Has the HR sector become less emotionally intelligent?

It might be expected that Human Resources professionals have higher Emotional Intelligence (EI) than many other job sectors, as much of their work involves people development. However, research by JCA has shown there to be a significant decline in EI within the HR sector. Compared with eight other job sectors, HR has plunged from second position in 2012 to seventh position in 2015. This now falls below industries such as the financial, health, retail and sales sectors.*

This is a worrying trend, as a reduction in EI is often associated with lower morale and disengagement. It may also be incumbent upon HR professionals to practise what they preach and to demonstrate the highest standards of EI in their personal development. One reason for this drop may be due to significant changes taking place over the last few years in the HR sector. For example, 50% of HR departments have gone through structural changes in the last two years (CIPD 2014-15).  Inevitably these changes will require greater capacity to manage workload and cope with uncertainty.

Another related reason for reduced EI and possibly also for lower morale is the ‘double whammy’ effect of the economic recession on HR. Not only did HR have to make redundancies, but they themselves would then have also been subject to job cuts. Although the economic climate affects the EI of all job sectors, most other sectors, such as financial services, have bounced back more positively in recent years. There is a close relationship between the ‘financial economy’ and the ‘emotional economy’; it is likely that when people are more financially secure, they will feel more emotionally secure.

The consequences of lower EI in the HR sector do not just affect the incumbent, but will have an impact on the whole organisation. A study conducted by JCA in 2015 which focused on 50 organisations found that despite there being a 90% agreement amongst HR managers that EI is crucial to organisational performance; only 30% of these businesses included it in their development programmes, which suggests that HR managers do not exert sufficient influence on decisions in HR related matters.