TTI Success Insights Blog

Emotional Intelligence and the EQ Assessment: What You Need to Know

Written by Jaime Faulkner | Jul 08, 2020

Now more than ever, emotional intelligence is the key to creating an effective workplace. If you’ve ever had questions about what exactly emotional intelligence is, the TTI Success Insights’ Emotional Quotient Assessment, or how you can apply emotional intelligence to your life right now, we have answers.

Here Is Everything You Need to Know About EQ. From the benefits of the assessment to the ways individuals, teams and organizations can benefit from its insights.


What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to sense, understand and effectively apply the power of acumen of emotions to facilitate higher levels of collaboration and productivity.

While the concept has been a key component of human behavior for all of time, the phrase ‘emotional intelligence’ was popularized by Daniel Goleman in the mid 90s.

EQ stands for Emotional Quotient. EQ is a measure of our emotional intelligence that indicates how well we are able to manage our emotions and impact our relationships with others.


What Does the EQ Assessment Measure?

EQ measures self awareness, self regulation, motivation, social awareness and social regulation.


Self Awareness

The ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions and drives, as well as their effect on others.


Self Regulation

The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods and the propensity to suspend judgement and think before acting.


Social Awareness

The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people and how your words and actions affect others.


Social Regulation

The ability to influence the emotional clarity of others through a proficiency in managing relationships and building networks.


Motivation

Is a passion to work for reasons that go beyond the external drive for knowledge, utility, surroundings, others, power or methodology and is based on internal drive or propensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence.


Why Did TTI SI Create the EQ Assessment?

Daniel Goleman was a science writer for the New York Times for 12 years where he specialized in brain and human behavior research. He also trained as a psychologist at Harvard University.

During the 1990s, Goleman was introduced to the work of Salovey and Mayer, which ultimately led to the publication of two books, “Emotional Intelligence", and “Working with Emotional Intelligence".

While Salovey and Mayer laid the theoretical foundation for emotional intelligence, Goleman is credited for popularizing the concept with his marketing flair and prolific writing abilities. His impact on the subject continues to be felt today as more and more workplaces recognize the importance of EQ.

The EQ assessment was created in 2008 and has been updated in 2011, 2015, and 2018. TTI SI's assessment and the corresponding report allow people to dive into the science of EQ through a personalized lens. Becoming aware of their own emotional state and those of others is the first step to improved performance.


Why is EQ Important Right Now?

Emotional intelligence might be the most important skill any professional can develop in our current workplace.

Fast Company reported on a study that showed “85% of [participating companies'] financial success was due to skills in “human engineering”, personality, and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead.

They found that only 15% was due to technical ability. In other words, people skills or skills highly related to emotional intelligence were crucial skills.”

Moving forward, that ‘human engineering’ will be crucial for your workplace to develop and thrive. People skills and oft-labeled ‘soft skills’ are leading the way, and increasing your awareness to improve emotional intelligence will help you remain competitive, financially and socially.

The new world of work is going to put people first, and you need to learn how to do the same to compete.


How Does Emotional Intelligence Help You?

If you’re a job candidate, you might be surprised to know that 51% of employers said they had difficulty finding employees with developed soft skills. By improving your awareness of both yourself and others, you’ll nail the interview process, present yourself well, and thrive in the highly competitive job market.

If you’re working on a team, building your awareness through emotional intelligence will transform your interactions with your bosses and peers. You’ll be more aware of your emotions and in control of your reactions to conflict.

“As we get more and more entrenched in people driven interactions, EQ is a critical piece to focus on,” said Rick Bowers, TTI SI President. “You will frustrate and isolate people if you don’t have it.”

If you’re a leader, developed EQ is central not only to your development, but to the development of your team. Leaders need to know how to speak confidently, understand and empathize with the needs of others, and read a room quickly to communicate impactfully.


Who Can Use the EQ Assessment?

TTI Success Insights offers several different types of reports for Emotional Quotient

Personal reports are the first steps to reveal an individual’s Emotional Intelligence. Personal reports are available for Management/Staff, Sales or Executive level.

EQ is commonly paired with other assessments. The Talent Insights Behavioral Science report is a double-science report that examines the behaviors individuals bring to the job using DISC and an understanding of their own emotional intelligence using EQ.

TriMetrix EQ examines the behaviors individuals bring to the job, the driving forces that motivate them, and an understanding of their emotional intelligence. This report consists of DISC, 12 Driving Forces and EQ.

Learn more about DISC here.

Learn more about the 12 Driving Forces here.


What’s Your Next Step with EQ?

It can be overwhelming figuring out where to start with EQ. The good news is that you’re already on the right track just by reading this article!

If you want to take an EQ assessment, contact us here.

If you want to join the TTI SI network and become a reseller, learn more.

If you are a member of the network and want to learn more about EQ, contact your Business Development Consultant to learn about becoming EQ certified.

Emotional intelligence is the key to the new world of work. Don’t wait to get started!