Emotional Intelligence at Work

Emotions, positive or negative, play a major role at work every minute of the day. When emotions are accurately perceived, understood, and harnessed, they can enhance a team’s ability to flourish. When emotions are ignored and mishandled, they can cause teams to spiral in a negative direction. 

Fortunately, organizations are increasingly acknowledging the powerful role that emotions play at work, and their ability to impact business outcomes on a grand scale.  

With the World Economic Forum ranking emotional intelligence, or EI, as one of the top skills needed to excel at work, and The McKinsey Group identifying the need for social and emotional skills to grow at a much faster pace than cognitive skills, emotional intelligence is increasingly viewed as a critical and strategic ability for the modern workforce.  

Emotional intelligence or EI has emerged as one of the most important qualities for personal and professional success. In the workplace, regardless of the occupation or industry, emotional intelligence is incredibly valuable. EI becomes particularly critical in roles that require building and maintaining positive interpersonal relationships or roles that require emotional resilience. In many cases, it can be the single skill that sets high performers apart from others with similar technical skills and knowledge. 

 

What is emotional intelligence, anyway? 

Emotional intelligence or EI is the ability to accurately identify, understand, and manage your own emotions, as well as those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they’re feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people. They’re also adept at harnessing their emotions to help them solve problems effectively. In other words, EI is about using emotions, and our knowledge and understanding of emotions, in an intelligent way to enhance our thought, behaviors, and interpersonal effectiveness.  

In practical terms, people with well-developed emotional intelligence can create and manage relationships more effectively. They can work well with others, regulate their emotions appropriately, understand how others are feeling, and influence and inspire people. Many researchers have found strong links between EI and important organizational behaviors including leadership, performance on the job, organizational citizenship, commitment, and teamwork. 

What does high emotional intelligence look like in the real world? Sometimes it’s a manager sensing the low mood in a weekly team meeting before anyone has said a word. It’s your friend, matching your joy and excitement when you share great news. It’s the customer service representative who really understands the perspective of an upset customer and is working hard to resolve their complaint. All these behaviors require an accurate emotional reading of the situation, sound knowledge of the emotions involved, and the use of this information to solve problems and inform decisions.  

Emotional intelligence also influences the quality of interpersonal relationships. It can improve the experience of stress, pressure, and conflict, and enhance decision-making. Studies have also shown that it increases positive attitudes towards work and enhances altruistic feelings, while people with lower EI demonstrate a poorer ability to cope with stressors at work and may be less resilient. 

 

Where does emotional intelligence matter most? 

While EI is relevant for a wide range of occupations, industries, and job levels, it is most important for roles that require people to develop and maintain positive interpersonal relationships or in occupations where emotional labor is central to the work role. In the workplace, emotional labor refers to jobs that require managing feelings and emotions to maintain a job or a relationship. These emotionally demanding jobs can include leadership and management roles, customer service and sales roles, and caregiving and frontline occupations such as law enforcement and emergency management services. 

 

The tangible benefits of emotional intelligence 

Studies outlined provide clear evidence that higher levels of emotional intelligence in leaders, sales and customer service reps, frontline employees and caregivers, or anyone whose job involves interacting with people – increases individual and organizational effectiveness.  

In the workplace, emotional intelligence helps us connect and collaborate with others, communicate effectively, make decisions, and manage stress and conflict. It enables people to understand emotions and to use them productively to engage, influence and inspire others.  

People with high EI are often described as self-aware, strong communicators, empathetic and resilient. They understand and recognize the emotions that drive behaviors, and use that understanding to generate positive outcomes. Emotional intelligence can be the single skill that sets high performers apart from others with similar technical skills and knowledge.  

The following case studies demonstrate the impact organizations can experience by using EI assessments to hire emotionally intelligent people, from increasing candidate diversity and job performance, to improving job acceptance rates and sales performance. 

