The ability to react quickly yet appropriately in intense or high-pressure situations is a big neon sign that you are an emotionally intelligent person. The cache here is how entrepreneurs or HR managers can make sure that every employee in their organisation is emotionally intelligent and sane. But, the question is how to reach out and recruit the right talent?
When you interview the candidate, it is imperative to assess him/her for emotional intelligence, which is the ability to control one’s emotions whilst maintaining sound relationships with other employees.
Unfortunately, many talent acquisition experts and HR managers assess a candidate’s cultural fit and persona overlooking emotional intelligence. Here’s how you can identify emotional intelligent candidates right at the interview.
1. Talk to the references
Talking to references instead of simply mulling over a recommendation letter helps in gauging a candidate’s emotional intelligence. Ask a few stories from references about how the candidate performed with teams, handled conflicts at workplace, etc. You can even ask about how good the candidate is when it comes to maintaining interpersonal relationships and soft skills.
2. Ask about people’s experience
During the interview, it is advisable for the recruiter and HR experts to focus on relationships and people. Reason being skills can be acquired or learnt, but emotional intelligence is a difficult feat to acquire. Look out for signs as how the candidate is describing his/her former co-worker, office and boss. If the candidate fails to explain or mention the perception and emotions of others, it is quite likely that he/she lacks self-awareness or is not able to understand the essence of emotions and feelings in work environment.
3. Avoid personality test
Assessing one’s personality wouldn’t necessarily yield any clues pertaining to the emotional intelligence of a candidate. This is because most of the folks are aware or are already prepared to answer personality test questions in an ideal manner. Thus, it is quite difficult to gauge a candidate’s ability to interpret emotions and measure his/her emotional intelligence level. This is also an excellent tip to weed out a narcissist in a job interview.
Conclusion
As business is all about people and relationships, you simply cannot neglect the essence of emotional intelligence at a workplace. Having emotionally intelligent employees at your workplace is sure to boost workplace morale, productivity and engagement. After all, happy employees are productive employees.
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