Recent studies show that emotional intelligence (EI) is one of the most important qualities in employers looking to recruit new staff or retain current ones. While previous generations may have focused more on cognitive intelligence, which focuses on thinking about things, understanding concepts, and putting together pieces, EI looks at how well you manage your emotions and relationships.

It’s also a much needed quality in workplace relations. After all, we spend a significant amount of time working with people—whether it’s in an office setting, via email, or through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

When I first began talking about leadership and developing strong leaders, one of the key points I would stress was having good interpersonal skills. You want to be able to communicate effectively, motivate others, and inspire them to do their best work.

But these days, some experts believe there’s another factor professionals should look for when trying to find a job or promote someone else. These theorists say that instead of looking only at whether someone has solid communication skills, they ought to ask if they have high levels of emotional intelligence.

What is emotional intelligence?

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Emotional intelligence (or EQ as many refer to it) refers to our ability to recognize, understand, and control our own feelings; identify those of other people; and use appropriate strategies to regulate our emotions.

Employees are less disruptive

Recent studies show that people with high emotional intelligence are actually better at controlling their emotions when they encounter something difficult or stressful. This is because they understand how to process emotion so they can control it.

When you’re able to manage your own feelings, it helps you focus on other things instead of getting distracted by them. This benefits your work relationships as well as your personal life.

At work, this means you’ll spend more time focused on doing your job rather than letting your frustrations get in the way. It also means that colleagues will feel more connected and supportive since you’ve shown an understanding of what they’re going through.

In your personal life, this will help you maintain your relationship with friends and family. You’ll be happier being able to deal with changing situations due to your ability to regulate yourself.

Employees are more productive

Overseeing others to complete their tasks can sometimes push them towards doing less work because they feel like you do not appreciate what they are trying to achieve. This can create a feeling of insecurity for those professionals who put in significant effort into meeting deadlines and producing quality products or services.

If someone is having trouble completing their job, it is usually because they lack motivation to perform their duties. They may be lacking interest in the project, or they might need help figuring out how to accomplish an assignment.

When employees perceive that their colleagues don’t respect them, they can become reluctant to share important information or take risks. In turn, this cuts down on teamwork and productivity.

Emotions play a big part in workplace relationships. When workers sense that their peers don’t care about getting things done, trust breaks down and collaboration becomes much harder to come by.

EI helps mitigate these negative effects by enhancing communication, leadership, and team-building skills. All three of these qualities are essential when working members of a team must coordinate with one another to produce quality results.

Employees are less likely to get fired

Recent studies show that emotional intelligence is an important factor in determining if you will be terminated from your job. More than just knowing what to say at a boss’s funeral, having high levels of emotional intelligence makes it more probable that you will not get fired.

Studies have shown that being able to recognize and identify your own emotions is one of the most significant predictors of whether or not you will get paid when you go home at the end of the day.

If you can’t figure out why you are feeling depressed about how things went this morning, then you won’t bother trying to fix anything until later because you'll feel too bad to try. You'll also probably forget to pack because you’ll be preoccupied with thoughts of leaving instead of packing up your belongings.

A lot of employers look for people who seem emotionally stable as potential hires or employees. They want to make sure that someone cannot put off going through the motions of doing their work due to lack of motivation or interest.

Employees are more satisfied with their jobs

Recent studies show that people who have high emotional intelligence (EI) are likely to enjoy what they do for longer, which means they will stay in his or her job longer too. This is particularly important in an era where employers can easily give way to newer competitors.

Thinking about how to improve your own emotional intelligence isn’t easy. But you can work on it by practicing certain skills every day.

Here are six ways to boost your emotional intelligence and help your colleagues and superiors feel better around you.

Employees are better at managing their stress

Overworking yourself can be detrimental to your health and wellness. If you find that you’re constantly stressed out, it may be time to look into how emotional intelligence (or EQ) impacts workplace relationships.

Research has shown that having high levels of empathy is linked to lower stress. Being able to recognize and understand what makes someone else feel anxious or depressed can help you identify sources of tension and make changes to avoid them.

This also means being aware of how others’ emotions affect you — and trying not to take things too seriously. A lot of times, people who get upset about something don’t know why they’re really angry or why someone else seems so calm in a situation that clearly bothers them.

If you’d like to improve your relationship skills, consider talking with other adults about important issues. This could mean meeting for an informal chat, sharing papers and findings, or hosting a discussion group.

Employees are better at managing their coworkers

As mentioned earlier, emotional intelligence (EI) is your ability to recognize, understand, and control your own emotions as well as those of others. This can go beyond just telling someone they made you angry, to helping them work through their feelings.

It’s also about understanding other people — how they think, what makes them feel good or bad, and whether there are ways to help them in the future. In fact, research has shown that having high EI actually correlates with career success and happiness.

This may sound surprising, but it makes sense. After all, being able to relate to people and communicate more effectively means avoiding some pretty serious workplace setbacks.

As we know, things can get ugly really fast in the workplace. Disagreements arise over issues that need to be addressed, projects come to a close without anyone feeling like they contributed, and morale drops lower than it was before. All this negativity creates a very stressful environment for everyone involved.

Employees are better at managing their bosses

As discussed earlier, emotional intelligence (EI) is your ability to recognize and manage your own emotions as well as the emotions of others. This can be difficult when you do not know what buttons an individual has that day, why they are feeling a certain way, or whether they are controlling their feelings in the moment.

Employees who have high levels of EI understand this. They learn how to balance emotion regulation when working for someone else – which makes them more productive employees.

This also means that they will spend less time stressed out and more time doing things that matter to their employer. The same goes for those superiors that some people seem to have a harder time keeping up with.

There was a study done where participants were asked to predict if one person would get fired from work. One group was given the information that the participant would give off signals that he/she wanted to be promoted.

The researchers then had the other party look at these markers before making their decision. It was incredibly hard to tell whether the participant wanted a promotion or not until after the firing took place.

That is just how emotionally intelligent people function. They may want something very much, but they also watch how they show it.

Employees are better at leading a team

As mentioned earlier, emotional intelligence (EI) is linked to how well you manage your emotions. And being able to manage your own emotions as well as those of others – for example by understanding what makes someone feel good or bad about something-is an important workplace skill.

This can be difficult if you don’t know what other people think about things and why they behave in certain ways. It also goes without saying that having solid relationships with colleagues is crucial to doing business effectively.

So, how does EI help with this? By helping us understand our peers and ourselves, we develop more effective interpersonal skills. This includes things like empathy, which helps us relate to other people and understand their points of view; self-awareness, which means we recognize our strengths and weaknesses; and motivation, which influences whether we do things and how we perform them.