According to research done by Daniel Goldman, the founder of the concept of emotional intelligence , Emotional Capability (EQ) accounted for 67% of the abilities deemed necessary for superior performance in leaders and mattered twice as much as technical expertise.
Studies have also shown that high EQ resulted:
- in 50% less turnover in teams
- 56% higher than average customer loyalty
- 38% more productivity
- 27% more profitability
- Improved Sales
- Reduced Lost Time Accidents
- Reduced Grievances
(Daniel Goldman, Six Seconds)
Furthermore…
One of Africa’s leading providers of test material and assessments did a meta – analytic (a study of many other studies) literature review on the role of personality and inter alia job performance and found the following:
In conducting quantitative meta-analytical summaries, Ones, et al. (2007) not only found practically meaningful relationships between personality and (1) job performance, but also personality and (2) leadership effectiveness, (3) entrepreneurship, and (4) work motivation and attitudes. A meta-analysis of South African studies reaffirmed the importance of the Big Five personality traits as important predictors of job performance
Reflect for a moment on the financial implications of less turnover in teams (remember recruitment costs in module 2) good customer loyalty, improved sales, reduced lost time, accidents and grievances and significantly higher productivity and profitability, effective leadership, increased staff motivation and positive work attitude. The bottom line is that EQ is a huge driver of an organisation’s bottom line – we mean the financial bottom line.
For example,
- Pepsi found that executives with high EQ’s generated 10% more productivity,
- had 87% less turnover and that they brought $3.75M more value to the company,
- increased ROI by 1000%.
L’Oreal found that salespeople with a high EQ sold $2.5M more than others. When Sheraton decided to incorporate an EQ initiative, their market share grew by 24%.
(https://www.anneloehr.com/2015/04/30/emotional-intelligence-effects-bottom-line/)
Gallup estimates that for every $10,000 in salary that an employee makes, $3,400 is wasted on unproductivity when the employee is disengaged. In the US, this equates to over $550 billion in losses.
A study by Langhorn on food services industry found that restaurants managed by managers with high emotional intelligence showed an annual profit growth of 22%
(http://sixandahalfconsulting.com/blog/emotional-intelligence-impacts-bottom-line/)
While EQ may seem like an intangible, warm and fuzzy, nice to have concept, it is in fact one of the most fundamental drivers of individual and organizational performance. This makes it critical to assess EQ when making hiring, talent and development decisions when recruiting.