Hiring Emotionally Intelligent Employees Is Crucial To Growing Your Business

Determining who you hire for a job plays a big part in forming your company’s culture. Beyond reviewing a candidate’s résumé there are certain questions that you should ask in order to find out if that person is a right fit. A strong indicator is a person who is emotionally intelligent.

According to Psychology Today, emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. It is generally said to include three skills: 1) The ability to identify your own emotions and those of others; 2) The ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problems solving; and 3) The ability to regulate your own emotions and the ability to cheer up or calm down another person.

So, how does this all play out in terms of your startup or small business? When someone has the qualities of self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill, they have the ability to work well with others and are effective in leading change. Such a person can bring your business to new levels and be a source of sustained growth.

Here are five questions (taken from Entrepreneur.com) that can draw revealing answers about a job candidate’s EI.

1. Who inspires you and why?

The job candidate’s answer often gives the interviewer a peek into who the interviewee models him or herself after. The response can also highlight the sorts of behavioral patterns.

 2. Did you build lasting friendships while working at another job?  

It takes a while for people to build relationships and being able to do so is a sign of solid emotional intelligence. A lasting friendship tells you that relationships and caring about people are important to the person.

 3. What skill or expertise do you feel like you’re still missing?

Curiosity and the desire to learn are vital signs that a prospective employee wants to get better at something. People who struggle with this question tend to be those people who think they already know it all and have nothing else to learn.

 4. Can you teach me something, as if I’ve never heard of it before?

A job candidate’s answer to this question can reveal whether the person is willing to take the time to think before speaking, has the technical ability to explain something to a person who is less knowledgeable, and can ask empathetic questions such as “Is this making sense?”

5. What top three factors you would attribute to your success?

The answer to this question can determine whether a person is selfless or selfish. When people talk about their own success, listen to whether someone talks about ‘me” of “I” or whether they talk about ‘the team,’ ‘we’ or ‘us.’ This will shed some light on if someone is a team player.