Tips for hiring emotionally intelligent people

The most important decision one can make at work is hiring decision as most of the costs are associated with the bad hire are astronomical. As per the study or prediction of The Society for Human Resource Management it is found that each time the business is replaced by some salaried employee, the costs which are associated with them are six to nine months of the individual salary.

These are the hard costs. A poor hire can have a devastating effect on the morale and productivity of others. Selecting a bad seed can have a profoundly toxic impact upon your organization’s culture.

Mark Zuckerberg describes his hiring process as follows: “I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work directly for that person.”

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1. Learn to Read Body Language

UCLA research has shown that only 7 percent of communication is based on the actual words we say. As for the rest, 38 percent comes from tone of voice and the remaining 55 percent comes from body language. Learning how to interpret body language gives you a leg up when you hire. Learning to recognize candidates’ subtle mannerisms can give you an extra edge in evaluating who you should hire.

2. Spot Evidence of High and Low EQ Behaviors

Once you learn to spot behaviors indicative of the four emotional intelligence skills: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management skills, you’re a big step ahead.

3. Interview Outside of the Interview

Pay special attention to how candidates behave before, during, and after the interview. How do they treat your staff? Seemingly small behaviors provide valuable information on how a candidate will fit in with your employees, as well as how they’ll treat your customers.

4. Ask Probing Questions

Many interviewers have the same question bank they use for all candidate interviews—with some job-specific questions sprinkled in. You already have the candidate’s resume in front of you, and the interview is your opportunity to probe deeper and get beyond technical skills and background. Asking layers of probing questions will help you understand how the candidate adapts to change and challenges.

The most important piece in the hiring process is emotional intelligence. Whenever you use it in perfect manner, you minimize the risks of absorbing the toxicity, turnover and poor performance.

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