How to improve emotional intelligence at work

Developing emotional intelligence in the workplace

Emotional intelligence has become one of the most sought-after skills in the workplace. From enhanced leadership effectiveness and job satisfaction, to improved teamwork and wellbeing, research consistently highlights the important role emotional intelligence plays in the workplace. And the good news is that studies show it can be developed.

So, if you are looking to improve emotional intelligence in your workplace, what steps should you take?

1)      Raise Awareness

To develop emotional intelligence, people first need to understand their current strengths and development areas and why it is important to improve these skills. Workshops, group training sessions and videos such as ‘Developing Emotional Intelligence’ can all be used to introduce the concept of emotional intelligence and its importance.

Using a scientifically-validated assessment, such as the EQ-i 2.0, offers individuals detailed insights into their current level of emotional intelligence by measuring how often they display different emotional and social skills at work. This provides a clear starting point for development and helps ensure any intervention or training is targeted where it will have the greatest impact.

Learn more about the EQ-i 2.0 emotional intelligence assessment.

2)      Be specific

According to the EQ-i 2.0 model, emotional intelligence is a set of emotional and social skills. This means that people should target specific skills, such as empathy, assertiveness or stress tolerance, rather than setting a vague goal to ‘develop their emotional intelligence’.  Goal setting theory also suggests that you are more likely to succeed when you set specific goals.

EQ Extra includes separate videos and development plans for each emotional intelligence subscale, allowing you to focus on the specific areas you want to develop, rather than attempting to improve everything at once.

3)      Reinforce Learning

Development initiatives often fail to make lasting changes to people’s behaviour because they rely on one-off workshops or training sessions. To maintain momentum after a programme ends and reinforce people’s learning over time, organisations need to provide ongoing support and opportunities for reflection, practice and development.

This helps keep development goals at the forefront of people’s minds and encourages them to apply what they have learnt into real workplace situations.

Resources such as EQ Extra are designed to support continuous emotional intelligence development, with videos that can be easily accessed at any time.

Improving emotional intelligence at work requires self-awareness, targeted development and consistent reinforcement over time. By taking advantage of resources such as EQ Extra, organisations can help employees build the emotional intelligence skills needed to thrive in today's workplace.

Learn more about EQ Extra.

Learn more about emotional intelligence.