Sisco Final Paper pro development

Running Head: Emotional Intelligence And Employee Productiveness 1

Emotional Intelligence and Employee Productiveness

Eric Sisco

MBA 525 2015SP1- Saint Leo University


Abstract

The role of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) has started to be come more prevalent in the

business world. The expanding global economy and increase of competitors in the marketplace

has caused employers to look at different ways to evaluate and motivate their work staff. The

firms want to ensure that they are getting not only the best person for the job, but the most pro-

ductive person for the job as well. This is why the employers turn to EQ, the helps them under-

stand the employees better and gives them a better indication on how they can motivate their em-

ployees.

This paper provides a critical analysis of research conducted to show that there is a direct

correlation between employees that have high EQ and optimum performance. The research sug-

gest that employees that have higher EQ have better job performance and productiveness than

their colleagues that have lower EQ levels.


Introduction

In recent years there has been a drive to include more Emotional Intelligence (EQ) into

the hiring and training practices of employers. This is mostly because of the correlation that EQ

has in increased performance and productivity of the employee. Because of this there has been an

increased number of research projects to study why higher EQ raises productivity and produc-

tion, which in turn raises revenue for the company. This paper examines how higher Emotional

Intelligence can increase the productivity and performance in the workforce, and the effect Emo-

tional Intelligence has on motivation.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the ability to understand ones emotions and manage them

effectively. Coleman defined EQ as: “Knowing what you are feeling and being able to handle

those feelings without having them swamp you, being able to motivate yourself to get jobs done,

be creative and perform at your peak, and sensing what others are feeling and handling relation-

ships effectively” (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). The study of EQ originally started back in

1990 with Salovey and Mayer (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). Later in 1995 the book Emo-

tional Intelligence by Goleman, became a best seller and generated widespread interest in what

EQ was and how it could be used to create a better, more motivated workforce (Mishira and

Morhapatra, 2009).The different interpretations of EQ allows for categorization of the different

models that can demonstrate the differences and similarities amongst the interpretations. These

models can be described as follows. The first one is the ability model which is defined as the

model that focuses on the ability to monitor ones emotions and others emotions to help influence

ones decisions (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). The second model is the mixed ability model,

which is described as the army of non-cognitive abilities to succeed in dealing with the demands


of the environment (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). The last model, and most commonly used

one today is the personality model. This model is described as ones ability to self motivate and

regulate ones emotions to allow better decision making without allowing the emotions one feels

to overtake ones self (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). All of these models have a few things in

common; all compare one’s emotions to controlling and regulating one’s life (Seen in appendix

1). The mixed ability model and the personalty model work more with self reporting and being

self aware. The personality model is the most widely used model and this is the one that will be

use to demonstrate how people with higher EQ are more productive and self motivators in the

workplace. This model demonstrates through EQ one is able to recognize what feeling they are

currently feeling (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). They can then understand if the feeling is pos-

itive or negative and self initiate a response to move their feelings from one end of the spectrum

to the other if need be (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). Lastly they are able to initiate similar re-

sponses in others, to help control social interactions in a positive way (Mishira and Morhapatra,

2009). This does not mean that a person with high EQ is able to control all social situations,

rather they understand the best actions they need to take to deescalate emotional situations to

help provide a favorable outcome for the parties involved.

Personal Life

Emotional Intelligence can be used in both professional and personal life. The same traits

that give one a higher EQ score can also improve ones personal life. The common personal traits

that are seen in a person that has higher EQ are as follows: trustworthy, optimistic, altruistic, self

motivating, and creative (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). To advance in one’s personal life, that

person can do it so much easier if that person is a trustworthy person. Being trustworthy should

allow one to build relationships and connect with people easier than one that is untrustworthy.


Being optimistic and altruistic allows a person to generate interest and gain a following amongst

other people, which translates into a great leadership skills in most cases. Finally being self moti-

vated allows a person to initiate what needs to be done to get the job done, both personally and

professionally.

Professional life

The same traits that are desirable and prevalent in a person with higher EQ in ones per-

sonal life are also desirable in the professional atmosphere as well. Over the past decade there

has been more research in to ones EQ level and production, and how it effects ones ability to

lead and motivate as a leader (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). Although there has been a study

into the correlation between higher EQ and productive workers, there is still little know on the

exact reason why and what are the most effective ways to apply EQ (Mishira and Morhapatra,

2009).

