Running Head: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE WORKPLACE
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Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace
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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE WORKPLACE 2
Abstract
Emotional intelligence is vital in managing human resource in any organizations. The technical
skills that make one get the first job offer might not determine whether this particular person will
get a promotion or a next job offer. Many organizations consider the emotional aspect of an
individual when determining their effectiveness in the workplace. Emotional intelligence, which
is mostly termed as emotional quotient (EQ), indicates an individual's capacity to reason and
analyze a situation and how he/she reacts reasonably. At the workplace, emotional intelligence
helps employees develop self-awareness, self-regulation, internal motivation, social skills, and
empathy that are important for being assertive, time and stress management, and resolving
conflicts that help organizations be successful. This literature review analyzes the importance of
emotional intelligence in the workplace.
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Introduction
Since the global economy has become more competitive, companies are looking for
employees with capabilities beneficial to the companies' objectives. For the last 20 years, the
human resource departments argued that workers with the highest intelligence quotient (IQ) were
likely to make organizations successful (Miao, Humphrey & Qian, 2017). But according to
Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory of 19880s, intelligence quotient played the least role in
establishing inter-personal and intra-personal intelligence in employees (Drigas & Papoutsi,
2018). Steve Covey, in his book, supports Gardner's arguments where he notes that cognitive
abilities have little impact on determining whether an individual will be successful or not (Serrat,
2017). As years have passed, many literature pieces have been written on emotional intelligence
in the working environment where most scholars have agreed that emotional intelligence is more
important in the workplace than intelligence quotient (Serrat, 2017).
Consequently, many HRMs (human resource managers) are including the idea of
emotional intelligence as a criterion of evaluating potential employees (Vratskikh, Al-Lozi, &
Maqableh, 2017). Many organizations have incorporated the concept of emotional quotient (EQ)
in determining the suitability and performance of employees. Therefore, emotional intelligence is
critical in the workplace. The technical skills earned that earns employees the first job might not
determine the necessary promotion or the next job offer. Managers and leaders in organizations
are now considering emotional intelligence when promoting employees since it is used in
coaching teams, controlling functions, managing stress, and helps an organization collaborate
with others. Lack of emotional intelligence in the workplace has far-reaching effects resulting in
poor employee engagement and a higher employee turnover rate.
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Literature Review
Emotional intelligence theory
Sony and Mekoth (2017) define emotional quotient as having the ability to manage and
understand individuals' emotions and people around that person. According to Serrat (2017),
emotional quotient refers to the ability to be aware of one's emotions and to be able to express
them in a balanced manner hence adjusting to handle inter-relational conflicts more reasonably.
Daniel Goleman first coined the word emotional intelligence in 1995 in his book titled
"Emotional Intelligence." According to Goleman, people considered human emotions on the
surrounding very important (Goleman, 2021). Goleman defined EQ as the ability to differentiate
emotions, derive emotions, emotions awareness, and capability to uphold intellectual
development. In defending the EQ concept, Goleman derived the five components of EQ that can
be used to manage emotions.
Self-awareness
The first component in the EQ model is self-awareness. To Serrat (2017), self-awareness
helps identify and comprehend the individual attitudes and emotions and drives. According to
Goleman (2021), self-awareness involves understanding oneself, understanding why you feel and
what makes you feel. To Sony & Mekoth (2017), some of the hallmarks of self-awareness
include realistic self-assessment, self-deprecating sense of humor and self-confidence. By
understanding one's emotions, one can easily identify the impact of a given emotion both to
oneself and other members of the organization.
Self-regulation
Self-regulation involves having the skill to relay upsetting desires and moods and having
the partiality to append conclusions and, more importantly, think before taking any necessary
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE WORKPLACE 5
action (Miao, Humphrey & Qian, 2017). To Vratskikh, Al-Lozi, & Maqableh (2017), self-
regulation involves being in charge of what one says and does whilst rejecting the temptations of
making irrational decisions. Therefore, this calls for one to be in charge of their actions which
are essential in reducing the probability of compromising a person's value. Some of the
hallmarks of self-regulation include integrity, openness to change, trustworthiness, comfort with
ambiguity, initiative to think and act creatively, having the drive to succeed, and actively show
and apply conscientiousness (Vratskikh, Al-Lozi, & Maqableh, 2017).
