Managers say emotional intelligence should be a top 5 capability, but they’re not there yet

• Managers say the top five capabilities are active listening, recognition, coaching, trust and delegation

• Yet 72% of managers value emotional skills like empathy and self awareness/self regulation

• 50% receive no support from their organisation when transitioning into a role even though 80% are promoted due to technical competence rather than people skills. 

• Insights from a YouGov survey of 2,001 managers across 12 industries

Seven in ten managers place Emotional Intelligence (EI) as an invaluable managerial capability in 2024. However empathy, self-awareness/self-regulation and social sensitivity – classed as emotional intelligence – are not rated among their top five most important capabilities.

Leadership and management learning solutions experts Mind Tools, in partnership with YouGov, conducted a survey of 2,001 managers across 12 industries to identify the critical foundational skills and capabilities needed to be a “good manager” in a modern business context.

Managers say the top five capabilities are active listening, recognition, coaching, trust and delegation. While the ‘Building Better Managers’ report found that Emotional Intelligence significantly impacts people’s outcomes, not least innovation and engagement, having people skills remains a challenge for many managers.. 80% of them are promoted due to their ability to do a good job rather than the desire to manage other people.

Nahdia Khan, Chief Impact Officer at Mind Tools, said: “In 2024, empathy and social sensitivity shouldn’t be underestimated. Managers with high EI are better equipped to make balanced decisions, even in stressful situations. They can manage their emotions and understand the emotional undercurrents within their teams, leading to more thoughtful and effective decision-making.

“What’s also enlightening is that ‘having difficult conversations’ was identified as an issue for managers. The issue also reverses upstream, as managers said they rely on their managers more than anything else, so if their managers aren’t guiding them well, the problems are exacerbated.

“Traditional managers are task-orientated and focus on objectives, outputs and outcomes. Modern managers behave more like leaders, aligning teams, shaping cultures and coaching people, while still setting goals and delivering high performance. While some managers may naturally excel in EI, the good news is that these skills can be developed.”

Mind Tools’ report points to a Gartner report showing that only half of employees are managed by someone empathetic and fair. The consequence of this is serious. When managers lack empathy, according to Catalyst, employees are 34% less innovative and 43% less engaged at work.

The report also highlights that while organisations are allocating 12% of their L&D budget to management training in 2024, they struggle to measure the true value of their investment. Worse yet, 50% of managers received no support from their organisation when transitioning into their role, and of those, only 58% were satisfied with the support they received.

“Managers who receive access to learning resources, formal courses and training opportunities at the start of their management career are significantly better at coaching, goal setting, identifying opportunities for their people to develop, active listening, and establishing trust. These capabilities, along with the improvements observed from early-career support, should highlight the current priorities of management training.

“They are also less likely to leave – 64% of managers will look for another job if their organisation failed to provide opportunities to learn,” concluded Khan.

About Mind Tools

Mind Tools brings accessible, on-demand leadership and management skills development tools and resources that empower current and future leaders to perform in today’s progressive workplaces. Helping them build happy and successful careers and to contribute positively to the success of organisations, the world over. At Mind Tools, empowering people to thrive at work has been our passion since 1996.