There has been a strong correlation between one’s ability to motivate and lead and having

a higher EQ score (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). Hallmark communities found that the sales

associates that had higher EQ scores had an output of sales 15 percent higher than their target

called for, and the associates that had lower EQ scores were 15 percent short of their goal (Nick,

2008). This demonstrates that the difference in productivity can be related to EQ, in this case it

made up a 30 percent difference. Therefor showing that a lower EQ score can directly negatively

effect a company’s revenue. Whereas an employee with higher EQ score should produce higher

thus bringing the company more revenue.

Career and Emotion Intelligence

Research finding indicate that EQ equates for 58 percent of job performance (Nick,

2008). This indicates that even though a company may have an individual that has a high IQ and


a number of years of experience, they may be underproducing if they have a low EQ score. A

person’s lack of EQ can become apparent in times of recession and during any difficult time for

a firm. The person that has a low EQ will become more agitated and will not be able to handle

the stress as well as a coworker with higher EQ would be able to. The lack of EQ can turn the

workplace into a less productive one, because of the person’s lack of ability to effectively mange

their emotional state related to stress among others, thus causing the person to become less pro-

ductive and hurting the productivity of the workers around them (Nick, 2008).

Performance

The performance in a work place is driven by a number of different factors, however one

of the biggest influences is EQ (Nick, 2008). The EQ score that one has, has a strong correlation

with the performance one may have in the workplace (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009).The Hay

Group has found that sales people that have a high level of EQ generally can generate twice as

much revenue for the firm than their colleagues can that have lesser EQ (Hay Group, 2011). This

is not only tied to just the personal performance in the workplace, but is also attributed to one’s

ability to effectively work and effectively communicate in teams. Team work is growing in the

workplace, thus it is crucial for one to effectively communicate and produce in a team setting

(Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). Some of the character traits that help the team dynamic are

very common in people with high levels of EQ: they generally don't take on more than they can

handle; and they tend to focus on the positive strengths, they have in any given situation over fo-

cusing on the negatives that they cant change (Hay Group, 2011). With higher EQ one can effec-

tively manage not only their emotion, but also have the ability to effectively evaluate and help to

control the emotions of the team around them (Singhal et al., 2014). Research has suggested that

the one with higher EQ can motivate the team and are generally better leaders in the workforce


(Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). The research also suggests that the traits that are found in good

leaders are synonymous with that of individuals of high EQ scores as well (Singhal et al., 2014).

Those traits involve, having high self confidence, a better concentration on their goals, are driven

and successful in the tasks that are given to them in the workplace (Singhal et al., 2014).

Individuals that demonstrated higher levels of EQ also demonstrated more career growth

and success, compared to their other colleagues that had lower levels EQ (Mishira and Morhapa-

tra, 2009). The research discussed that this was because of the individuals ability to establish

stronger personal connections and relationships, they were able to lead more efficiently and ef-

fectively, and in general were in better health (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009).The individuals

that had higher EQ tended to be generally more satisfied with their job, which in most cases

leads to better performance and productivity for the managers and the firm (Singhal et al., 2014).

This happens as the result of the individual being able the manage their emotions and not getting

overtaken by their emotion. One should be able to effectively perform ones job as long as they

retain the ability to manager their emotion and not allow a stressful day to overtake them.

Leaders

It is imperative that a leader be levelheaded and not lose control of their emotions when

things go wrong. In business there are a number of things that go wrong in day to day operation,

and a good leader of a company should be able to handle any issues or problems that arise in a

calm and effective manner, while maintaining normal daily business operations. A manager that

has higher EQ can understand their employees feelings and better understand what makes their

employees “tick” thus giving them a better advantage to manage and motivate their employees

(Emmerling, 2012). If a manager understands what is important to their employees, then the

manager should be able to properly structure the reward and incentive plans to gain more pro-


ductivity from the workforce. Furthermore this advantage should allow the manger to put the

proper trainings in place to help raise the EQ levels of the employees themselves. The research

further discussed that a manger with high levels of EQ should have the ability to make decisions

without allowing their emotions to be the driving factor of the decision (Emmerling, 2012). This

is not to say that a good leader with high levels of EQ make decision without allowing their emo-

tion to influence the decisions in any way. Experiments have proven that the emotional part of

the brain is even involved in performing mundane tasks (Emmerling, 2012). This demonstrates

that while an effective leader still involves their emotions in the managerial decisions, through

EQ an effective manger can navigate their emotions to ensure that the any emotions are observed

but may not be a deciding factor in the decision process.

Motivation.

The mangers and leaders of an organization should be able to use EQ to effectively moti-

vate their staff and help to increase productivity and revenues for the firm. A leader cannot just

rely on the understanding of EQ and to implement in, they must also have the ability to adapt.

