Many overlook the importance of emotional intelligence, especially in a workplace environment. However, emotional intelligence is the key to building relationships, increasing motivation, and creating a strong culture within your organization.
In fact, the World Economic Forum listed emotional intelligence as one of the 15 top skills in growing demand. So, with emotional intelligence training, you can improve the skills of your employees and build a stronger, more connected team.
What is emotional intelligence and how is it used in the workplace?
Emotional intelligence is how people understand the emotions of themselves and others. That means emotional intelligence for employees is them recognizing how their colleagues are feeling and how their own emotions have an impact on their work and the work environment. It also affects how employees make decisions, communicate, and how they respond to and solve problems.
Employees use their emotional intelligence when faced with all kinds of workplace situations, such as:
Employees with strong emotional intelligence are more likely to have the skills needed to progress within your business. That’s why emotional intelligence in managers and those looking to further their careers inparticular should be regularly developed.
For more information check out our blog post on why emotional intelligence is so important at work.
The 5 characteristics of emotional intelligence
American psychologist Daniel Goleman theorized that there are five characteristics of emotional intelligence. These are:
What are the benefits of emotional intelligence in the workplace?
We know what employees use their emotional intelligence for in the workplace, but what benefits do these skills have to your business?
Communication, both verbal and nonverbal, can only be consistently positive if employees have strong emotional intelligence. Understanding nonverbal cues ensures communication is always productive, and helps prevent misunderstandings or unnecessary escalations. This is applicable when employees are communicating with colleagues, customers, and stakeholders.
When employees are aware of their own emotional state, as well as the emotional state of others, they’re in a better position to control a situation, particularly those involving heightened stress.
When employees are aware of their own emotions and the emotions of those around them, it helps them to forge stronger relationships by allowing them to offer empathy.
Emotions are powerful. They’re a driving force for the things people do and are a building block for how many people form relationships - including your employees and customers. When employees improve their emotional intelligence it also creates an overall stronger work culture and environment for all.
Once employees understand their own emotions they can better identify the emotions of others and use them to drive motivation. This is important for employees in management roles and those looking to progress.
Improve problem-solving skills
Strong emotional intelligence allows employees to approach challenges with flexibility. With flexibility, they’re in a better position to solve problems quickly and calmly.
When employees build their emotional intelligence they place themselves as contenders for promotions and career development. As a result, employees are more likely to stay with your business - which is also more cost-effective, as recruitment is an expensive and time-consuming process.
Can emotional intelligence be taught?
There isn’t an easy, nor necessarily correct answer to whether or not emotional intelligence can be taught. Some theorize that similar to an IQ, emotional intelligence can’t be learned per se. However, it can be developed.
That’s why training is vital for improving the emotional intelligence of your employees. It teaches employees how to recognize, interpret, respond to, and understand their own emotions as well as the emotions of others.
How to approach emotional intelligence training for employees
While emotional intelligence training for employees doesn’t directly lead to your business making money, it can have an incredibly positive impact on your business in a number of areas. As a result, your business will benefit in several ways, which in turn will help with revenue and profits.
Because addressing the emotions of your employees can in itself lead to heightened emotions, it’s important to approach training carefully. So, focus on what employees will gain from training, and how it will benefit them.
There are four areas of development you may want to focus on:
Around these four areas, there are other topics that can be closely linked, including people and communication training.
Learning about emotions can be a challenge for many, so micro-learning techniques ensure employees learn in short, easily-digestible bursts. Training allows employees to self-reflect and gives them new techniques for spotting emotions and triggers in themselves and others.
What are some of the best emotional intelligence training courses?
There is a wide variety of online emotional intelligence training courses employees can take. Training is appropriate for all employees, regardless of their level of seniority - especially if they’ve never received training in the past.
Ready to enroll your teams in emotional intelligence courses?
Emotional intelligence training should be a key part of your employee training and development strategy, and Go1 has a wide range of courses available that can be accessed instantly, anytime, and anywhere.
For more information on how Go1 can help train your employees, book a demo with a member of our team today.