Social intelligence is an important skill for employees

A quick response to changes in social situations has been linked to improved outcomes in personal and business relationships in a new study by the University of Queensland.

The study, Sensitivity to Changing Contingencies Predicts Social Success, published in July this year conducted experiments to assess social competence in romantic and business relationships.

The experiments were conducted using a computer game, which assigned value to objects. Once a participant had figured out the value of the object the computer would reverse the value.

Co-author of the study Dr Richard Ronay said that each participant’s response time was found to be linked with more successful outcomes in their social relationships.

“In the case of romantic relationships, this meant people had happier partners and were able to handle conflict with their partner more constructively, while competitive business students were more effective negotiators,” explained Dr Ronay .

“The results suggest that the ability to recognise shifting rules reflects a component of social intelligence that can be used to pursue a variety of social goals, from romantic relationships to competitive negotiations, to the building of trust,” he said.

Social intelligence differs from personal intelligence and the study found IQ and the capability of managing emotions were unrelated to a participant’s success.

Daniel Goleman, the main who introduced the concept of emotional intelligence to the business word in the late 1990s, defines social intelligence as understanding and responding to interactions between two people.

HRIS software is one way to identify the employee’s individual competencies in regards to social intelligence. A comprehensive HRIS includes defining and tracking goals, feedback and development plans. These are all important features for improving the performance of employees and how they respond in social relationships.