 

Emotify Helps Companies Hire Well-Rounded Team Players  

+ Displays acts of kindness  

+ Do more than what is expected  

+ React appropriately to crises  

+ Maintain composure under pressure 

View Case Study 

 

Financial Institution Improves Recruitment Outcomes with Emotify 

 + Increased job acceptance rates 

View Case Study 

 

Digital Marketing Agency Predicts Call Center Sales Rep Success, Using Emotify and Cognify 

+ Increased number of effective calls  

+ Higher sales conversions 

View Case Study 

 

A model of emotional intelligence  

The term emotional intelligence was first coined in 1990 by researchers John Mayer and Peter Salovey, and their work in this area has been foundational to modern EI theory and research. It was later popularized by Dan Goleman when he released his bestselling book Emotional Intelligence.  

At Criteria, our research into the concept of EI aligns with modern theory and research and is based on the Cascading Model of Emotional Intelligence that suggests a progressive sequence, starting from perceiving emotion, followed by emotional understanding and emotional regulation and management. 

Perceiving Emotions 

Perceiving emotions is about being able to quickly and accurately identify emotions. This is often referring to the ability to read facial expressions correctly, but it also incorporates things such as body language and tone of voice. The manager who notices the low mood of the team might see subtle signs of tension, observe low energy levels, and take cues from body language to infer how the group may be feeling. The accurate perception of emotions underpins an appropriate response, which is why it’s an important first step in many interpersonal interactions.

• Can you pick up on subtle cues from others?  

• Can you identify your own emotions?  

• Can you discriminate between genuine and inauthentic emotions? 

Understanding Emotions 

Understanding emotions is about comprehending emotional language and knowing how emotions change over time and combine to form more complex emotions. It’s being able to predict what comes next based on a current emotional state. The customer service rep who knows that a customer will likely go from frustration to anger if their serious complaint is not acknowledged and addressed appropriately understands and can empathize with their customer. Having a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of emotions, their causes, and consequences, means we can formulate an effective approach to a person or situation.  

• Can you understand different, possibly contradictory blends of emotions?  

• Do you understand ‘chains’ of emotions, such as how someone can be disappointed and then transition to anger?  

• Do you understand the causes and consequences of different emotions? 

Managing Emotions 

Managing emotions is about handling your own and others’ emotions effectively. It’s being able to regulate emotions and respond appropriately as well as responding to the emotions of others to promote one’s own and others’ personal and social goals. The healthcare professional who stays in control, calmly assesses an emergency, and continues to instill patient confidence is managing their emotions even under stressful conditions. This refers to the process through which we create and maintain positive appropriate affective states, which in turn, impact behavior and performance. 

• Are you able to use emotions appropriately, for example putting an emotion “on hold” if it won’t be beneficial in a particular situation?  

• Can you manage people’s emotions to inspire and motivate them?  

• Can you make decisions that consider all of the facts, no matter how uncomfortable they are? 

 

Why does emotional intelligence matter? 

Emotions play an important role in our daily interactions and tasks, particularly when we’re working with others. Work makes emotional demands on people. Sometimes, the demands are quite explicit. For example, in sales roles, employees may need to display positive emotions when they are selling, regardless of how they feel. At other times, the demands are more implicit, such as the requirement to navigate a difficult conversation with a colleague. In the face of emotional demands, employees who can draw on emotional intelligence competencies are likely to be better equipped to maintain their well-being and performance at work.  

A study Criteria conducted with JVR Psychometrics demonstrated a clear relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. The study focused on employees spanning across job levels from semi-skilled employees through to top-level management, and across multiple industries including education, professional services, and oil and gas. Employees who scored in the average range or higher on emotional intelligence (as measured by Emotify, a scientifically validated EI assessment), received higher overall job performance ratings from their managers, compared to those scoring in the below-average range. 

 

Employees who scored in the average range or above on the EI test also received more favorable manager ratings across many aspects of job performance compared to employees who scored below average, including: 

 

The body of research linking EI with various workplace and general life outcomes is significant and convincing. The role of EI in the areas of leadership, job performance, and stress management is well documented, with many new research insights being published regularly.  

