Do HR professionals need to work on their own Emotional Intelligence?
18th June 2015
A recent survey by business psychology consultancy JCA suggests there has been a huge slump in Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the HR industry over the last three years, illustrating that whilst HR professionals are committed to the EI of team members, they often overlook their own emotional intelligence.
The Emotional Intelligence of the HR Sector study by JCA reports the decline in EI has been caused by low morale, disengagement, structural changes in companies (which have often led to the reduction in HR departments) as well as the continuing difficult trading conditions experienced by many firms in the recovery.
Although the study suggests there has been a marked decline in EI amongst HR professionals, they still score higher than most other occupations. The decline in EI since 2012 has been noted in areas including confidence, emotional resilience and assertiveness.
Jo Maddocks, director at JCA Global, said: “We interpret this particular slump as meaning that the HR sector is good at relationships but less strong at dealing with set-backs, coping when times get tough… We also know there is a close relationship between the ‘financial economy’ and the ‘emotional economy’, and it is likely that when people are more financially secure, they will feel more emotionally secure.”
Emotional Intelligence is generally seen as a core element of HR professional’s makeup and it’s likely this reported decline is a natural reaction to the consistently tough conditions many businesses have experienced since 2008. It clearly demonstrates that if HR is to represent the higher emotional intelligence within a business, HR professionals must focus on the harder self-management elements of emotional intelligence.
HR solutions such as HRonline’s absentee management software can greatly assist HR professionals in creating greater efficiencies in their day to day roles, freeing them up to put more time into developing their own emotional intelligence and that of the business as a whole.
The Emotional Intelligence of the HR Sector report was created by surveying 2,196 middle sector managerial HR professionals in the public and private sector compared to 24,142 individuals of similar managerial levels from other sectors.