Emotional Intelligence Tests for Hiring Remote Workers
How Do You Assess Emotional Intelligence for Hiring?
To assess emotional intelligence for hiring remote workers, employers use tests that measure self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. These identify candidates adept at virtual communication, managing emotions, collaborating remotely, and navigating team dynamics.
Using emotional intelligence tests for hiring remote workers may seem counter-intuitive. The rise of remote work offers immense opportunities for recruiters, but it also presents unique hiring challenges.
Traditional in-person methods are less effective for assessing a remote candidate’s essential soft skills and cultural fit. So, how do you make smart hiring decisions when building remote teams?
Emotional intelligence tests can help. These pre-employment assessments test offer valuable insights into a candidate’s emotional intelligence—a key factor for success in remote work.
Here’s why you should test remote workers on emotional intelligence and how it can benefit your company.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
While many people are familiar with the intelligence quotient (IQ), employers are increasingly prioritizing another key characteristic in the workplace: emotional intelligence (EQ). In fact, a 2019 survey revealed that 71% of employers are prioritizing EQ over IQ in employees.
But what exactly is emotional intelligence, and why is it an essential characteristic for remote team members? As the name suggests, emotional intelligence measures the awareness of your feelings and those of others.
Emotional intelligence is critical for remote workers because it includes several key skills that impact effective communication and collaboration.
How Do Emotional Intelligence Tests for Hiring Work? 
As you might have guessed, emotional intelligence tests measure a remote worker’s EQ levels. It helps you learn how they identify vital emotions and perceive the thoughts of others.
It also evaluates how they monitor their feelings and how they affect their coworkers.
However, it can be challenging to explain what this looks like, but it may become clearer by using remote work examples.
Generally speaking, team members with high EQ levels communicate better, improve workplace morale, and help other coworkers feel comfortable being honest.
An EQ test can analyze these skills and help you make the best hiring decisions for your remote team.
What is an EQ Test?
An EQ (Emotional Intelligence) Test is an assessment tool used by employers to evaluate a job candidate’s emotional intelligence skills. Emotional intelligence tests evaluate abilities across four core competencies:
Self-Awareness: Understanding your emotions, what triggers them, and how they influence your actions is essential for effective self-management and communication.
Self-Management: Remote workers should be able to manage stress appropriately, control impulsive feelings and behaviors, and adapt to challenging situations, all while maintaining productivity.
Social Awareness: Social awareness in remote work involves understanding others’ needs and feelings despite physical distance. It includes reading people’s cues, empathizing, and building relationships. By cultivating social awareness, individuals can better support colleagues and create a sense of belonging, enhancing teamwork.
Relationship Management: Clear communication, developing trust, and just and constructive conflict resolution are all essential elements of successful remote work, and emotional intelligence skills can help facilitate these interactions.
The goal is to identify candidates who can effectively manage emotions, work well with others, and navigate interpersonal relationships in the workplace.
Unlike self-reported EQ questionnaires, validated assessments use situational judgment tests (SJTs) for objective measurement. Test-takers confront realistic scenarios and select the most emotionally intelligent responses from multiple-choice answers.
Benefits of Emotional Intelligence for Remote Workers
There are compelling reasons why emotional intelligence offers remote teams a distinct edge:
Enhanced Communication
Although it’s essential for any workplace, communication is really the bread and butter of remote work. When several team members are spread out all over the place, you must ensure they are completing their tasks. It can be easy for mistakes to happen when it isn’t simple to speak with team members one-on-one directly.
However, remote workers with high levels of emotional intelligence will ensure that they will automatically make an effort to communicate with you and others on the team.
Listening Skills
After you’ve attended many Zoom meetings, it’s easy to get screen fatigue and give in to the temptation to multitask on another work duty. However, remote team members with high emotional intelligence levels understand the body language they need to use when attending online work meetings.
They’ll know when to look at the camera and how to set aside other distractions to focus on the task at hand.
Proactive Leadership
Remote team members with high emotional intelligence levels are generally going to be more proactive. This is essential for a remote team because employees will work independently on their tasks.
In other words, you shouldn’t have to constantly check in with your team to see how they’re progressing; they should already be taking the steps necessary to get the job done. Instead of you needing to approach a remote worker about their progress, they’ll already come to you, displaying positive leadership skills.
Conflict Resolution
Remote work can sometimes lead to misunderstandings and conflicts due to the lack of face-to-face interactions. Emotionally intelligent individuals are adept at identifying and addressing conflicts constructively. They can remain calm under pressure and use empathy to understand the perspectives of others, facilitating effective conflict resolution.
Adaptability and Resilience
Remote work environments can be dynamic and unpredictable. Emotionally intelligent individuals possess the ability to adapt quickly to changes and challenges. They are resilient and can bounce back from setbacks, maintaining a positive attitude and finding creative solutions to problems.
The Importance of Emotional Intelligence Tests for Hiring
Remote hiring presents unique challenges in assessing candidates’ EQ. Traditional methods of evaluating interpersonal skills and emotional management may not translate well to virtual interactions.
Emotional intelligence tests provide a structured and objective approach to evaluating a candidate’s emotional intelligence, enabling hiring managers to gain valuable insights beyond traditional resumes and interviews.
- Identifying Soft Skills
- Using emotional intelligence tests for hiring helps you identify the intangible but critical soft skills needed for success in remote teams. These skills include adaptability, resilience, and the ability to work independently while maintaining effective collaboration.
- Assessing Cultural Fit
- In remote teams, cultural fit becomes even more important as employees may not have regular face-to-face interactions to establish rapport. EQ tests can give you insights into candidates’ values, communication styles, and emotional expressiveness, helping you assess their alignment with the company culture.
- Predicting Job Performance
- Studies have shown a correlation between high EQ and better job performance, particularly in roles requiring strong interpersonal skills. By using emotional intelligence tests in hiring, organizations can identify candidates who are likely to perform well in remote settings.
- Improved Team Dynamics
- Remote teams thrive on effective communication and collaboration. Testing emotional intelligence can help build teams with complementary skill sets, fostering a positive team culture, and minimizing conflict.
- Supporting Employee Well-being
- Remote employees may face unique stressors. EQ tests can identify candidates with the resilience and emotional regulation skills to navigate challenges and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
In a world where remote work has become the norm, hiring managers would do well to focus on emotional intelligence to find the right candidates.
Expertly developed emotional intelligence tests can help you confirm the soft skills, cultural fit, and potential for success in remote work environments. By leveraging the power of EQ testing, you can make informed hiring decisions that will drive your organization’s success.
