The Biggest Challenge for Hiring Managers & Human Resource Professionals

Quoting Marc Benioff, founder, chairman, and CEO of Salesforce- “Acquiring the right talent is the most important key to growth. Hiring was – and still is – the most important thing we do.” 

This means that recruiters, by finding the right talent, play an important role in the growth and success of an organization.

Is the traditional process of resume/application/interview adequate enough to bring in the right talent?  

For years, hiring managers and human resource professionals have reviewed the information candidates wanted them to see. The resumes, cover letters, and interviews leave the interviewer with traces of the candidate’s potential.

Hiring managers and human resource professionals use these parameters to select the right candidate for a company.

How can a recruiter predict that a candidate will be a top performer in the company? 

Researchers have established that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) can help predict job performance.  

What’s emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is characterized by a set of skills across: 

• Identifying emotions in oneself  
• Managing one’s personal reactions and behaviors 
• Being aware of others’ emotions 
• Managing others in the midst of their emotions.  

Identifying emotions in oneself allows an employee to see what is happening inside himself: the emotions and feelings. Increased awareness of when one is angry, sad, happy, or stressed allows for a better ability to plan for proper reaction.

An example of a proper reaction would be forming a professional, diplomatic reaction under the pressure of a wrongful accusation. Understanding one’s own emotions reveals one’s strengths and challenges. This information offers guidance in managing one’s personal reactions and behaviors.  

In a similar consideration, being aware of others’ emotions and seeing what they are experiencing brings discernment regarding the employee’s needs in order to guide the desired result. 

When a manager sees that the employees are feeling overwhelmed, they can spend time investigating the sources of the stress. They can identify that there is a pessimistic employee bringing down the team morale, or discover that the team has not been given the proper resources to accomplish the task. 

The team might need to be motivated, appreciated, or inspired in their work. This requires emotional intelligence.  

Why is EQ important? 

Emotionally intelligent employees make companies successful. 

Without emotionally intelligent employees, companies fail. Many people have difficulty understanding their own emotions and the emotions of others.  

Leaders with low emotional intelligence have lower effectiveness in the workplace as they make poor decisions in treating others, and working professionally.  

When a leader feels the pressure to produce results, they may disregard the feelings of employees or accuse them of working inefficiently. They do not recognize their own mental process to see that their emotions are driving poor leadership actions. In this way, leaders do not recognize the error of their behavior. Companies begin to suffer when the effect of unprofessional leadership influences the workforce.  

EQ creates nurturing- and solution-focused environments in which employees thrive, allowing a higher level of accomplishment. More creativity and innovation occur in a positive environment.  

In a work setting with emotionally intelligent people, everyone communicates respectfully and assertively to push for better results while encouraging smart thinking. The outdated method of pushing employees too hard with unreasonable expectations does not work anymore.  

Emotionally Intelligent leaders approach employee training and employee engagement in a way that promotes growth and in turn, brings out a more dedicated, hard-working workforce.  

How does Emotional Intelligence predict job performance? 

Researchers have found that job performance is high when EQ is high. Many factors contribute to the relationship between high Emotional Intelligence and high job performance.

EQ generates effective social interaction among employees causing better teamwork and increased employee satisfaction and engagement.  

Simon Sinek says, “Weak companies hire the right experience to do the job. Strong companies hire the right person the join their team.”  

Emotional Intelligence includes the skills to be part of a good team. High awareness and understanding of emotions joined with proper management of others yields high job performance.  

Leader Emergence 

Emotional Intelligence’s effect on job performance is seen in the increased leader emergence of an employee with high EQ.

Leader emergence occurs when an employee rises to higher positions as a result of success in dealing with teams and interactions with members of the group. It is not an appointed position but an earned position.  

Experts report that these leaders with high EQ are able to guide employees in remaining positive in customer interactions and resilient in times of work stress: emotional labor. 

Emotional labor can reduce job performance as the employee experiences the pressure and becomes ineffective in the job requirements. EQ lessens the mental drain that comes from emotional labor in the workplace, and the employee shows high job performance, producing the desired outcomes for the team or department.  

Handling pressure 

Important work often involves pressure, whether it be physical, emotional, or social pressure.   

Emotionally intelligent employees are able to recognize the feelings they experience under pressure and are able to process the meaning of these feelings. In the process, they are able to determine which actions or reactions will bring them to the desired end result in the situation.  

When firefighters, for example, see that they will face danger, they can grind through the situation and channel their fear into more powerful activity to bring others to safety. Job performance is high when emotional intelligence is high.  

Influencing others   

Successful employees know how to build a network of connections that provide support to accomplish goals. 

In the words of Steven Covey, “See first to understand, then be understood.” 

Emotionally intelligent people are able to understand the people around them.  

At that moment, people are also influenced by the worker. 

When a network of co-workers is available, the employee can work better and show higher job performance.   

Mental clarity  

High emotions can cloud the thinking of even the brightest workers. 

Emotionally intelligent people can process situations in such a way as to prevent extreme emotions, such as high excitement for a new idea or low energy caused by bad news.

With mental clarity, that comes from understanding what is happening in their minds, emotionally intelligent employees can make better decisions and yield higher performance.   

Emotional intelligence, which exhibits fortitude in the face of conflict, also preserves an employee who faces criticism. The employee is able to accept the criticism and interprets it as feedback for improvement.  

Again, the resistance to overact not only allows for actual growth and improvement to take place but also maintains the focused mindset on the task at hand.   

The Need for Emotional Intelligence in the Hiring Process 

Human resource professionals have numerous candidates to select from, and the traditional process of hiring with resumes, applications, and interviews remains a tedious and often ineffective approach. 

Since research has established that high job performance is related to emotional intelligence, it makes sense for recruiters to save time and effort rather than use a sub-par hiring process. 

Human resource professionals are seeing the value and the importance of measuring emotional intelligence in making hiring decisions.