The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace

Research during the last twenty-five years has consistently pointed to a set of competencies-some purely cognitive but most emotional-such as self-confidence, initiative, and teamwork as making a significant difference in the performance of individuals. These competencies represent what is called emotional intelligence and are predictive of superior performance in work roles. But how does emotional intelligence as a competency go beyond an individual's performance to become something a group or entire organization can build on and utilize collectively? The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace is written by two leaders in the emotional intelligence field, Cary Cherniss and Daniel Goleman, and a blue ribbon panel of contributors, most of whom are from the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. This indispensable resource takes emotional intelligence into the workplace, showing how to measure and promote these performance-enhancing abilities within organizations. The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace first examines emotional intelligence as a concept, exploring issues of its definition and measurement. It then explores human resource applications in more depth, revealing how organizations can increase emotional intelligence through use of standard human resource functions, such as hiring and performance management systems. Finally, the authors offer specific training and development interventions based on emotional intelligence theories, showing how to improve the individual competencies that are crucial to organizational success. The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace includes fifteen best-practice models that have been tested and empirically validated in existing organizations. The authors show specifically how these organizations have enhanced the social and emotional competencies of workers using one or more of the four dimensions of emotional intelligence: self-monitoring, self-management, social awareness, and social skills. They identify twenty-two guidelines-based on an exhaustive review of the literature concerning training and development, counseling, and behavior change-that managers and executives can use to promote emotional intelligence within their organizations. Cary Cherniss is professor of applied psychology at Rutgers University. Cherniss is a specialist in emotional intelligence, work stress and burnout, management training and development, planned organizational change, and career development. Daniel Goleman is the author of the New York Times best-seller Emotional Intelligence and Working with Emotional Intelligence. Goleman and Cherniss cochair the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations at Rutgers.