Category: talent management

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Friendly or Talented?

While they don’t call it “Emotional Intelligence” this article makes another case for the importance of EQ:

A résumé and a brief job interview can’t answer the question that matters most to a new hire’s co-workers: Is this person an absolute pain?Despite a labor shortage in many sectors, some employers are pickier than ever about whom they hire. Businesses in fields where jobs are highly coveted — or just sound like fun — are stepping up efforts to weed out people who might have the right credentials but the wrong personality.

Call it the “plays well with others” factor. Job candidates at investment banks have long endured dozens of interviews designed, in part, to see if new hires will get along with everyone they’ll work with.

Source: Warmth is a trait that can make or break a job applicant, Houston Chronicle, Nov. 9, 2007

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Crossing the Cultural Divide with Emotional Intelligence


Crossing the Cultural Divide with Emotional Intelligence
Joshua Freedman
Published March 2007

A few excerpts…

Is there a way to cut across cultural difference and understand one another at a human level? If we access the intelligence of emotions, are we just using another cultural filter, or does universality exist? Are some aspects of emotional intelligence (EQ) more or less influenced by culture? And how do we use this concept to improve performance?

One of the areas with the greatest difference is optimism. Because optimism is linked closely with performance, this finding has important implications for performance management. When people from the Americas and Asia work together, they often assess risk differently. Those from the Americas are more likely to see possible solutions and have an expectation they can affect the outcome. Coupled with research indicating optimism scores predict performance scores, this finding suggests managers from the Americas might under-evaluate the performance of their Asian team members. Conversely, it suggests Asians who want to excel in a multinational company will benefit by developing this learnable skill.

The cross-cultural aspect of emotional intelligence is of particular importance in a global economy. To the extent that emotions are a universal language and that people in all cultures and places share a similar view of traits such as integrity and authenticity, the ability to “read and write the language of emotions” is an invaluable asset.

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It Is in Your Head

It Is in Your Head
By Eileen P. Gunn
US News & World Report, Oct 16, 2006
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/061008/16eetests.htm

Interesting piece about changes in hiring —

The use of these kinds of behavioral or personality assessments, which ebbs and flows along with other corporate trends, is on the rise again.
In March 2005, more than a third of employers surveyed by the Society for Human Resource Management were giving job candidates personality tests, with more planning to start in the coming year. And 36 percent more were formally testing employees for organizational fit by assessing things like team-orientation, entrepreneurial inclinations, and comfort with a “traditional” work environment.
One reason these tests are back in vogue, according to executives who use them, is that the more sophisticated ones have become increasingly accurate and adaptable to different industries and job descriptions.

Good advice: More important, the tests aren’t about aptitude or intelligence so much as fit. If the test steers the company away from you, it might be for the best.

Matches our experience w using the emotional intelligence test for hiring — fit matters more than score. Question for me is how well is the hiring manager using the tool. A good assessment can help a lot if used well. Otherwise…

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Long time… and EQ for Hiring

Well I have been a lame blogger. Apparently writing a newsletter, training programs, AND a blog is too much. But I thought of a new idea. I am going to put links to different articles I get into this blog.

Another article on importance of EQ for job success.

Good line: Companies have to hire good communicators if they want to survive.

Not-so-good line: As for employees, older workers tend to have more emotional intelligence, usually through hard-won experience. Younger workers, however, can close the experience gap by showing genuine excitement about the job, interest in the company, and a willingness to learn and grow. A) age has a slight correlation w EQ… IE, while mean EQ increases a little w age, MANY older people have lower EQ than many younger. ALSO, “excitement” and “interest” are not EQ! Younger people can close the EQ gap by being committed to learning about themselves and others!

`Emotional intelligence’ a new hiring criterion
By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff | September 10, 2006
In this job market, it’s not just who you know, or even what skills you’ve mastered. It’s how well you understand other people that will get you ahead.

This is the age of emotional intelligence, often called EQ, and today’s hiring managers want proof you’ve got it.

Do you have the maturity and independence to follow a project to completion? Can you motivate and lead a group of your peers? Do you genuinely care about the company’s values and goals? Are you the type to be sensitive to the needs of a troubled co-worker? Can you control your anger when a supervisor is rude to you?

http://bostonworks.boston.com/news/articles/2006/09/10/emotional_intelligence_a_new_hiring_criteria/