Workers can't completely part with their emotions once they arrive at the office; it is difficult to manage feelings when interacting with co-workers. How can you improve emotional response among workers, or choose the candidate who ranks high in emotional intelligence? TalentSmart comes to the rescue with their emotional intelligent (EQ) assessments.

Jean Greaves, CEO of TalentSmart, describes emotional intelligence as the ability to recognize, understand and manage your feelings in the moment. The second part of EQ involves being conscious of others' emotions. The four skills include: self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness and social-management. Social-management comes when a worker can be aware of their own emotions as well as the feelings of others in order to handle interactions, according to Greaves.

TalentSmart found that emotional intelligence is a key element in being successful at the office; it serves as the base of soft skills - can be more important than IQ or experience. Workers with higher EQs tend to be more productive, according to Greaves. Ninety percent of top performers possess high EQs. The 10 percent of top performers that rank low in emotional intelligence usually are more conscious of personal emotions, which doesn't aid in working with others.

TalentSmart's assessments give workers the chance to build or retrain their EQ skills; emotional intelligence may be improved with awareness and the commitment to change. Managers can purchase a book and a set of evaluations in order to allow workers to practice their skills.

The Emotional Intelligence Appraisal: 360 compares self-awareness versus how others feel about you. Greaves says to take the test, and then give the same examination to your manager and co-workers to see how the results differ. The Emotional Intelligence Appraisal: Team rates how well the group manages feelings as a whole.

Evaluation only serves as the first part. TalentSmart provides coaches to teach sessions and offer helpful tools. Workers can also go online to TalentSmart's website in order to participate in the e-learning programs — watch online videos to better understand skills, according to Greaves.

"TalentSmart has a blended learning method," says Greaves. "There are different ways to learn more information: take the assessment, go to group sessions, do e-learning on a self-guidance basis and use goal tracking reminders."

These evaluations are not only used for employed workers, but are also becoming an important part of the hiring process. Greaves says managers now have the ability to ask EQ questions during the interview. TalentSmart provides questions as well as what employers need to listen for in the answers. Greaves recommends not giving the test to candidates, since they could try to increase scores in order to gain the position. Managers can put the job-seeker's answers into the assessments, based on the interview answers.

The Emotional Intelligence Interview Guide does take more time upfront, but employers will know if the person has skills that will fit in the company. Greaves recommends using the EQ guide for the seriously considered candidates.

"Hire hard but manage easy," says Greaves. "Managers are going into more depth to find soft skills during the interview."

For more information on purchasing assessments, visit www.talentsmart.com.

TAKE A CLASS

Most companies are willing to pay for further education. Ninety-four percent of senior executives say, according to a survey by Accountemps, a staffing service that questioned 150 senior executives, their businesses offer tuition reimbursement benefits for workers. And 95 percent of managers say they help pay for employees to receive other types of professional training.

"Providing educational and professional development opportunities helps companies attract top performers, maximize productivity and boost retention efforts," says Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps. "Employees who take full advantage of the resources available for learning remain intellectually challenged and increase their ability to take on greater responsibility at work."

For more information, visit www.accountemps.com.

To find out more about Amy Winter and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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