The reality is that we make emotionally charged decisions at work every day. We feel project A is more important to the business than project B. We make choices to react in certain ways in meetings or conversations with colleagues. We interpret (or misinterpret) the meaning behind emails. Most of us interact at least some of the time with colleagues in different geographies and cultures to our own, and almost all of us work with people from a range of different generations. So, in these increasingly connected, collaborative and complex workplaces, including those where face-to-face interaction with employees is infrequent, there are few roles where EI is unimportant.  

Having the ability to identify and regulate our emotions allows us to empathize with others, communicate effectively and diffuse conflicting or difficult situations. It’s with good reason that the World Economic Forum lists EI as one of the critical Skills for the Future, and one which underpins many of the other skills on the list, such as leadership and social influence, resilience, stress tolerance, and flexibility. 

 

Emotional Intelligence in management and leadership 

What qualities define a good leader? It is unfortunate but true that those who are exceedingly intelligent do not necessarily make the best leaders. It is a common story in the business world where a highly intelligent, technically skilled employee is promoted into a leadership role, only to fail at the job. And someone with strong, but perhaps not extraordinary, intellectual abilities and technical skills is promoted into a similar position, and subsequently leads their team to success. Results and experience are relevant but far from the whole picture when assessing a person for a leadership role.  

Great leaders are self-aware and empathetic. They can read and regulate their own emotions while intuitively grasping how others feel and gauging their organization’s emotional state. They can influence, motivate, and bring their best selves to work, and also inspire others to bring their best work. According to Harvard Business Review, for a leader to be truly effective they must be able to master relationship management in a positive way. Many studies have found that leaders with higher levels of emotional intelligence demonstrate effective communication skills and an increased capacity to problem-solve as well as demonstrating the level of interpersonal skills required to establish more genuine relationships, identifying, understanding, and empathizing with their teams.  

In current times of disruption, the work of a leader has never been more important - or more difficult. According to Professor Neal Ashkanasy, a Professor at The University of Queensland (UQ) Business School, leaders now more than ever need to have a sharpened awareness of emotional intelligence and how to use it, to help successfully navigate their teams through crises such as pandemics. 

Leadership is an emotion-laden process at the best of times. And as work patterns shift, it is important for managers to exhibit a leadership style focused on communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and one that focuses on empathy and a supportive attitude. If leaders lack emotional intelligence, it could have more far-reaching consequences, resulting in lower employee engagement and higher turnover. 

 

Emotional intelligence in building interpersonal relations and teamwork 

Collaboration is a crucial part of working successfully in any organization. Most work is done by teams and there are few things that hold a team back more than an emotionally unintelligent team member. With the dramatic increase in the knowledge required to do any job function and the complexity of business processes, there are very few roles in an organization that wouldn’t require working with others - even the most technical roles.  

Work that has traditionally been accomplished by individual contributors often demands collective knowledge, expertise, and problem-solving. However, working as a high-performing team doesn’t come easily. Despite the vast array of experiences and diversity of thought that naturally comprises teams, it can still be challenging for even the best team players to navigate the dynamics of working with different personalities and to work in synergy.  

Emotionally intelligent people build strong connections and relationships with others. Strong EI underpins their ability to collaborate and communicate with others and to manage differences of opinion. Emotionally intelligent team members work to recognize each other’s strengths and accomplishments, seek feedback, give credit, and are therefore often more motivated with an enhanced sense of purpose. In positive workplace relationships characterized by high emotional intelligence, employees are likely to do what they can to help another person achieve success. 

 

Emotional intelligence in sales and customer service 

Employees engaged in customer service or sales roles work in an environment that can be effectively demanding and stressful. These roles produce a steady stream of emotionally charged events, including making and losing sales, dealing with difficult customers, and managing conflict with coworkers and supervisors. All the while employees are expected to remain positive, suppress any negative emotions, and focus on solving the problem at hand in an effective way.  

