Organizations today have more technology at their fingertips than at any point in history. We can automate workflows, analyze massive datasets in seconds, and roll out new tools with a few clicks of the mouse. But for all the technological advancements we continue to see, tools are only as effective as the humans who use them, and organizations are ultimately only as effective as the humans involved in them.
Which means that the problems organizations face are also, ultimately, human. Even when problems originate from technology, the reverberations affect the people using it. Teams feel stretched thin. Communication breakdowns hinder solutions. Stress and uncertainty dampen morale and reduce productivity.
Tools like AI can help people work, but only as much as humans can use them effectively. When the individuals in an organization are resilient, adaptable, and ready for change, technological advancements can supercharge productivity and enhance innovation. But when employees are stressed, burned out, and misaligned, even the best tools can derail an already fragile organizational environment.
This paradox is one that modern organizations cannot overlook: the workplace landscape is evolving faster than ever, but the skills required to successfully navigate that change have always been and will always be human.
Why Today’s Performance Challenges Are Human Challenges
The biggest obstacles to performance are still emotional at their core. Burnout drains capacity, misalignment interrupts execution, and a lack of resilience leaves teams vulnerable when disruption hits.
These patterns show up consistently across industries and teams. In our 2025 State of EQ Report, 34 percent of respondents named stress and work-life balance as their top challenge, and only 35 percent felt prepared for ongoing change.
According to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends Report, today’s constantly changing work environment necessitates a delicate balance between business outcomes and human outcomes. Increasingly, focusing on the human element of business is becoming one of the most important factors in unlocking and sustaining organizational performance.
If performance issues are rooted in human experience, then performance solutions need to be rooted there too. No amount of technology can compensate for a workforce that’s depleted, disconnected, or struggling to stay aligned. No matter the organizational goal, the human aspect of performance cannot be ignored.
Human Effectiveness Is Rooted in Emotions
The foundation of human effectiveness consists of the abilities that help people communicate, think clearly, adapt to change, collaborate, regulate stress, and respond under pressure. And all of these abilities are influenced by emotion.
Neuroscience explains why: information enters the emotional centers of the brain before it reaches the rational centers, so we experience situations emotionally before we even begin to form rational thoughts about them.
In practical terms, this means much of work performance is emotional long before it becomes operational. When emotions go unrecognized or unmanaged, they interrupt judgment, weaken communication, and make it harder to recover from stress. When people understand their emotions and use them intentionally, they think more clearly, collaborate more effectively, and stay grounded through change and uncertainty.
Human effectiveness depends on emotional effectiveness. And emotional intelligence is the skillset that strengthens it.
EQ Skills Address the Human Problems Organizations Struggle With Most
Many of the challenges that slow organizations down are emotional at their core. They come not from the tools people use but from how people interpret pressure, interact with one another, and make sense of change. EQ gives people the awareness and steadfastness to navigate these challenges more effectively.
Burnout often emerges when people miss the early signs of emotional strain or lack the strategies to slow it down. EQ helps individuals recognize what pushes them toward exhaustion and choose healthier responses.
Teams miscommunicate when they overlook subtle social cues or fail to recognize what someone is feeling beneath the surface. EQ sharpens this awareness and supports clearer, more empathetic dialogue.
Misalignment often stems from emotional reactions in fast-moving situations. EQ helps people pause before making assumptions, stay engaged through tension, and work toward shared understanding.
Resilience depends on the ability to regulate emotions and stay grounded when conditions change. EQ strengthens this steadiness and helps teams support one another through uncertainty.
Across these challenges, the pattern is clear: when people better understand themselves and others, they communicate better, adapt faster, and stay focused on what matters most even amidst change and uncertainty.
The EQ Proof is in the Performance
So we know generally how EQ affects performance, but as a business leader you know that good investments need data to back them up.
Let’s look at what the research says about how, specifically, EQ drives performance:
In Individuals:
A comprehensive meta-analysis in Frontiers in Psychology found a direct positive relationship over 30 years between emotional intelligence and employee job performance. It also found a positive correlation between EQ and secondary contributors to performance like organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and job satisfaction, as well as a negative correlation between EQ and job stress.
Job performance is often seen through the lens of task completion and fulfillment of individual responsibilities. But this analysis serves as a clear reminder that ticking off a list of tasks on a job description is only one part of a much larger picture. Performance includes, and is impacted by, a range of emotional and organizational behaviors that contribute to the social and psychological environment of an organization. Yes, performance can be measured by numbers, but the factors contributing to those numbers are more often measured relationally than mathematically.
In Leaders:
A meta-analysis in the Journal of World Business found that a leader’s emotional intelligence is significantly and positively related to subordinates’ job performance and organizational citizenship behavior across cultures. In fact, results showed that EQ predicted these outcomes more than the leader’s cognitive ability or their personality.
Yet another meta-analysis shows that high EQ in leaders positively relates to higher job satisfaction among employees. As we established above, job satisfaction isn’t just an added bonus–it is directly tied to employee performance.
In Teams:
Drawing inspiration from decades of research showing the impacts of EQ on teams, a 2024 study of 300 team members from different businesses confirmed a strong positive link between team members’ EQ and team performance. Specifically, EQ was shown to enhance team communication and conflict resolution, problem-solving skills, creativity, and productivity.
TalentSmartEQ’s data on team emotional intelligence has also shown a consistent positive effect on key performance indicators:
- Collaborative teams are 50% more likely to experiment with new ideas and approaches
- Companies with effective teamwork and collaboration practices experience 50% lower employee turnover
- Engaged teams achieve 17% higher productivity and 21% greater profitability
Teams perform better when members pick up on cues, understand others’ perspectives, and recognize the emotional needs of group members. These skills foster better communication and stronger connections that lead to more collaborative, productive teams. And as Deloitte emphasizes in their Future of Work insights, human-centered skills are more important now than ever before.
The Future of Work Is AI-Enhanced but Human-Centered
As AI advances, organizations will continue adjusting workflows, roles, and expectations. Technical skills will evolve as quickly as new tools emerge, but the emotional skills that help people navigate change will remain consistent.
AI won’t replace emotionally intelligent people. Instead, it will magnify the effectiveness of high-EQ individuals and teams and expose gaps in teams that lack EQ skills.
Technological investments can create value, but their return is never guaranteed. Investments in people have decades of evidence proving a solid ROI. TalentSmartEQ’s research shows measurable improvements in communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, collaboration, and adaptability with EQ training—all of which, ironically, shape how successful technological investments end up being in the long run.
Ultimately, It Comes Down to Leadership
If organizations are only as effective as their people, people are only as effective as their leaders.
EQ is what gives leaders the ability to strike a balance between business outcomes and human outcomes, to know what will ultimately be better for the organization long-term.
EQ is what allows leaders to give employees the support they need to navigate change and uncertainty–clarity of vision and communication, psychological safety, and productive feedback that fosters growth.
EQ is what’s required of leaders if they want to create emotionally healthy cultures. Research shows that leaders shape the emotional climate of their organizations, and they must model and build the calm, resilience, and connection necessary for teams and individuals to perform their best.
The Path Forward
Organizations often ask what will differentiate high performers in a future shaped by AI. The answer is already emerging: human effectiveness will define organizational effectiveness, and emotional intelligence is the foundational skill that will strengthen it.
In a world where change is inevitable and technology continues to evolve, EQ remains constant as the skillset that helps people adapt, collaborate, innovate, and lead with confidence. It prepares organizations to navigate with clarity whatever the future holds.
The future of performance is human. EQ is what makes that performance possible.
For more data on how emotional intelligence drives performance, download TalentSmartEQ’s free EBook.