Organisation behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organisation behavior - Essay Example This is because an organization entails a gamut of emotions – from elation to distress, and frustration (Ashkanasy, 2003, 9-54). There is often pressure to meet deadlines leading to stress and frustration. Thus, it is only by handling such varied emotions that can help the employees in achieving their desired organizational goals, with ease. A happy mind and mood, can think better – leading to productive decision making and successful accomplishments of organizational objectives. There is a growing fascination and interest among researchers and managers alike, on the subject of Emotional Intelligence and the role it plays in enhancing job performance of employees in organizations. The claim can be substantiated with the wide amount of literature linking emotional intelligence and job performance (Barsade, Brief, Spataro, 2003) in organizational context. In the earlier times, the aspect of emotional intelligence was rarely mentioned in literature on organizational studie s (Martin, Knopoff, Beckman, 1998, 429) however, the scenario has changed drastically over the years, and "employee emotions" are now recognized and acknowledged as an integral and inseparable part of their performance, leading to valuable contributions in organizations (Ashkanasy, Zerbe and Hartel, 2005). Definitions: According to Wharam (2009, 11), Emotional Intelligence is: â€Å"The potential to be aware of and use one's own emotions in communication with oneself and others and to manage and motivate oneself and others through understanding emotions† According to According to Goleman (2006, 189) "Emotional Intelligence refers to the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and our relationships". According to Sparrow & Knight (2009, 29) emotional intelligence entails use of the following key elements: -ability to identify feelings; pay attention to others emotions; give importance to the way others feel about things; and consider ones' feelings in decision making. Analysis The development of literature focusing on the relevance and influence of emotional intelligence on job performance, has broadened the visions of managers regarding the skills and abilities which are perceived as necessary for particular job types. Emotional intelligence is a critical element, particularly in an organizational setting, since it can play an important role in various key tasks such as hiring (Murphy, 2006). It has been established through research that people with high emotional intelligence quotient fare better than those with a low EQ. This significant discovery has helped managers understand the reasons behind the failure of certain academically high achieving employees in jobs requiring inter-personal skills. Emotional intelligence is known to improve the emotional and interpersonal skills of employees, which is required in managerial jobs (Lombardo, Ruderman, & McCauley, 1988, 199-216). On the basis of various studies conducted over the years, it has been established that employee performance is directly related to their emotions, i.e. positive or negative. Negative emotions such as anger, fear or distress were observed to have a negative impact on their performance and effectiveness on the job. Such negative feelings tend to distract the employees from their tasks at hand, resulting in unproductive work (Elfenbein