It's often reported that selling causes so much burnout that estimates of annual turnover among U.S. salespeople run as high as 27% - twice the rate in the overall labor force.  

Sales roles present an added layer of emotion-led work as they require a greater focus on the emotions of the customer or prospective customer and requires employees to adapt their own behavior to that emotional state. Without emotional intelligence, salespeople will struggle to build rapport with prospects and stay motivated.  

Advantages of High Emotional Intelligence in Sales

• High El sellers are aware of their own emotional state and can control their emotions. They know how to cover up emotions that might turn off customers (e.g., lack of enthusiasm or excitement, anxiety, distraction, irritation, greed, insincerity, fear, and nervousness).  

• Reps with high EI have the patience to delay gratification. This means they can continue prospecting with high energy even when they know it will take time to sign the deal.  

• Practitioners with high EI can discern customers’ emotional states and can adapt and align their own emotions with that. Salespeople who have mature levels of EI know how to fine-tune their pitches to pull the right emotional triggers.  

• High EI salespeople remain positive even amidst constant rejection. They do not take rejections personally and consistently avoid harboring negative emotions. Sales reps who can establish strong emotional connections with customers are better at understanding what customers feel, need, and expect.  

• Strong emotional bonds with customers significantly improve retention rates, client satisfaction, and customer success. 

 

Emotify Scores and Performance 

In a study Criteria conducted with a leading marketing and communication agency on call center sales reps, a clear correlation was evident between emotional intelligence and performance. Top and middle-rated performers scored higher on an emotional intelligence assessment and those with higher EI (based on the completion of an ability-based EI assessment) made more calls, had more quality conversations with prospects, and were able to convert more calls to sales. 

 

 

Emotify Scores and Commitment to Customer Happiness 

In another study of customer service representatives, we collected data on attitudes toward commitment to customer happiness. The study found employees who received a high score on our ability-based EI assessment, were more likely to agree that customer happiness was important to them. 

Criteria collected data from customer service representatives for an IT systems company. We asked them how much they agreed with the statement “I get satisfaction from making my customers happy” and compared it to their performance on Emotify.  

Those employees who received a low score on Emotify (20% or below) were less likely to agree with the statement. E 

Employees who received a high score on Emotify (80% or above) were more likely to agree that their customers’ happiness was important to them, with 95% of this group agreeing with the statement. 

 

 

Emotional intelligence in emotionally demanding roles 

High levels of emotional work are central to many other roles including healthcare professions in medicine, nursing, therapy and aged care, teaching, law enforcement, emergency services, and even people management roles in Human Resources.  

These roles are emotionally challenging, with many employees dropping out due to burnout and emotional exhaustion. Breaking bad news to patients, managing multiple demands under time pressure, and dealing with pandemics all require a certain level of emotional intelligence. Indeed, physician empathy has been associated with patient satisfaction. Empathy lowers patients’ anxiety and distress and delivers significantly better clinical outcomes.  

Research suggests that emotional intelligence is linked to an individual’s ability to cope with stressful conditions. A study into the relationship between EI and stress responses found that participants who displayed higher levels of EI (via completion of an ability-based EI assessment) were less likely to succumb to the negative impacts of stressors. Those with higher levels of EI were found to display resilience and were less likely to suffer from burnout.  

Other studies have found a significant correlation between EI and individual advancement and performance, with evidence pointing to a strong link between an individual’s resilience and their motivation to achieve, emotional intelligence being a prerequisite to resilience, and resilience motivating endurance in the face of adversity. 

Emotify Scores and Stress Management 

During the validation of Emotify, we asked 931 candidates if they agreed with the statement “I have a hard time making it through stressful events.” We then compared their responses with their scores on Emotify.  

Those who score less then 20% on Emotify were twice as likely to respond ‘Agree’ or ‘Strongly Agree’ to this statement (left column) than people scoring 20% or above (right column). 

27% of the people scoring below 20% said they agreed or strongly agreed that they struggled with stressful events.  

13% of the people scoring above 20% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement. 

