships that make their workplace run. This step uses empathy to empower employees to understand each other better, improving listening, collaboration, and relationship management. 
  

But how can employees implement these steps in the workplace?   

Using emotional intelligence training in the workspace   

Higher emotional intelligence in the workspace has been associated with better employee engagement, retention, and job satisfaction. According to a recent report by Harvard Business Review, emotionally intelligent companies can engage and empower their workforce while cultivating interpersonal skills that allow employees to develop innovative solutions.   
 

Nevertheless, formal upskilling is more closely focused on technology skills. In contrast, according to The Jobs of the Future report published by the World Economic Forum, emotional intelligence skills are less frequently targeted with formal reskilling. That’s why the importance of focused emotional intelligence training is only increasing. It’s not enough to simply mention its importance in a staff meeting. Improving emotional intelligence requires concentrated effort.
   
Emotional intelligence training allows you to model better behavior, work directly with employees on applying skills to work situations, and provide a space for open reflection on the topic. It also communicates the seriousness of the topic to those who may need to realize its importance.
    

The results can be transformative as employees and managers become better equipped to communicate, collaborate, and improve performance. But more than those immediate results, building a workplace culture that values emotional intelligence establishes a foundation for long-term success through happier, more productive, and more engaged employees.  
 

At Elev8, we know that success in the digital era requires the right blend of tech, power, and business skills. Our training programs combine key power skills like emotional intelligence with the most relevant cutting-edge technologies to equip you and your workforce with the skills needed to succeed in 2023 and beyond.   
 
Want to build an emotionally intelligent workforce and ensure your business success? Learn more.