Emotional Intelligence and Your Graduate Strategies

Testing emotional intelligence on the way in – what is the benefit?

Graduate employers are dissatisfied with the emotional intelligence of university graduates as reported by the Australian Association of Graduate Employers (AAGE). The AAGE national survey found a large number of employers say graduates lack empathy, self-awareness and thoughtfulness among other interpersonal skills viewed as “very important” to graduates success. Despite this finding very few graduate employers formally assess graduate’s emotional intelligence in the hiring process.

Dr Ben Palmer, Chief Executive Officer of Genos - an Australian firm that provides one of the most widely used measures of emotional intelligence by the Australian corporate sector says, “while we assess a very large number of individual’s emotional intelligence every year, very few of these assessments are completed by graduates. The vast majority of corporates using our assessments are using them to develop the interpersonal skills of middle and senior managers along with customer service and sales staff.”

So why aren’t the majority graduate employers formally testing for emotional intelligence in the hiring process? Dr Palmer believes “many graduate employers may not realise that there are valid and reliable measures of emotional intelligence available that can significantly enhance the hiring process. Furthermore, that test providers may be telling graduate employers that the personality measures they are using are testing for emotional intelligence when in fact research has shown that they do not”.

Employers considering the use of an emotional intelligence assessment in their hiring process should be wary of the vast number of assessments claiming to measure emotional intelligence. By way of example, a Google search with the search terms “emotional intelligence testing” reports thousands of sites discussing emotional intelligence tests. In comparison, independent institutions that assess the validity and research associated with these tests endorse only a select few. For example, the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organisations (CREIO; www.eiconsortium.org) website lists only 9 different assessments and of these only four are applicable for use in the hiring of graduates.

So when should an emotional intelligence test be used in the selection of graduates? Research has shown emotional intelligence to be as important and in some cases more important than IQ. This is particularly the case in today’s modern workplace, where attributes such as empathy and self-awareness are becoming increasingly critical for success. If interpersonal skills are integral to the success of graduates in your workplace Dr Palmer recommends using an emotional intelligence assessment early in the hiring process, not in place of, but at about the same stage you might use a measure of cognitive abilities and personality. Dr Palmer also recommends placing a similar weighting on the importance of assessment scores that you might place on cognitive ability results.

If emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills are integral to the success of graduates in your business the benefits may be astounding. Consider, for example, research by Hunter and Schmidt¹ in the late 1990s on the validity and utility of selection methods.

This research showed that workers hired with an improved selection method (e.g., if you were not using a valid and reliable measure of emotional intelligence and then you started using one), will have an average 9% higher productivity. For medium complexity jobs, like graduate positions, this typically leads to an average increase in output per hire of $18k per annum. To work out the benefit to your organisation multiple this number by the number you hire and the typical tenure of your graduates to determine the potential bottom line return to your business. For example, if you selected 100 graduates and their typical tenure was three years the potential return to your bottom line over three years would be $5.4mil (i.e., $18k x 100 x 3 = $5.4mil). This doesn’t include the other intangible benefits that might result from doing so.

Emotional intelligence doesn’t just relate to empathy and self-awareness. Published research studies on the relationship between emotional intelligence and workplace outcomes conducted by Genos and their research partner Swinburne University has shown that individuals with high emotional intelligence also:

• have less days off per year,
• experience less occupational stress,
• demonstrate greater commitment to the organisations they work for,
• are more innovative and creative in their problem solving,
• work more effectively in teams, and
• demonstrate greater inter-generational and cultural understanding.

Along with these benefits research has also shown that unlike IQ, emotional intelligence skills can be enhanced through training and development. The emotional intelligence assessment results you used to help hire graduates can also be used to help tailor specific on-boarding training and development to suit individual graduate’s specific needs. One organisation Genos is working with is not only using emotional intelligence in the hiring process it is also using the results in the on-boarding of those selected. Depending on results, graduates have the opportunity to attend specific learning events designed to enhance particular skills of emotional intelligence. These learning modules are designed to accelerate the development and application of specific emotional intelligence skills in the workplace.  The modules include: Self-Leadership; Deep Listening; Demonstrating Empathy; Managing key relationships; Building personal resilience; Influencing others to succeed; and Living by values. The organisation is tracking the impact these training modules have on their graduates’ performance and other variables like attrition, absenteeism and engagement.

In summary, research by AAGE shows employers think emotional intelligence skills are missing. Dr Palmer and his team at Genos believe emotional intelligence testing can add value to the hiring of graduates and are working with a small number of graduate employers in doing so. The added benefits include using the assessment data to help onboard and develop those selected. If you think emotional intelligence might be missing in your graduates talk to your Fusion Consultant about potentially including emotional intelligence in your graduate hiring and development process.

1. Ref: Schmidt, F.l., & Hunter, J.E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 262-274.