 

 

Emotify Scores and Conflict at Work 

The same 931 candidates also responded to the statement, “I experience a lot of conflict at work.” 

Those who scored less than 20% on Emotify were more than twice as likely to respond ‘Agree’ or ‘Strongly Agree’ to this statement (left column) than people scoring 20% or above (right column).  

12% of the people scoring below 20% said they agreed or strongly agreed that they struggled with stressful events.  

5% of the people scoring above 20% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement and compared it to their performance on Emotify. 

 

 

Emotional intelligence in remote and distributed working  

With the rapid adoption of remote-first and hybrid working models, organizations are increasingly hiring employees from all over the world. And while some individuals thrive in remote working environments, others may struggle.  

Working in a distributed environment means employees have less avenues for human interaction, which in turn, can impact the way people build trust, establish rapport, and develop authentic relationships. By fostering emotional intelligence, organizations can forge a level of connection which is often removed when an in-person connection isn’t possible.  

One of the most significant components of EI is awareness. When employees have sustained contact in the office, it’s easy for them to check in on one another and provide emotional support when necessary. But when these interactions are relegated to video calls, emails and chat, it’s much more difficult to recognize when people need assistance (or to simply maintain healthy relationships). This is why managers and other employees should be proactive during the pandemic and use the full extent of their EI.  

Being aware of what actions you need to take, choosing the right communication tools or methods, and observing how your actions are affecting others can help increase the level of emotional intelligence in your remote team. 

Can emotional intelligence be measured? 

The short answer is, yes it can. Assessment of an individual’s emotional intelligence is a useful input to both recruitment of new employees and the development of existing employees.  

Top two types of assessments for measuring emotional intelligence 

• Ability-based tests 

• Trait-based tests 

For some EI measurement (including trait-based tests), self-reporting is used, similar to a typical personality test. While the results of self-reporting tests can be insightful and valid, there are a number of disadvantages to this method: 

• Individuals aren’t always good judges of their own emotion-based abilities and tendencies  

• It’s susceptible to faking, as the individual completing the test seeks to select the answer that is most impressive to the person accessing the results. This can be a particular issue in scenarios where the test-taker believes someone important or influential will review their results – such as a potential employer. 

The ability-based approach to EI measurement views emotional intelligence as the name suggests – a type of intelligence, akin to cognitive ability. This approach uses performance-based assessment with correct and incorrect choices. For this reason, ability-based EI assessments are much more difficult (arguably, impossible) to fake. We at Criteria advocate the ability-based approach as being more suited to recruitment contexts than the self-report approach.  

Ability-based EI tests can be engaging and provide an enhanced experience for the candidate. Whereas trait-based measures often focus on the test-taker rating their agreement with various statements, ability-based tests can require the test-taker to solve puzzles and emotion-related problems, providing a much more immersive experience for candidates. An example of an engaging and valid ability-based EI assessment is Criteria’s Emotify. 

Emotify is an ability-based measure of emotional intelligence (EI) that assesses a candidate’s ability to accurately perceive, understand, and manage emotions. Unlike traditional assessments, it features interactive and immersive assessments that present job-related EI problems and hypothetical scenarios. Being interactive and based on typical work-life scenarios, it is job-relevant and offers a modern and engaging experience for candidates.  

A strength of Emotify is the robust psychometric science behind the assessment. Emotify has been extensively validated with a scientifically robust research methodology that was applied to all aspects of the development process including innovative design elements, item development, user testing, and psychometric validation.  

The test construction and item development of Emotify was heavily guided by existing empirical research and current theories and models of emotional intelligence. Two large-scale validation exercises were conducted with over 3,000 participants to refine Emotify and establish its sound psychometric properties. 

 

Can emotional intelligence be developed? 

Another common question we hear is - can EI be learned? Some people seem to be inherently better at relating to others, or understanding other people’s emotions, or keeping their cool in difficult situations. While it’s true that some people are naturally more gifted in these areas, the great news for everyone else is that anyone can improve their emotional competencies.  