Internal motivation
Internal motivation creates the boundary between those who are motivated by passion
and those who are motivated by money. Internal motivation entails what triggers the passion for
working for internal reasons that defy external rewards such as money and status. Internal
motivations include the inner vision of what is essential in life, having the curiosity of learning,
having the joy of doing things, and having the drive to pursue goals with zeal and persistence
(Phillips & Chen, 2018). Some of the hallmarks of internal motivation include organizational
attachment, organizational commitment, optimism even when faced with obstacles, and strong
appeal to achieve (Phillips & Chen, 2018).
Empathy/ social awareness
Empathy entails having the capability to comprehend the emotional makeup of fellow
employees. To Sony & Mekoth (2017), social awareness or empathy calls for an employee to
acknowledge the emotions of other team members and, more importantly, get a good
comprehension of their emotional makeup. Within the organizational context, it is important to
treat people based on their emotional makeup. For an employee to be empathetic, he/she should
understand and see things from other employees' point of view. To Serrat (2017), social
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE WORKPLACE 6
awareness in EQ calls for understanding in nature and being truly in touch with demands within
an organization and behaving per the given situation. Some of the hallmarks of social awareness
include valuing diversity, building and retaining talent, service to customers, and appreciating
organizational goals.
Social skills
Social skills involve having the capability to manage relationships and build networks
(Goleman, 2021). The hallmarks of social skills include conflict resolution, ability to build and
lead teams, persuasiveness, effectiveness in leading change, and motivating people.
Importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace
According to Kotsou et al. (2019), profit is the most crucial element that determines if a
venture is to be adopted within a business model. The same criteria can be used in the case of
EQ. According to Sony & Mekoth (2017), various researchers have indicated that adopting the
concept of EQ within organizations has contributed to better job performances and enhanced
leadership skills and, more importantly, increasing the profits of organizations. The concept of
EQ has been incorporated in organizational behavior that tends to understand the behavior of the
human resource. Among the factors of production, the human resource (labor) is the most crucial
one; hence the management team is encouraged to provide a conducive environment to facilitate
the best of these unique resources (Serrat, 2017). Human practices in the modern competitive
business world seek the best talent among employees who can easily incorporate their unique
abilities to achieve the set organizational goals. This indicates that modern managers are more
concerned with employees who have a better EQ than IQ, which in the last two decades was
never the case (O'Connor et al., 2019). Employees with higher IQ were considered to be smart.
However, these employees were only good with their jobs but had difficulties in dealing with
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their environment. Today, human resource departments seek employees who are all around and,
more importantly, have a better understanding of their emotions which is essential in dealing
with the ever-changing business environment (Phillips & Chen, 2018). Employees who have
incorporated the concept of EQ are likely to cope with stress, manage time, resolve conflict,
negotiate a better deal, and be assertive. The combination of these attributes intermingles easily
with the organizational environment that is composed of diverse factors.
Time management
Organizational objectives are limited by time. As a result, this is reflected in the
employees required to manage their time and get things done within the stipulated time. As
Goleman states, in managing time, one will need EQ (O'Connor et al., 2019). Self-awareness
helps employees to identify how, why and when they get destructed. According to Kotsou et al.
(2019), self-awareness will make an employee detach himself from ideologies such as "this is the
way the company is" and motivate himself by utilizing wasteful time. To Goleman (2021), these
are the type of employees that organization should headhunt as they tend to manage their time
effectively by detaching from activities that are likely to consume more time. According to
Phillips and Chen (2018), time management requires employees to have difficult conservation
that requires employees to learn the art to say "no" to the social groups within the organization.
An organization will have people who behave differently. For example, a company may have
employees who love to gossip and spend more time discussing issues that are not work-related
during work hours. The component of empathy and social skills calls for employees to say "NO"
to these groups (Vratskikh, Al-Lozi, & Maqableh, 2017).
