achieving a balance between soft skills and hard skills
Some psychologists¹ say that emotional intelligence (EQ) is more important than IQ. Perhaps, but in a work environment high EQ needs to be complemented with appropriate business or technical skills. Yet all to often the balance is skewed in favour of hard skills during structured “skills-based interviews”. It just seems easier to focus on specific, tangible and even observable hard skills. This is why it is said that individuals are hired for their hard skills but fired for their soft skills.
developing superior people skills
Emotional intelligence describes soft skills or people skills. It’s the capacity to understand how emotions affect personal behaviours and the impact that these behaviours have on others. This self-awareness is important but it’s only the starting point for becoming more emotionally intelligent. The key to becoming more emotionally intelligent is for individuals to change the way they think and behave, which is easier said than done.
becoming more emotionally intelligent
It’s a practical, work-based model of emotional intelligence that helps individuals and teams understand why people behave the way they do and how to maximise their engagement with, and performance at, work.
We use the EBW to enable leaders and teams to quickly understand how critical emotions and behaviours impact on the success of themselves and others. This is achieved through a combintation of coaching and facilitated workshops.
what the EBW measures
| Decisiveness | Motivation |
| Willingness to make decisions, the need for control and the level of comfort with decision making responsibility. | Level of energy, passion, drive and enthusiasm for work, being optimistic and positive, the need for achievement and challenge. |
| Influence | Adaptability |
| The drive to influence others, and persuade them, to be heard and have an impact. | The desire for, and enjoyment of, variety in the workplace; the capacity to keep an open mind and be flexible with different and creative approaches |
| Empathy | Conscientiousness |
| The ability to recognise, be sensitive to, and consider others’ feelings, needs and perspectives. The need to understand, to help, and work with others. | The need to plan and have structure, be diligent and meet deadlines; the level of comfort with conforming and following the rules. |
| Stress Resilience | Self Awareness |
| The capability to relax and deal with the day to day pressures of work; the level of comfort with showing and managing emotions e.g. can control/hide temper when provoked. | This scale is an index of the extent to which an individual’s EBW scores is likely to correspond with the way that others would score them on the EBW scales. |
benefits of emotional intelligence for individuals and teams
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) has the capacity to improve:
- Leadership capability
- Team effectiveness
- Identification of management potential
- Organisational & cultural change
- Coaching and training interventions
- Recruitment and selection
- Staff retention
1. Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.
The EBW Psychometric System is a trademark of Brentfield Consultancy Limited. Copyrighted © text adapted by permission of Brentfield Consultancy Limited.