The business environment has one constant, everything changes (Baloch et al., 2014). A manager

should be able to have a certain level of adaptability in order to successfully motivate their em-

ployees, however if the manager has a high level of EQ, this is usually synonymous with the

ability to adapt and motivate (Baloch et al., 2014). Which the ability to adapt to the changing

business environment and the proper implementation, a management team should be able to put

the proper elements in place to motivate the employees, thus giving the firm a more motivated

productive workforce that should provide satisfactory performance. This should provide the firm

with more revenue if implemented correctly and the proper checks and balances are set into

place.


Employee Selection

Based on research finding there has a been a move towards testing incoming employees

on their EQ ability over their IQ ability (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). This does not mean that

the employers are no longer considering ones ability to comprehend as an inferior method of re-

cruitment, but rather there is a shift to take into consideration ones EQ as weighing more on the

decision to hire a candidate or not (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). It was found that candidates

with higher EQ are more willing to adapt to certain situations. The candidates with higher EQ

tend to be easier to train, as they have characteristics of wanting to seek knowledge and have a

way of looking at any given situation and seeing the positive side of the situation instead of look-

ing towards the negative (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). Hiring employees with a higher EQ

should result in lower turnover rate, and a higher employee retention rate (Mishira and Morhapa-

tra, 2009). Consider an employee with lower EQ is more prone to emotional outburst and the in-

ability to effectively control their emotional state. This could lead to this employee affecting the

work environment around them in a negative way, thus causing a stressful work environment

causing a domino effect on lowering moral and production. With this be true then the opposite

would mean that an employee with higher EQ would have the skills and ability to effectively

manger their emotional state if there were to be an incident. This means that the individual with

higher EQ would not have an emotional outburst but rather just recognize what they were feel-

ing, thus allowing them to step away or do what they need to, to rectify the situation, while not

allowing the situation to effect them or the employees around them. This would not have the

negative backlash as the scenario with the employee with the lower EQ did.

Retention.


The cost to implement EQ in the hiring process is costless change (Mishira and Morhapa-

tra, 2009). This has actually saved firms money with lower turnover rates and higher retention

rates (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). It has been reported that most of employee turnover can

be attributed to the employee not having a good relationship with their immediate supervisor

(Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). The employees in most cases only left a previous position be-

cause of things that are directly related to EQ (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). Higher EQ

should allow the employees and managers to maintain a working professional relationship. It has

been researched that managers and employees with lower levels and understanding EQ tend to be

more impulsive and reactive on their emotions, thus allowing their emotions to make the deci-

sions for them (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). This could cause for a very stressful and toxic

work Environment. Employees that have low EQ tend to be considered more unstable, thus caus-

ing their employment retention rate to be lower than a person with higher EQ (Mishira and

Morhapatra, 2009). A person with higher EQ tends to be considered a more rational person and

level headed in making decisions (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). This allows the person with

higher EQ to evaluate the situation and possibly be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to

making decisions, although this person does still have an emotional response they do not allow it

to dictate their decision. This should provide more stable work environment, thus allowing for

better productivity and growth for the employees.

Training and Emotional Intelligence

Research supports that most employers would like to be able to hire a workforce that has

a high understanding of EQ already (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). This is not the case in most

situation. As the research has shown humans are emotional creatures, they are hardwired to make

decisions on how they feel instead of making more logical decisions based on facts (Mishira and


Morhapatra, 2009). This has not gone unnoticed by employers, employers have noticed that is

they increase their employees knowledge of EQ, they can start to realize increased productivity

(Hay Group, 2011). Therefore employers have started to make changes into implementing train-

ings and classes to help their employees become more familiar with EQ and how it can benefit

them (Hay Group, 2011). Recent studies have shown the wile IQ amongst the younger workforce

is rising, EQ is on the decline amongst younger workers (Smigla and Pastoria, 2000). It has been

determined that the more complicated a job is, the more the candidate must use and understand

EQ (Smigla and Pastoria, 2000). Thus if a person in a particular job wishes to be successful in ef-

fectively navigating the position, the person should have a higher EQ.

Unlike IQ, EQ is not something that one is born with nor is it an inherited trait, it can be

taught and enhanced over time. Although EQ skills can be learned and honed over time, this is

not a quick process it may take some time to gain this skill and raise ones EQ levels. In order for

one to increase EQ one must poses the desire to want to change, the native to make the neces-

sary changes, and the dedication and commitment to stick with the changes necessary to build

higher skills in EQ. There are many ways an employer can implement training to their workforce

to increase EQ. Most of the ways an employer can implement are costless steps that the man-

agers can take to help the workforce become more knowledgable about EQ (Mishira and Morha-

patra, 2009). One very popular way is by having the employees fill out self assessments and the

managers start a process of going over the results and how to implement them (Mishira and

Morhapatra, 2009). This method generally focuses on listening trainings and other methods to

help the individuals to realize when they are feeling an emotion and what they can do to slow-

down and make the right decision (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). The second popular training

is more formal and has a some cost associated with it. This method involves getting a speaker


that is EQ certified to teach what EQ is and how it can be more effectively used, and having the

individual come to the place of employment or concert hall and hold a training session to help

the workforce better understand and increased their knowledge of EQ (Mishira and Morhapatra,

2009).

