The phrase emotional intelligence may have come up when talking about soft skills employers look for in new hires. Emotional intelligence can be especially helpful for those in the recruitment industry. These workers have the ability to make or break a facility, either by selecting the best talent or by promoting low engagement and churn.
What is emotional intelligence?
The ability to comprehend your own emotions as well as analyze the emotions and motivations that others have is known as emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is particularly significant in recruiting because recruiters must manage their own goals while identifying candidates with high EQ and determining if they’re a good fit for the organization.
How can recruiters develop emotional intelligence?
A good recruiter knows themselves well. Recruiters not only represent their company, additionally they try to build unique relationships with their candidates. To be successful at both, they need to be mindful of their conduct, performance, and mannerisms. To do this, recruiters must always think of themselves as both the recruiter and the candidate. This will help them figure out how to make candidates feel at ease during the recruiting process. So, feedback can help recruiters figure out where a candidate is strong and where they need to improve. Companies like XOR give recruiters a feature that sends out feedback forms at the finish of every interview so that candidates can give their thoughts on the hiring process. Also, internal pulse surveys can be set up. Recruiters can use this feature to share how they feel about their role as well as performance, the company’s culture, and the health of the company as a whole. This can help the company figure out where recruiters may need more guidance or help.
Knowledge of one’s strengths and weaknesses
Self-development is also a part of emotional intelligence. Every day, recruiters go through a fair number of CVs and look at the qualifications of different candidates. Before you can give an objective opinion to someone else, you need to be capable of looking at yourself from afar and see what your advantages and disadvantages are.
The Practice Of Emotional Self-Control
We deal with people at work, as I’ve already mentioned, and dealing with people means experiencing emotions that may be completely different as well as not always in a good way. We occasionally have to work with challenging clients, and occasionally candidates blame this same recruiter for the outcome of their interviews.
It’s important for recruiters not to let their feelings get in the way of their work. This doesn’t mean that you have to hold back your feelings: On the other hand, controlling emotions is about being aware of them and talking about them in the right place. Why do we have to do this? So that “unlived” emotions don’t build up and interfere with work (which, by the way, can affect interactions with colleagues as well as with candidates) and the recruiter’s mental comfort.
The value of emotional intelligence in the workplace
Goleman brought up the significance of emotional intelligence in leaders about 20 years ago. He said that the most effective leaders have one thing in common: they all have a high level of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence has grown into a key part of being a good leader and an important trait for all employees over time. A research by EQ provider TalentSmart looked at emotional intelligence and other workplace skills. It found that emotional intelligence is the best predictor of performance and is responsible for 58% of achievement in all types of jobs.
Look for candidates who have high levels of emotional intelligence when making hiring decisions. In fact, 71% of workers in a CareerBuilder survey said they valued an employee’s emotional intelligence over IQ. Why? Due to the fact that individuals with high EQ are much more likely to deal with conflict effectively, maintain composure under stress, adapt to change and also be flexible, and interact with coworkers with empathy. The truth is that if a person lacks certain emotional qualities, their academic abilities and credentials on paper are useless. These traits become more crucial to success as the workplace changes and we allow room for novel technologies and innovations.
Making use of gamified tests to gauge emotional intelligence when hiring
Emotional intelligence can be measured through gamified tests that look at things like empathy, self-awareness, impulsivity, and influence. These tests are a great way to find the best candidates because they look at more than just their cognitive skills. The way a candidate interacts with and changes the game mechanics shows how they think and gives more information than traditional tests.
Recruiters can hire the best candidates by learning about social skills that have been scientifically linked to job performance, employability, and leadership traits in applicants.
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