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Human Resources MyPRINTResource.com Quick Printing | January 2015 29 Debra Thompson is President of TG & Associates, a consulting frm specializing in "The Human Side of Business" specifcally for the graphic industry. Her company provides virtual HR services and customized recruiting. Read more on her website, www.tgassociates.com. Thompson can be reached toll-free at 877/842-7762 or email her at Debra@TGassociates.com. Making Emotional Intelligence Work for You A fter I sold my printing company and started TG & Associates, I learned the importance of intelligence and personality in evaluating candidates for positions within a company. I worked with the staff at Wonderlic and with Dr. Tom Hendrickson, the co-creator of the DISC profle system, to understand how those tools could defne a suc- cessful hire. That led me to include those assessments as an essential part of a disciplined hiring process. In our book, No More Rotten Eggs, we made sure that we clearly articu- lated how those assessments defned the best possible hire. However, we went a step further by encouraging the use of emotional intelligence testing as part of the prescreening or for promotions, particularly for managerial positions or any position working in outside or inside sales. While intellectual knowledge and technical skills are important, emotional intelligence skills are even more crucial. It is often assumed that if a person is rather intelligent, he or she will be successful. This assumption can be far from the truth. Research has shown that the single most important factor in job perfor- mance and advancement is Emotion- al Intelligence, your EQ, which is, "the ability to use your emotions in a positive and constructive way in relationships with others." We have moved into an era where the call for people to mutually under- stand each other in the workplace has never been so essential. Studies show that EQ accounts for 27 percent to 45 percent of job performance. Those who perform well at work are effectively putting their EQ to work. Daniel Goleman, in his book, Work- people use problem-solving tech- niques to develop options, and they look for ways to improve. Enhancing EQ The good news is that EQ is not per- manently fxed. Unlike IQ and even our core personality traits, which are pretty much set early on in life, EQ is not. It can be improved. Anyone who wants to improve their self-aware- ness and build mutually satisfying relationships can defnitely do so by means of training, coaching, experi- ence, and practice. For a person to improve their current EQ level, they should begin by assessing their current level of emotional intelligence. We have add- ed an assessment tool for emotional intelligence developed by Thomas International, the company that pro- vides our Personality Assessment. This assessment tells you how well people understand and manage their emotions, how well they interpret and deal with the emotions of others, and how they use this knowledge to manage relationships. Improving emotional intelligence will help build better interpersonal relationships. Oftentimes, this is the area that will make all the difference in an individual's success. Increased emotional intelligence will result in more positive and constructive rela- tionships and a more satisfying and productive life. When it comes to hiring, EQ trumps IQ, advanced educational degrees, and technical knowledge. By Debra Thompson ing with Emotional Intelligence, wrote, "Compared to IQ and exper- tise, emotional competence matters twice as much. This held true across all categories of jobs, and in all kinds of organizations. On average, close to 90 percent of the success in leadership positions was attributable to EQ. Emotional intelligence is an essential ingredient for reaching and staying at the top in any feld." Emo- tionally intelligent people: § Are aware of how they feel, what motivates and de-motivates them, and how they affect others. They also have an accurate self-assess- ment when it comes to knowing their strengths and limitations. § Are optimistic. They have a positive outlook on life. They have high levels of happiness and energy and they are continuous- ly striving to improve or meet a standard of excellence. Emotional- ly optimistic people feel that they are important and the work they do is valuable. § Are able to inspire and guide in- dividuals and groups by initiating or managing change effective- ly. They also work with others toward shared goals and create group synergy in pursuing collec- tive goals. § Are aware of others' feelings, needs, and concerns. They are able to adapt their emotional ex- pression to the situations in which they fnd themselves. § Handle stress calmly. They deal with others' feelings and perspec- tives and take an active interest in their concerns. § Adapt to changes. During the course of a day, all kinds of chang- es happen. Emotionally intelligent