Recruitment 4.0 :Emotional Intelligence

of the new digital business, finding the “right” candidate has become more important than ever before, yet we are still using old methods in the hopes of new people and new outcomes.

Line managers check lists consist of candidate’s academic prestige, technical skills, and blue-chip affiliations. I understand the importance that these requirements may play in qualifying a candidate for a role. However, no thought is given to their ability to contribute to teams, their resilience, problem solving skills and self mastery, so we end up hiring the candidate with the highest IQ, only for them to be headhunted 6months later by another line manager requiring the same IQ skill set.  Some of the most successful hiring managers and organisations know that to find the “right “candidate, we need to consider more than the cv, experience, and whether they gave the right reasons for leaving in an interview process. It’s about understanding the organisation, the people, and the type of people needed for success. A candidate’s titles and KPI’s also only allow us insight into the requirements for not how well some

According to the Head of Genos International, Dieric Mccann, hiring for EQ is a better predictor of a potential candidate’s success, than hiring for IQ. He describes these successful candidates as:

1. ´They’re problem solvers, they don’t dwell on issues”
2. “90% of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions. How an individual reacts in high stress environments can significantly impact the team and results. Those with higher EI understand when they need to take a step back and are less likely to blow up in a tough situation.”
3. “People with higher EI are generally happier at work and more likely to empathise with and understand others.”
4. “These people are more self-aware – willing to admit, address and work to avoiding future mistakes.”
5. “They’re more resilient. Developing one’s emotional intelligence is a key contributing factor to becoming more resilient in work and life. When a person is emotionally resilient, they’re more likely to be able to maintain their productivity and performance in challenging times.”

A similar research approach taken by the IHHP (Institute for Health and Human Potential) consisting of 12,000 people globally across multiple industries, revealed that the top 10% of the highest performers, also scored high in EI. This begs the question, in an age of digital transformation and expansion, when will the idea of the “right” candidate start to change? 

We look at companies like Google and Amazon as the epitome of strategic innovation and align our business strategies with the aim of becoming as inventive and forward thinking. Business then start to look for talent who would be able to execute these ideas from an IQ perspective. However, Google only has 4 main criteria for a successful candidate

1. General cognitive ability: They ask open-ended questions to learn how you approach and solve problems. There’s no one right answer—your ability to explain your thought process and how you use data to inform decisions is what’s most important.
2. Leadership: Not how many teams you’ve managed, but rather how you would use your communication and decision-making skills to mobilize others, such as stepping up to a leadership role at work or with an organization, or by helping a team succeed even when you weren’t officially the leader.
3. Role-related knowledge: how an individual’s strength combines with their experience to drive impact. “We don’t just look for how you can contribute today, but how you can grow into different roles—including ones that haven’t even been invented yet.”
4. Googleyness: “How you work individually and, on a team, how you help others, how you navigate ambiguity, and how you push yourself to grow outside of your comfort zone.”

I’m not suggesting that we exclude IQ as a criterion, but rather that we change the weighting that is given to IQ over EQ. IQ does not predict how a candidate will adjust to a company’s culture, how they will interact with teams, how resilient they are under pressure; yet, it is often the differentiator between the A and B candidate.

In the infamous words of Jack Ma: “you need the right people with you, not the “best” people.

At the Peopleshop our vision is to become a Human Supply Chain Lab that fosters Emotionally Intelligent Leaders and teams in Vuca Times. Our new Advisory Division in partnership with Genos International is ready to just that. We welcome all leaders who are ready for the step change to get in touch.