The Value of Emotional Intelligence and Risk
The Value of Emotional Intelligence in hiring is real, but the risks have not been considered enough. Note the following quote from People Matters:
emotional intelligence (EI) skills – such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management – will be a key requisite for success in the years to come.
Think how a swindler would use these skills. The more we focus on finding people with Emotional Intelligence or high Emotional Quotient, the more you need our system to dig these swindlers out. Some of the greatest manipulators have the best skills here. How much damage can they do?
We are glad to introduce emotionally intelligent people to our customers, but we will only recommend them if we can prove they are trustworthy.
One guy will say how talented he is and show it through many clear stories he tells. If he got fired in his last two jobs, that may of may not be a game changer for some companies, but these Emotionally Intelligent people who are good at knowing what you want to hear will make up a story and never tell you he got fired at his last two jobs.
That is the common problem with those people. They know what you want to hear, and so will breeze by unconfortable truths. They can say things so smoothly that you never noticed that his stories cannot stand the light of day. See also Perfect Interview Equals Perfect Hire?.
Value of Emotional Intelligence Often Becomes a Risk
People will lie about a lot of things. The toughest one to admit is getting fired. It is mighty useful to a company to know that fact though. They do not want to hire someone and then be the next to fire them. We find out and even give guys a second chance to tell the whole story. Admittedly, we know there are a lot of bad bosses, and so do not think getting fired is the key issue. We actually think not getting fired is bad news when you are working for a boss who wants you to cover up facts for example.
Lots of guys get fired as have a difference of opinon with the new boss. Is that enough to make you not hire? It really depends. Just this risk means that Emotionally Intelligent people have ability to cover uncomfortable things that you should know. The right guy will tell all. He or she is comfortable with their skin and also have high emotional intelligence. Other times, covering up means they stole a mittful and got let go. They are good at stealing and not getting caught unfortunately. We see them as potentially the most dangerous hires.