|  |
Insights
One of the leading executive job search firms and job placement agencies in Thane, India
Emotional intelligence in the workplace Human Resource Management Trends and Issues: Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the Workplace Issue Summary Over the past several years, the term Emotional Intelligence has received much attention as a factor that is potentially useful in understanding and predicting individual performance at work. This paper examines the roots of the emotional intelligence movement and issues surrounding its application in human resource management. Background The term Emotional Intelligence first appeared in a series of academic articles authored by John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey (1990, 1993). These publications generated little attention. Two years later, the term emotional intelligence entered the mainstream with Daniel Goleman's 1995 best-seller Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ and subsequent articles in USA Weekend and Time Magazine (October 2, 1995). More recently, Goleman's latest book, Working With Emotional Intelligence (1998), has caught the attention of human resource practitioners. What is Emotional Intelligence? The concept of emotional intelligence is an umbrella term that captures a broad collection of individual skills and dispositions, usually referred to as soft skills or inter and intra-personal skills, that are outside the traditional areas of specific knowledge, general intelligence, and technical or professional skills. Most of the authors on the topic note that in order to be a well adjusted, fully functioning member of society (or family member, spouse, employee, etc.), one must possess both traditional intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (dubbed EQ). Emotional intelligence involves being aware of emotions and how they can affect and interact with traditional intelligence (e.g., impair or enhance judgement, etc.). This view fits well with the commonly held notion that it takes more than just brains to succeed in life - one must also be able to develop and maintain healthy interpersonal relationships. Taken from this perspective, emotional intelligence is nothing new. According to Mayer and Salovey (1993):
|
