Leahcim Semaj, Ph.D. - Change Agent

The evidence is accumulating with regards to how Emotional Intelligence (EQ) contributes to the bottom line in any work organization. Cary Cherniss of Rutgers University has been reviewing data from a variety of sources. The results are confirming that EQ can be a valuable tool for HR practitioners and managers who need to move their organization to the next level. In the past year more Jamaican companies have been recognizing the value of using EQ assessment in the selection and development of their managers. The following are 12 good reasons why your company should join the revolution.

1. The US Air Force used EQ in the selection of recruiters for front-line HR personnel and found that the most successful recruiters scored significantly higher in the emotional intelligence competencies. The Air Force also found that by using emotional intelligence to select recruiters, they increased their ability to predict successful recruiters by nearly three-fold. The immediate gain was a saving of U$3 million annually. These gains resulted in the Government Accounting Office submitting a report to Congress, which led to a request that the Secretary of Defense order all branches of the armed forces to adopt this procedure in recruitment and selection.
2. An analysis of more than 300 top-level executives from fifteen global companies showed that six emotional competencies distinguished stars from the average: Influence, Team Leadership, Organizational Awareness, self-confidence, Achievement Drive, and Leadership.
3. In jobs of medium complexity such as sales clerks and mechanics, a top performer is 12 times more productive than those at the bottom and 85% more productive than an average performer. In the most complex jobs such as insurance salespeople, account managers, a top performer is 127% more productive than an average performer. Competency research in over 200 companies and organizations worldwide suggests that about one-third of this difference is due to technical skill and cognitive ability while two-thirds is due to emotional competence. (In top leadership positions, over four-fifths of the difference is due to emotional competence.)
4. At L'Oreal, sales agents selected on the basis of certain emotional competencies significantly outsold salespeople selected using the company's old selection procedure. On an annual basis, salespeople selected on the basis of emotional competence sold U$91,370 more than other salespeople did, for a net revenue increase of U$2,558,360. Salespeople selected on the basis of emotional competence also had 63% fewer turnovers during the first year than those selected in the typical way.
5. In a national insurance company in the USA, insurance sales agents who were weak in emotional competencies such as self-confidence, initiative, and empathy sold policies with an average premium of $U54,000. Those who were very strong in at least 5 of 8 key emotional competencies sold policies worth U$114,000.
6. In a large beverage firm, using standard methods to hire division presidents, 50% left within two years, mostly because of poor performance. When they started selecting based on emotional competencies such as initiative, self-confidence, and leadership, only 6% left in two years. Furthermore, the executives selected based on emotional competence were far more likely to perform in the top third based on salary bonuses for performance of the divisions they led: 87% were in the top third. In addition, division leaders with these competencies outperformed their targets by 15 to 20%. Those who lacked them under-performed by almost 20%.
7. Research by the Center for Creative Leadership has found that the primary causes of derailment in executives involve deficits in emotional competence. The three primary ones are difficulty in handling change, not being able to work well in a team, and poor interpersonal relations.
8. After supervisors in a manufacturing plant received training in emotional competencies such as how to listen better and help employees resolve problems on their own, lost-time accidents were reduced by 50 percent, formal grievances were reduced from an average of 15 per year to 3 per year, and the plant exceeded productivity goals by U$250,000. In another manufacturing plant where supervisors received similar training, production increased 17 percent. There was no such increase in production for a group of matched supervisors who were not trained.
9. Optimism is another emotional competence that leads to increased productivity. New salesmen at Met Life who scored high on a test of "learned optimism" sold 37 percent more life insurance in their first two years than pessimists.
10. A study of 130 executives found that how well people handled their own emotions determined how much people around them preferred to deal with them.
11. At a national furniture retailer, sales people hired based on emotional competence had half the dropout rate during their first year.
12. For 515 senior executives analyzed by the search firm Egon Zehnder International, those who were primarily strong in emotional intelligence were more likely to succeed than those who were strongest in either relevant previous experience or IQ. The study included executives in Latin America, Germany, and Japan, and the results were almost identical in all three cultures.