How we deal with our emotions both in and out of the workplace significantly influences
how we relate with people around us. If we let our emotions drench our critical thinking
capabilities, then we can become a nuisance to the people around us. Sources further have it that,
it can also prevent us from getting future jobs as no employer want to employ emotionally
unintelligent individuals. Touching on low emotional intelligence, Bilodeau (2017) states that
people with low emotional intelligence can be challenging workers and to avoid hiring them,
many employers will ask behavioral questions to gauge interviewee emotional intelligence.
Clearly, emotional intelligence is among the top considerations when hiring and bringing new
employees to the work place environment.
So how are emotions dealt with in my work place? In my case, we are often assessed on
our individual ability to work with other employees within the workplace setting. Sometimes we
are randomly interviewed as a department by the HR and some of the questions that ring a bell
and relate to today’s discussion are “How are you this week? Do you have any concerns about
your job or fellow employees? ”. Most times the HR is just trying to find how comfortable we
are in the workplace and how well we have been relating to each other in the work place,
something that breaks down to him trying to understand our workplace and emotional wellbeing.
From our readings this week, we have seen that emotional intelligence not only revolves
around understanding our own emotions but also those of other people around us (Mindtools,
n.d). I believe this will help me in the long term beyond six months down the line where, when
considering making informed decisions around the work place, I will not only be thinking about
but my own emotions but also those of the people around me. As per MichaelPage (n.d), we
have further seen that every day, we make emotionally charged decisions and when we
understand the origin of our emotions when working in a team, we become more attuned to each
other. By understanding my own emotions and those of the people around me each new day, I
believe I will be able to create a better working environment for both me and my co-workers
tomorrow and forth coming weeks.
To develop my own emotional intelligence skills and be more valuable in the work place,
Brown (2018) suggests can begin with ensuring self awareness of one’s own emotions, strengths
and weaknesses. In addition to this, we should be open to asking and receiving feedback from
others despite how it may make us feel. Lastly, Brown (2018) suggests that we can also read
literature to help us deepen our understanding on how emotions work. By doing these three
things, we will certainly be to develop and improve our emotional intelligence skills and be of
value to the workforce in our workplace environments.
References
Bilodeau, K. (2017, November 27). How to show off your emotional intelligence in a job
interview. The Washington Post. https://jobs.washingtonpost.com/article/how-to-show-off-
your-emotional-intelligence-in-a-job-interview/
Brown, H. (2018, November 14). What is emotional intelligence? +23 ways to improve it.
PositivePsychology.com.
https://positivepsychology.com/emotional-intelligence-eq/#training
MichaelPage (n.d.). The importance of emotional intelligence in the work place. Michael Page.
https://www.michaelpage.com/advice/management-advice/development-and-retention/
importance-emotional-intelligence-work-place
Mindtools. (n.d.). Emotional Intelligence in Leadership. MindTools.
https://www.mindtools.com/ax3ar6w/emotional-intelligence-in-leadership
