In the present cut-throat and dynamic hiring landscape, technical skills don’t seem to be the only yardstick that leads to a favourable hiring decision. Emotional intelligence is another variable that also aids in gauging the worth of an individual to deliver in a team and add to the culture of the company.
Understanding and regulating our own emotions helps establish rapport and finally results in groundbreaking success in the respective workplace. Thus, emotional intelligence assessments have started making their way into the hiring process in order to gauge the soft skills and growth mindset of the candidates.
Understanding Emotional Intelligence Assessments
Emotional intelligence assessment tests are hiring tests that assist in measuring one’s ability to identify, understand as well as manage emotions. The assessment tests help to evaluate candidates on various parameters of EI, such as self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. These factors are important for a healthy work culture, as well as performance and result-driven leadership.
Benefits of Emotional Intelligence Assessments in Recruitment
Evaluating emotional intelligence yields an overall insight into the profile and capacity of an individual beyond their skill sets and certifications. Recruiters can evaluate the soft skills of the candidate, which contribute a lot to collaboration, teamwork, and conflict resolution.
For example, a person with high empathy can excel in a customer-oriented job that involves getting the pinch points of the customers and using them to derive a solution.
On the other hand, someone with good self-control can keep their composure during fragile situations and avoid making hasty decisions. Such candidates can excel in jobs that require tight monitoring and working under pressure. Such assessments reduce the chances of hiring emotionally inept individuals on board, even if, technically, they align with job descriptions.
Identifying High-Potential Candidates
High-potential candidates have good EI. The reason behind this is these individuals are more adept at sailing through workplace challenges. Such candidates possess good emotional control and have a natural inclination to build professional relationships positively and in a constructive manner.
These candidates are more likely to promote positive reinforcement and help generate high levels of engagement, optimism, and satisfaction for their teams. For instance, an emotional test assessment indicates the candidate possesses good empathy and high social skills.
This individual can be a right fit for a role that requires closely working with people such as in a project manager’s role or an individual in human resources. This EI capacity has a far-reaching effect on the organisation as well due to improved decision-making ability, enhanced conflict resolution skills, and better people relations.
Enhancing Leadership Selection
Leaders with high emotional quotient are also in a better position to motivate their team members, navigate challenges with poise and nurture a positive organisational climate.
Emotional intelligence assessments can also help organisations identify potential leaders who have the right emotional skills to perform well in that role.
Implementing Emotional Intelligence Assessments in Recruitment
Organisations need to be diligent to ensure that the EIQ assessments they choose for implementation are both validated and reliable for their particular needs. It is imperative to choose assessments that measure all important components of EI for an accurate understanding of an individual’s emotional capabilities.
They also need to ensure that HR personnel and hiring managers are trained in how to interpret the results and how to best use them for maximum advantage. Incorporating EI assessments into the hiring strategy will require specific interventions on the part of all these stakeholders.
Impact on Organisational Success
Emotionally intelligent people are also more flexible, adaptable, resilient, and good at stress management. All these characteristics have a direct correlation with team performance metrics and status of job satisfaction.
Organisations that are trying to communicate their focus on emotional intelligence in recruitment will enjoy more cohesive teams with positivity, leading to lower turnover rates and high resilience in organisational culture. Better equipped emotionally intelligent employees are also good at handling difficult situations, creating a pleasant climate in the organisation.
Emotional Intelligence Assessments In Modern Recruitment
All in all, incorporating emotional intelligence assessment in a hiring process can benefit employers by giving them a holistic view of how well an individual can function in an interpersonally intelligent manner. EIQ assessment also helps in determining interpersonal skills and the overall behaviour spectrum of an individual in the workplace in general.