Stress management
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Stress is always present within an organization. Within the organizational context, stress
involves a state of emotional or mental strain or tension resulting from demanding circumstance
(Goleman & Boyatzis, 2017). Stress within the work environment can result from ambiguous
tasks, polluted work environment, deadlines, the job itself, and workloads (Drigas & Papoutsi,
2018). Despite organizations developing various strategies to reduce stress levels within the
organization, such as a flexible work environment, stress is still present. However, with the
concept of EQ, employees are encouraged to cope with ambiguity and managing emotions.
According to Sony & Mekoth (2017), employees who manage their emotions are likely to reduce
stress levels. Stress is detrimental in the production process. Employees who cannot manage
stress are prone to errors, increased cases of absenteeism, and reduced levels of production.
When an organization has a larger number of employees who cannot manage their emotions and
who cannot cope with demanding conditions, it will be unproductive, affecting the overall
performance of an organization (Goleman, 2021).
Assertiveness
Hodzic et al. (2018) state that standing up for oneself is important, but what matters is
how it is carried out. Assertiveness entails having the ability to express feelings, beliefs, and
thoughts without violating the rights of others or disrespecting other employees in an
organization (Goleman, 2021). Within an organization, there are two types of assertive
employees, raised in a collective culture that raises these individuals to be humble, passive and
put others first. On the other hand, employees are raised in an individualistic culture where more
emphasis is placed on self rather than a group, and in most cases, they are aggressive (Mattingly
& Kraiger, 2019). However, EQ does not discourage employees from being assertive, but they
are encouraged to respect their fellow workmates. An organization is made of people from
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various and diverse backgrounds. Employees embrace diversity through being assertive calls for
employees to be open and communicate openly and directly (Sony & Mekoth, 2017). Through
assertiveness based on EQ, employees from diverse backgrounds feel respected regardless of
their opinion, thoughts, and feeling, which in the end run increase employees' organizational
attachment (Hodzic et al., 2018). To Serrat (2017), when employees feel attached to an
organization, they are happy and satisfied with their work. Employees who are happy and
satisfied with their jobs are good employees, and good employees are good for business
(Mattingly & Kraiger, 2019). Organizational productivity is a function of employees'
productivity defined by less stress, high motivational levels, organizational attachment,
organizational commitment, and high levels of satisfaction (Goleman & Boyatzis, 2017). All
these can be traced back to other employees respecting them.
Conflict resolution
Conflicts are ever-present with an organization. Conflict can be intra-personal,
interpersonal, intra-group, inter-group, among others. According to Goleman (2021), it's
important to address various conflicts that arise within the organization. To O'Connor et al.
(2019), conflict can be detrimental to the production process. When there is conflict, the
employees are affected, which affects their capability to undertake any activities. Vratskikh, Al-
Lozi, & Maqableh (2017) states that when an organization spends much of its time resolving
conflict, much of the time is taken from focusing on the set objectives to resolve conflicts. When
conflicts become severe, violence may erupt, resulting in legal action among members and even
to the organization. In other cases, employees may be forced to quit such an organization, and in
the process, an organization may be forced to part ways with influential employees. All these
indicate that conflict should be discouraged. However, EQ helps employees to resolve conflict
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through social skills. Through social skills, employees can build healthy relationships, and in
case any conflicts arise, they can address these conflicts before they escalate into issues beyond
solving (Hodzic et al., 2018).
Conclusion
The emotional quotient (EQ) is an important area in modern human resource
management practices. Modern human resource management is seeking employees who can
easily manage their emotions in their environment. Organizations that include the emotional
quotient concept in the recruitment of employees are more likely to perform better than those
who are still embracing IQ rather than EQ. Through EQ, employees embrace self-regulation,
self-awareness, empathy, social self-awareness, self-regulation, and internal motivation essential
towards time and stress management, being assertive, and resolving the conflict, which is
essential towards successful companies.
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References
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Goleman, D. (2021). Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence. More Than Sound LLC.
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need to work on? Harvard Business Review, 84(2), 1-5.
Hodzic, S., Scharfen, J., Ripoll, P., Holling, H., & Zenasni, F. (2018). How efficient are
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Kotsou, I., Mikolajczak, M., Heeren, A., Grégoire, J., & Leys, C. (2019). Improving emotional
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