Emotional competence at work

Abstract

Purpose – The study investigated emotional competence at work and elaborated emotional competence in relation to sociocultural aspects of emotions at work. Design/methodology/approach – Emotional competence at work was explored via interviews, surveys and observations. The study was conducted over one year, during which an emotion-training intervention was conducted within a medium-sized company, operating in the healthcare sector. Findings – The study shed light on emotional competence at work, identifying three domains: individual emotional competence, emotional competence within interactions and emotional competence embedded in workplace practices. Research limitations/implications – This study was conducted in one organization. Practical implications – Organizational developers are recommended to implement activities such as training interventions in order to build emotional competence; this applies not only at the individual level but also to achieve interaction among members of the organization within collective workplace practices. Originality/value – Previous studies on emotional competence have been limited to the individual level. The sociocultural approach to emotional competence adopted in this study recognizes – in addition to the individual and interactional level of emotional competence – emotional competence at work as related to practices at work.