Having worked in the Recruitment Industry for over 20 years, I am privileged to work with some extremely talented and emotionally attuned leaders, who have created a climate of engagement and high performance. These leaders are authentic, self aware, sufficiently aware of others and able to motivate and engage others to achieve high performance. They also understand the importance that emotional intelligence plays in developing strong relationships with their candidates and clients.
Emotional Intelligence in the wider Sales Sector
In a research paper written by an JCA Global (experts in EI) they explain that the Sales sector has moved away from transactional sales to longer-term relationships with customers. Actual selling time has dropped to just 36% of the average working week and customers expect salespeople to be more knowledgeable and provide thought leadership. In essence, today’s salespeople need both cognitive intelligence (IQ) to act as ‘knowledge brokers’ and Emotional Intelligence (EI) to understand and connect with the needs of their customers.
The research showed that compared to the general working population , the Sales sector scored higher than average in EI. However, this gradually declined from 2009 to around average in 2016. Despite an improvement in 2017, which may indicate green shoots of recovery, this paper identifies key areas of focus in terms of relative EI strengths and development areas. To elaborate, results showed that the Sales sector score significantly higher in five scales of the EIP than the comparison group. They tended to be more task focused (Goal Directedness and Personal Power), tough minded (Self Regard, Emotional Resilience, and Assertive), and able to form close connections (Connecting with Others). However, the Sales sector also scores significantly lower than the comparison group on six scales suggesting they can be more rigid (low Flexibility), guarded (Mistrusting), have unrealistic expectations (Over Optimistic), are potentially volatile (Emotionally Under Controlled), confrontational (Aggressive), and less team oriented (Over Independent).
It is interesting to apply these findings to the recruitment industry. In such a competitive marketplace recruitment companies need to make sure that emotional intelligence sits at the centre of their internal talent strategy.
If you would like to learn more about how you can do this contact Amanda Wildman at Emotionally-i-Fit. Having worked as Global Head of Learning & Development for Morgan McKinley, Cielo Talent and Arrows Group, Amanda would be happy to share her experience and expertise on how to assess and develop EI in the recruitment industry.