Emotional intelligence in the workplace: A critical review

This paper critically reviews conceptualisations and empirical evidence in support of emotional intelligence (El) and its claimed role in the occupational environment. Consideration is given to the purported status of El in occupational and career assessment (with particular emphasis on personnel selection and placement), job performance, and satisfaction. Overall, this review demonstrates that recent research has made important strides towards understanding the usefulness of El in the workplace. However, the ratio of hyperbole to hard evidence is high, with over-reliance in the literature on expert opinion, anecdote, case studies, and unpublished proprietary surveys, The review concludes by providing a number of practical guidelines for the development and implementation of El measures within occupational settings.