​Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and deal with our emotions. The skills that contribute to emotional intelligence are self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.

Emotional intelligence has recently become a buzzword in human resources departments around the world, but researchers are pulling their heads together to say it's time to take emotional intelligence seriously.

Recognizing and accepting the nuances of human emotions at work can have pragmatic benefits, such as better collaboration between employees and a happier work environment

Understand your emotions:

In Western society, we tend not to be able to understand and deal with human emotions. This trend is spreading to other areas of life, including the workplace.

We often leave our emotions at the door when we go to work, but this has devastating effects not only on companies but also on employees (from the bottom of the ladder to the CEO). 

After all, we are emotional beings. But businesses are changing, and we are starting to offer extensive and personalized work programs and new services (e.g. mental health coverage through health insurance plans) to address the issues. people at work. In particular, this involves hiring psychologists in human resources departments: understanding your workers as well as possible and providing useful training has immediate effects on relations between employees and employers.

What are the elements of emotional intelligence?

Let's examine each element with a definition in context.

Self-awareness is about understanding yourself: knowing your weaknesses, your strengths, what motivates us, your values  and your impact on others.

These are all elements of good intuition, in fact. In practice, it manifests itself as self-confidence and a thirst for constructive criticism. If you are a manager, you may know that tight deadlines bring out the worst you have. A self-aware and emotionally intelligent manager plans their time well and gets the job done well ahead of schedule.

Self-management is the ability to control and redirect destructive urges and moods. Think about reliability, integrity, and a relaxed acceptance of the change.

It's about not letting your emotions paralyze you, and instead harnessing your positive emotions and aligning your emotions with your passions.

For example, if a team misses a presentation, its leader must resist the temptation to yell. On the contrary, he must think about the possible reasons for this failure, explain the consequences to the members of his team, and seek solutions with them.

Motivation is about appreciating achievements as an end in themselves. A passion for your job, optimism, and the energy to improve are the main characteristics of an emotionally intelligent and motivated person.

Empathy is understanding the emotions of other people. It is about thinking about the emotions of other people, especially when making decisions.

Empathy can be seen in particular in expertise in recruiting and retaining the best talent, the ability to develop other people, and the sensitivity necessary to bridge cultural gaps. Imagine a consultant and his team trying to sell a service to a potential foreign client, such as a Japanese client.

After their sales speeches, the customer remains silent, which the team interprets as a sign of disapproval. The consultant, on the other hand, feels an interest that is expressed through body language and continues the meeting, and the team gets the assignment. This is what empathy is.

Finally, social skills are about building a relationship with others to move them in the desired direction. It’s all about influence and you can learn everything on Joy Corporate Academy website, including how to recognize manipulation.

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