Emotional intelligence knowledge or competencies can be improved through training, so EI assessments provide an excellent way to identify strengths and potential growth areas. Not only that, they also help organizations measure the effectiveness of individual and organizational development initiatives.  

Many studies have reported participants not only improving their emotional competency as a result of targeted training and development initiatives, but also improving their performance in several key areas: 

1. One study showed that participants were able to significantly increase emotion identification and emotion management abilities, and that these changes persisted after 6 months. 

2. At American Express, financial advisors undertook EI training and improved their sales performance by 18%. When managers went through the same training, their entire group’s performance increased by 10%. 

3. Supervisors in a manufacturing plant received training in emotional competencies such as listening skills and employee enablement. Lost time accidents were reduced by 50%, formal grievances were reduced from 15 to 3 per year, and the plant exceeded productivity goals by $250,000. 

4. In another plant, supervisors received similar training and production increased by 17%. Supervisors who didn’t complete training didn’t achieve any increase in production. 

 

While it is true that emotional competencies can be improved, some have argued that it’s not an easy task and there’s no quick fix. People need to be dedicated and committed to improving their ability and must invest energy into change over time. Change will generally come about with continued practice, with new skills learned and reinforced over time.  

Others, however, have achieved positive outcomes from training delivered over several weeks. 

Regardless of the approach, developing emotional intelligence must always begin with self-awareness, usually by using a diagnostic tool to gain a better understanding of each person’s current ability. Out of this process, you can begin to identify potential development areas and understand the kinds of training and interventions that you need.  

Developing and applying emotionally intelligent skills in everyday life does take time, practice, and patience. Emotions are intertwined into people’s daily functioning and can provide valuable information to help people make decisions and adapt their behavior. Having the awareness and skills to identify these kinds of emotions, and to use this information to help day-to-day functioning is the hallmark of an emotionally intelligent person. 

 

Delivering emotional intelligence training 

The EI Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations stresses that EI training can be challenging and difficult for people, since they’re being asked to change the way they behave and interact with others. People may feel threatened, or skeptical about whether the training will actually work or not.  

The Consortium have produced some guidelines for delivering a comprehensive EI training program, based on a broad range of studies into the effectiveness of social and emotional training in the workplace. 

 

Phase 1: Preparing for change 

Social and emotional learning can be challenging for adults who have established ways of dealing with emotions. The consortium suggests these steps to help increase motivation at the start of the change process.  

• Assess the organization’s needs: At this point, people may be skeptical of the impact emotional intelligence can have on the bottom line. You can prepare the way by showing relevant case studies and other examples of success. Your needs analysis must also include a careful assessment of the work situation, informed by an understanding of the nature of emotional competence.  
• Assess personal strengths and limits: Use a diagnostic tool to accurately measure emotional intelligence. You can also supplement this with any other relevant data, such as 360-degree performance reviews and engagement surveys, to help pinpoint specific areas for development.  
• Provide feedback carefully: People are more likely to be open to feedback when they believe that the feedback is constructive and accurate.23 It’s important to deliver feedback with a focus on development rather than appraisal.  
• Maximize learner choice: People are generally more motivated to change when they freely choose to do so. It’s better to give people the freedom to choose whether they want to participate in training or not.  
• Encourage participation: The words and actions of leaders are particularly important here. In a large financial services company, a training program in emotional competence was popular in part because several regional vice presidents encouraged their management groups to participate and then attended the program with them.  
• Link learning goals to personal values: People will be more motivated to learn and change if they believe that doing so will help them achieve goals they value.  
• Adjust expectations: Focus on enhancing learners’ self-efficacy and helping them to understand that greater emotional competence will bring about valuable outcomes, and that they will be able to improve.  
• Gauge readiness: People go through several stages of readiness before they’re ready to make a commitment to behavior change programs. You should assess each person’s readiness before training, or toward the beginning of the program. 

 

Phase 2: EI Training 

Motivation will continue to be important throughout the training program, and one of the most important factors that influences motivation is the relationship between the trainer and the learner. 

