Importance of Emotional Intelligence At The Workplace

We have grown up listening that those who have high IQ can achieve success and can reach at the top of their career. While this still holds true that high intelligence can get you to many places but in today’s world what makes an individual stand out in a crowd is he critical skill of emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize one’s own and others’ emotions and to understand the effects emotions will have on others and the surroundings. This understanding is used to guide our thoughts and ways of responding. It also includes the ability to manage emotions and utilize the understanding of them to facilitate thinking, decision making and maintaining relations at the workplace.

CORE COMPETENCIES OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

When we think about emotions, people often believe that anything to do with emotions is about being sensitive or being weak. And to think about emotions at workplace may seem unusual because the popular belief up till a few years ago was that there should be no space for emotions in the workplace. In contrast our current understanding suggests that people will have emotions and emotional experiences at the workplace and it is critical to build upon emotional intelligence by focusing on the development of the core competencies. These are:

• Self-awareness – Emotionally intelligent people are aware of their strengths, weaknesses and emotions that help them manage their interactions with others.
• Empathy – Empathy is the ability to put yourself in another person’s situation. It doesn’t involve feeling sorry or bad for the other person but developing an understanding of what the other person might be going through.
• Self-regulation – It is the ability of handling difficult situations, pressure, emotional experiences while refraining from having significant emotional outbursts and keeping emotions in check by channelizing experiences to have positive outcomes.
• Social skills – Emotionally intelligent people show genuine care and respect for others and can work in collaboration within teams. They manage and maintain their relationships with others in a healthy manner.
• Relationship management – It is the process of building and maintaining positive relationships with co-workers, managers, leaders, and others who can help to achieve goals.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIEGENCE

Emotional intelligence plays an important role in various aspects of a person’s work life. It has been seen that individuals who have a higher emotional quotient at work are better at managing themselves and their relationships and have greater satisfaction on account of enhanced productivity at the workplace.

Numerous tasks in organisations are accomplished by working with other people and clear communication is an important aspect of working in a team. Understanding others and managing emotions while interacting can help form better connections allowing for smooth functioning across situations that emerge at work. This is facilitated on account of enhanced skills at conflict resolution and making decisions while taking multiple perspectives into account and ensuring that individuals within teams feel they are being heard, understood and valued.

From a leaders standpoint this then becomes a critical set of skills that enables the development of a more harmonious environment at the workplace. By being able to ensure that there is greater connectedness between teams and building on the levels of engagement through these skills there is an improved work culture at the organization which leads to better productivity.

CONCLUSION

Emotional intelligence is an invaluable aspect of today’s workplaces and an emotionally intelligent workplace improves communication, motivates employees, and creates an environment in which employees feel safe to express and communicate. It empowers leaders and employees to be empathetic towards each other.

To know more about the Fortis Workplace Mental Health Initiative write to us at [email protected] or call on +918588807193.

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