Emotional Intelligence and Workplace Ethics

Salovey and Mayer’s work on emotional intelligence was greatly admired by psychologist Daniel Goleman, which ultimately led to his book titled, Emotional Intelligence. He argued that business success was best guaranteed by emotional intelligence rather than intellectual skills. Goleman outlined four competencies possessed by emotionally intelligent people; firstly, they are best in recognizing their feelings, called self-awareness. Secondly, they are best at regulating their emotions and are good at self-management. Thirdly, they are empathetic to the emotions of other employees, called social awareness.

Lastly, they are best at controlling and understanding other employees’ emotions, called interpersonal skills. Rather than being one of the many leadership skills that shed light on how leaders can be more successful and impactful, EQ is an enduring mirror that reflects back who a leader is and how his personality affects the organization. The people who are more in harmony with their emotions, and express them appropriately, are emotionally intelligent. Thus, in this article we are going to talk about emotional intelligence ethics at workplace.

How does Emotional Intelligence affect Workplace Ethics?

Emotional intelligence can be described as a set of social and emotional skills and abilities, which are completely different from rational intelligence. Those people who are more in harmony with their personal emotions, and express them appropriately can be described as being emotionally intelligent. The past few years have experienced a constant increase in the area of emotional intelligence (EI). It has been observed that emotional intelligence helps accomplish organizational goals with greater efficiency and profit margins, by creating a positive and productive organizational environment for actions that give rise to empathy and better communication resources.

Also, an appropriate level of emotional intelligence can aid in diminishing the probability of troublesome/irrational behavior, that may negatively impact a positive work environment, and produce behaviors that exhibit high levels of stress, low self-esteem, and poor mental health. Thus, following emotional intelligence ethics at workplace is important.

Emotional intelligence is all about attaining one’s goals through regulating our feelings and emotions, and balancing conflicting motives diligently and ethically. With the passage of time, businesses have now realized that the only solution for lasting relevancy and sustainability is ethical behavior, which can truly benefit from emotional intelligence. Businessmen are now instilling their organizations with ethical conduct in all departments, all around the world. Today, organizations face difficult situations with highly abstruse possible solutions.

Therefore, in this situation, it is suggested that ethical conduct is an important element of an organization’s culture, integral for the prevention of misbehavior that causes great losses and usually heavy consequences. In this case in point, following emotional intelligence ethics at workplace will help employees keep in mind their values and ethical standards.

Extensive exposure and continuous training can enhance the ability of becoming emotionally intelligent. Recent research on “mindfulness” training, a technique to become aware of one’s emotions, observed that with the help of appropriate training, the brain centers that regulate and produce positive and negative affect (emotions) can be altered. These types of training not only aid employees in keeping their stressors away, but also help them maintain emotional calm in period of crisis. Only the emotionally intelligent people can focus on getting extra work done and have the determination to work hard and achieve their goals.

An emotionally intelligent workforce could be a result of effective leadership in the organization which could then pave way for ethical behavior at workplace. The duty of a manager is to boost employees’ self-esteem and generate an atmosphere of understanding, loyalty and reliability. Employees need encouragement and appreciation for enhancing their social skills which lead to self-awareness.

To the extent that ethical conduct is based on one’s own and others behaviors understanding, and in a person’s empathetic capacity towards others, emotional intelligence is closely related to workplace ethics and success perceptions. Emotional intelligence ethics at workplace are essential to follow, as they profoundly determine the success of an organization.