Out of the two methods the more commonly used one is the first one in which the super-

visor performs more of the work themselves. This method is preferential, because the immediate

supervisors are the ones that work with the employee, thus they are the prime candidate to imple-

ment and monitor their progress to measure it against the employees performance. The supervi-

sor can note the areas that need more improvement and effectively implement them were the em-

ployee ends them. This method is also a costless one, the supervisor is already implementing

new training and the evaluations of the employee. Thus all that need be done here is that EQ cur-

riculum be worked into the material that is being taught and evaluated.

As noted in the research EQ is quickly becoming a vital part when considering perfor-

mance. Some of the main reasons that an employer may want to implement EQ into they’re

training are as follows: EQ is critical for success in more job positions, many adults enter into the

workforce with out the tolls to effectively manager their emotional state, most employers have

the capability and tools in place to train and enhance EQ skills amongst their workers, and most

adults spend the majority of their time at their job (Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). This demon-

strates why employers should use EQ as part of the training and interviewing process for new

and existing employees.

School and Emotional Intelligence

Research has illustrated the need for EQ in he workforce, thus there has been a moment

to start training college students in EQ (Stitts, 2006). Schools have found in order to ensure that


they’re students have a competitive edge in the workforce they need to understand and be able to

demonstrate EQ skills (Stitts, 2006). Thus there has been a move to start to include the proper

training and classes associated with the adoption and implementation of better decision making

and how it related to EQ. The classes and training help to demonstrate to the students that what

the students feel may seem appropriate behavior, may not be the case because of their lack of un-

derstating how to use EQ appropriately in certain situation (Stitts, 2006). The classes also help to

demonstrate that the instigating factors may not come from the student at all but derive from cer-

tain responses from their supervisors in internships programs (Stitts, 2006). The classes help the

student recognize emotional responses and in certain circumstances, it is better to disengage then

to irritate the problem (Stitts, 2006).

Suggestions for Future Research

Research has shown that there is a positive correlation between high EQ and employee

productiveness, meaning that the higher the EQ the more productive the employee should be

(Mishira and Morhapatra, 2009). However there has not been much research done into why indi-

viduals with EQ are generally more productive than those with lower EQ scores. There are a

number of theories that discuss the reasoning on why an employee with higher EQ should be

more productive, and the traits that one normally observes in individuals with high EQ that lead

to productiveness (Mishira, et al., 2009). Therefore more research in needed to discover effective

ways to measure EQ and if the different ways that are currently used cause to much variability

amongst them to get accurate and effective measures. In addition there is more research needed

on the relationship between productivity and high EQ. It is still unknown on the actual reason

that higher EQ has a positive effect on production. Thus the need of more research to find what

aspects of EQ cause individuals with higher EQ to be more productive in the workplace.


More research is also need to determine the reliability and validity and variability of EQ

across different industries. There is little research that is done on the different ways EQ can af-

fect performance in specific industries. Future research could take supervisors and their employ-

ees across different industries and questions them about EQ to gain a base line. Then the supervi-

sor and employee could go into EQ training, or conditioning to help raise the employees and su-

pervisors EQ. This the productiveness of these employees could be measured across their indus-

try.

Other future research should conduct studies to better understand how EQ effects other

aspects of a corporate structure. For example, EQ and the effect is has on financial aspects of

business, and the implementation of new computer software. If research where to consider EQ’s

affect on these, this may help gain a more in-depth understanding of how and why higher EQ af-

fects employee productivity.

Conclusion

The research illustrates that there is a direct correlation of increased job performance and

higher EQ. The higher the Emotional Intelligence of a person the higher their ability to handle

stressful positions. This research also demonstrates that that good leaders and managers tend to

have higher EQ. While IQ still has its place, EQ has been found to have a closer relationship to

performance predictability. Maning that the higher a persons EQ the better they preform on the

job. In some studies there is question to how EQ helps to increase job performance. There is a

need for more research into EQ and how it relates to job performance and why exactly are the

driving factors that cause a person with higher EQ to be more successful. Although the research

does not cover the exact reasons of increased productivity and job performance, they have found


that higher EQ does fit synonymously with top leaders and performers across all industries.


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