Workplace Stress is Curveball Lobbed at Employee Emotional Intelligence

Retaining and rewarding the best employees trumps all Human Resource challenges over the next decade. It’s not a stunning revelation. It comes from a 2012 Society for Human Resource Management study. But the devil is in the details of how to hold onto, and nurture those employees.

The Value of Emotional Intelligence

HR might have to dig a little deeper beyond the typical programs and strategies. For example, giving more attention to the “components” of employee Emotional Intelligence (EI). EI, the brainchild of psychologist Daniel Goleman PhD, reflects the ability to manage and control ones own emotions, along with sensing, understanding and reacting to others’ emotions. One has to wonder if heightened workplace stress is impacting the state of worker emotional intelligence, as they tangle with an uncertain workplace and changing economy.

In a 2011, CareerBuilder.com survey, 71% of employers said they value Emotional Intelligence (EI) over IQ, and, “34% of hiring managers place greater emphasis on emotional intelligence when hiring and promoting employees post-recession.” When asked why they valued EI over IQ, employers said the number one reason was that “employees with high EI are more likely to stay calm under pressure.”

Workplace Stress and Emotional Intelligence

This sets off a huge wake-up call regarding workplace stress. Staying calm under pressure is part of just about any job these days in a 24/7 global marketplace, but if stress is on the rise at work (check out Stress at Work is Bunk for Business) and becoming intolerable to the point of diminishing employee engagement, big business needs to take a closer look at stress. A number of recent news items indicate as much.

Last week a Gallup poll indicated that  U.S. Workers are Least Happy with Their Work Stress and Pay out of 13 aspects of work conditions. Well over a third of those surveyed said they were “totally dissatisfied” with the amount of on-the-job-stress.

In the latest StressPulse^SM survey by ComPsych Corp, which provides employee assistance programs, 63% of the employees polled said they had high levels of stress with extreme fatigue and feeling out of control. Here’s what Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz, Chairman and CEO of ComPsych, said about the results.

“As employers continue to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to hiring, people who currently have jobs – many of whom have taken on extra work – are starting to show signs of prolonged stress. This can result in burnout and reduced performance.”

If Emotional Intelligence continues to be a highly valued assessment tool, as it appears it is now, should companies start paying more attention to the stress quotient in the equation?

The pace of the workplace picks up exponentially. The tools and strategies to keep employees engaged is under constant scrutiny, but are they evolving at the required pace to retain talent with the desirable Emotional Intelligence, instead of burning them out?

Judy Martin tracks breaking news on work-life issues and workplace stress at WorkLifeNation.com and on Twitter: @JudyMartin8.

Check out Judy's meditation CD, Practical Chaos: Reflections on Resilience along with her latest post at WorkLifeNation.com: Workplace Stress vs. Depression in an Age of Tumult