This trend is associated with low morale and disengagement. The HR industry has fallen from 2nd to 7th place in a ranking of emotional intelligence levels across 8 different industries.

Significant changes in HR departments in recent years are responsible for the severe decline in emotional intelligence (EI) amongst the industry’s professionals, according to leading business psychologist JCA Global. A new study* by the organisation, entitled ‘The Emotional Intelligence of the HR sector’ reveals that despite the industry scoring higher than most other occupations in EI over the last decade, there has been a rapid decline since its peak in 2012, dropping from second to seventh place in just three years.

This worrying trend is associated with low morale and disengagement, which is likely to have been caused by both internal and external factors such as structural changes within the workplace, size reduction of departments, as well as ongoing effects from the economic recession. All of these aspects have a negative impact on individuals working in the sector and as a result have increased feelings of insecurity and uncertainty and therefore a decline in their softer interpersonal skills.

It is characteristics such as self-confidence, emotional resilience, assertiveness and goal directedness that the HR sector has recently scored lower on. Mr Jo Maddocks, director at JCA Global, commented: “We interpret this particular slump as meaning that the HR sector is good at relationships but less strong at dealing with set-backs, coping when times get tough and demonstrate strong leadership. We also know there is a close relationship between the ‘financial economy’ and the ‘emotional economy’, and it is likely that when people are more financially secure, they will feel more emotionally secure.”

The consequences of lower emotional intelligence in this industry not only affect the individuals working in HR but will impact on the whole company. Despite the fact that there is a widely-accepted belief that EI is crucial to organisational performance, less than a third (30 percent) of companies implement it in their development strategies or selection processes. These statistics demonstrate that HR mangers do not exert sufficient organisation influence on decisions in HR related matters.

Maddocks concluded: “It may be that in due course the HR sector will resume its usual healthy position of representing and demonstrating higher emotional intelligence within a business. However, if the HR sector is to become consistently strong, and less susceptible to the ups and downs of organisational change, it must not only excel at the softer interpersonal aspects, but also the harder self-management components of EI.”