• Foster a positive relationship between the trainer and the learner: Several studies have shown that trainers who are empathetic, warm, and genuine (with high emotional intelligence!) develop more positive relationships with participants in behavioral change programs, and are more likely to be successful.  
• Maximize self-directed change: People are more likely to develop emotional competence when they decide which competencies they want to work on and set their own goals. Set clear goals: Specific and challenging goals support social and emotional learning because they maximize self-efficacy, mastery, and motivation.  
• Break goals into manageable steps: While goals can be challenging, they should be manageable and attainable as well. Starting small and achieving small goals can help people set and achieve more difficult ones next time.  
• Maximize opportunities to practice: In social and emotional learning, participants often need to practice more than with other types of learning, since they’re trying to replace old and ineffective neural connections. People need to practice on the job and over a long period for transfer to happen.  
• Provide frequent feedback on practice: Learners will need focused and sustained feedback as they practice new behaviors, to help reinforce the behavior and help them understand the impact of their behavior.  
• Rely on experiential methods: More active, concrete, experiential methods, such as role plays, group discussions, and simulations, usually work better than lecturing or assigned reading for social and emotional learning.  
• Build in support: Social and emotional training programs are usually more effective when they encourage the formation of groups where people give each other support throughout the change effort. 
• Use models: Seeing the behavior in action is invaluable in social and emotional learning.  
• Enhance insight: The most effective training combines experiential methods and the development of insight.  
• Prevent relapse: Without being prepared for setbacks, people can easily become discouraged and give up before the new behaviors have taken hold. In relapse prevention training, people are helped to reframe slips as opportunities to learn, so they’ll be less likely to slip up again in the future. 

 

Phase 3: Transfer and Maintenance 

This can be particularly challenging for social and emotional learning. When people return to their normal environments, they will usually face cues and reinforcers that support their old neural pathways. 

• Encourage use of skills on the job: Remind people to use their new skills and reinforce them when they do. This is particularly important for supervisors, who should also model the behavior themselves. 
• Provide an organizational culture that supports learning: Transferring and maintaining skills is affected by the extent to which the organization values learning and development.  
• Conduct ongoing evaluation research: This means more than just asking for feedback after a training program: it’s all about measuring the impact of training programs and enhancing them if necessary. You can use whatever data is most relevant, such as customer satisfaction ratings, performance data, 360 reviews, rates of absence and any other relevant information 

 

Enhancing EI through emotional knowledge and awareness 

Caruso and Salovey have explored how people could further develop their skills in the main areas of EI. They suggested that people could improve their EI by increasing emotional knowledge and the awareness of their own and other people’s emotions. 

Step 1: Developing the ability to perceive emotions 

Correctly identifying emotions is the cornerstone of using, understanding, and managing emotions effectively. The more accurate a person’s emotional perception of others and situations, the more appropriate their responses and decisions are likely to be.  

Areas to focus on in training may include:  

• Perceiving their own emotions  

• Perceiving others’ emotions correctly: facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, as well as perceiving emotions in artistic expression 

 

Step 2: Developing the ability to understand emotions 

This area is all about knowing emotions: understanding emotional language, the differences between emotions, and how they can change and evolve.  

Areas to focus on in training might include:  

• Increasing emotional vocabulary: understanding different descriptors of emotions and the subtle differences between them  

• Understanding patterns of progression of emotion, and how emotions can blend and combine to form other emotions 

• Predicting the consequences of emotions not being handled appropriately 

 

Step 3: Developing the ability to manage emotions 

Learning to manage feelings and emotions begins with becoming more aware of current habits and typical reactions for coping with strong emotions.  

Areas to focus on in training might include:  

• Becoming more aware of feelings and emotions  

• Learning to act on feelings in a considered way  

• Remaining open to feelings, even if they’re painful or uncomfortable L Moving between positive and negative moods when required  

• Using emotion management techniques such as writing about emotions or exercising 

 

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