360° feedback – the way to assess Emotional Intelligence

Imagine that you lived on your own in the world and you were the only person to give yourself feedback. It would be a bit of a lonely life and you wouldn’t learn much. The fact is that the  only real way to assess your emotional intelligence is to get feedback from people who know you and the way you interact.

Using feedback to assess Emotional Intelligence is also known as multi-rater feedback or structured feedback. We start with a competency structure as defined in the original work on Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. Then we break down Goleman’s definitions into a number of behaviours or attitudes that anybody that knows you could observe and these form the basis of our structured questionnaire. Answer the questionnaire yourself to give a measure of your self perception and then get a cross section of people who know you to answer the same questions with how they see you – and there you have it. Check out our Emotional Intelligence at Work 360 feedback questionnaire.

Emotional Intelligence at Work

The rules for work have changed. People are being judged differently: not just by how intelligent they are or by their training and expertise, but also by how well they handle themselves and each other.

The new rules determine who is most likely to become a star performer in their field of work and are crucial to their marketability for future jobs.

These rules have little to do with what we were told was important in school: academic abilities are largely irrelevant to this new standard. The new measure: Emotional Intelligence (EQ) takes for granted having enough intellectual ability to do our jobs. Emotional Intelligence focuses instead on personal qualities or emotional competencies based on

  • Self Awareness – the ability to see ourselves with our own eyes and to understand the ways we impact the world we live in
  • Managing Emotions – the ability to control unproductive behaviours, manage internal states, impulses and resources
  • Self Motivation – the ability to pursue goals with commitment, passion, energy and emotion
  • Managing Relationships – The ability to manage relationships effectively and build networks of relationships
  • Emotion Coaching – the ability to help others develop their emotional capabilities both by direct intervention and example

One of the most effective ways to develop Emotional Intelligence is to use the Appraisal360 Emotional Intelligence tool to monitor real life behaviour. Appraisal360 specialise in providing online 360 degree feedback (multi-rater feedback) tools to support companies with the development of their staff.

The Appraisal360 Emotional Intelligence  uses a structured competency based questionnaire focussed around the definitions of Emotional Intelligence. Firstly, the user fills in the questionnaire with their self -perceptions. Then a number of people who know that person, boss, colleagues etc, are asked to fill in the same questionnaire with their perceptions of that person. The system compiles an easy to understand report which highlights strengths and weaknesses and areas where the user’s self perception differs from other people’s perception of them. It also comes with a set of learning materials to help turn the report into action. A matching support and mentoring service is also available. By using this tool you can help your staff develop their Emotional Intelligence in the workplace.

Research into star performers suggests that close to 90% of their success can be attributed to emotional intelligence factors. Emotional Intelligence skills are particularly important in complex or leadership roles, but they are important at all levels – and our tool can be used with employees at all levels.

The best Emotional Intelligence development tools are ones which combine people’s self perception with feedback from other people who know them: that is exactly what Appraisal360’s tool does.

Emotional Intelligence for trainers, employers and HR Professionals

Developing the emotional intelligence of your workforce is good for business. It’s the vital quality that underpins good teamwork, good industrial relations and makes the difference between having an inspired workforce and an average one. Just imagine a contented workforce which ran smoothly and efficiently with a minimum of fuss.

Well now you can, because by using our multi-rater feedback system you’ll be able to pinpoint the areas that need attention, your training budget will be better spent and your people will take more responsibility for their own behaviour and development.