Are you hiring employees who can display emotional control? If your people are dealing with customers face to face, then you should.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor one’s own feelings and the feelings of others. This ability guides how one thinks and acts. Emotional intelligence is a type of social intelligence, and it’s a vital trait that your front-of-the-house employees should possess. When hiring, instead of relying on basic H.R. software to help determine the best candidates, screen for emotional intelligence.
It’s all about customer satisfaction. Service industry employees must be able to tend to the customer’s every need. But as we all know, customers can be quite difficult. How well your servers deal with these trying moments can mean the difference between a lost customer and a customer for life. The ability to read customers is vital. It’s estimated that 96 percent of unhappy customers don’t complain and 91% of them will simply leave and not come back. Employees with a high level of emotional intelligence can put their feelings aside to turn a bad situation into a good one.
Keeping employees happy. As important as it is to keep the customer satisfied, it’s also essential to keep your employees comfortable and happy in their positions. In a management position, emotional intelligence can help guide how you deal with employees. Use positive emotions to establish group norms that will result in a happier workplace. Managers with emotional intelligence will be able to sense the stress of those around them and adjust as necessary.
Being able to adapt to situations, assess customer need, and detect the emotions of coworkers makes your business a better place. When hiring, be sure to consider emotional intelligence in your candidates. Your business will be better for it.
Kate Webster writes for lead generation resource, www.ResourceNation.com. She focuses on a variety of topics including human resources software.
