The role of EQ emotional intelligence in business


You probably know the IQ intelligence quotient, but do you also know about emotional intelligence or EQ? Nowadays, emotional intelligence is increasingly important and relevant, especially in business.

Article by

 

Carina Glinik

Senior UX Writer
4 min read30 May 2024

What is EQ? 

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is defined as "the capability of a person to manage and control his or her emotions and possess the ability to control the emotions of others as well" (The Economic Times, 2022).

This capability has gained importance in the last few years because managers consider understanding self and others' emotions a competitive advantage. Indeed, emotional intelligence is regarded as a fundamental capability for good leadership. According to The Economic Times, EQ is composed of 5 characteristics: 

  • Self-awareness: Being self-aware or knowing yourself, your strengths, and your weaknesses help you understand yourself and others around you. This enables you to affect and influence others' feelings.

  • Self-regulation: Being self-regulated means thinking before speaking, managing every situation, and staying calm. This involves not only you but also who you're collaborating with. 

  • Motivation: Being motivated to do a series of tasks will help you with job consistency and challenge yourself under challenging situations positively.

  • Empathy: is about putting yourself in others' shoes, in other words, understanding and feeling the emotions of others. Every successful manager should be able to understand and respond to the needs of others. 

Social skills: these are the abilities to build a comfortable relationship with others and communicate your point of view.  

Why is EQ so important in business?  

 Higher emotional intelligence means understanding people's surroundings and empathizing and engaging with others. Emotional intelligence is vital in personal and business lives because it impacts personal relationships and is fundamental to decision-making. According to Forbes, over 71% of hiring managers give more value to high EQ rather than IQ; why? According to them, high EQ employees can manage pressure better, are better listeners, make more thoughtful business decisions, take criticism well, and admit their mistakes by learning from them.

How is Mindnow dealing with EQ?  

At Mindnow, emotional intelligence carries significant weight, as it is considered an essential resource. Human resources managers care about the skills and motivation of their employees, understanding their needs and motivating them. Each employee is listened to and enabled to give their best, improving working conditions and contributing to a better performance of the company. Emotional intelligence is important for me because understanding and bringing out the best in others is a unique capability that every manager should have. In my personal work experience, I had the chance to work with managers with a high level of EQ and establish good relationships with them. Personally, I always try to give my best and apply the five characteristics in every situation to be efficient and helpful to others.

What are the benefits of fostering EQ in the workplace?

Nowadays, everything, including business, goes around the interaction between human beings. Therefore, emotional intelligence is an essential indicator of performance because it influences the workspace daily. According to Indeed, workplaces with low EQ culture have a more difficult time working together as a team. On the other hand, companies and employers who prioritize EQ, promote a better work environment where people work closely together to solve problems and take ownership of mistakes.

Moreover, there are additional benefits to promoting emotional intelligence in businesses: 

  • Develop a positive company culture

  • Encourage collaboration and teamwork 

  • Assists in conflict management

All these characteristics are essential for outstanding leadership. Higher EQ is also helpful for a better relationship not only between employees but also with clients.

A company's success depends on the capacity to build good relationships. Therefore, the role of emotions is essential to determining its success.

According to the Carnegie Institute of Technology research, 85% of brand success comes from negotiation capacity and client communication. Companies with higher emotional intelligence capabilities better understand their clients and have a higher potential to bring the clients to buy. These companies usually have a higher return on investment (ROI). 

We mentioned emotional intelligence and its importance, but how can brands nurture and develop emotional intelligence? 

We need to understand how brands can use the five EQ characteristics mentioned above to answer this question. For companies, these can result in the following four pillars: 

  • Brand awareness: this refers to the definition of brand identity, including attributes, values, heritage, and personality, to resonate with a company's target audience and stand out from its main competitors. 

  • Brand management: refers to providing relevant brand experiences that appeal to the target audience, address their unmet needs, and contribute to increasing brand loyalty.

  • Customer intimacy: refers to taking a genuine interest in customer's and stakeholders' challenges, concerns, and perspectives to build an emotional connection.

  • Customer engagement: means activating marketing campaigns while engaging in a thoughtful, two-way dialogue with customers.

Therefore, the most effective way to develop emotional intelligence is through unbiased curiosity. This means observing, asking questions, and learning what is in people's minds and what they want to increase empathy and build a genuine relationship with more relevant products, services, and advertising.


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Carina Glinik·Senior UX Writer
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