Maureen Groome's Posts: Module 1 DQ 1 My Area Of Interest

Maureen Groome4 Postsremodule 1 Dq 1my Area Of Interest Is The Emotio

Maureen Groome has expressed her academic journey and current focus on understanding the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in the career and employment choices of millennials. She aims to explore how and why millennials select their careers and employers, seeking to identify gaps in existing research that combines EI and millennial career behaviors. Her review indicates a challenge in finding studies that directly link these two topics, although related research on job satisfaction, motivation, and social consciousness among millennials and in other contexts exists. She identifies themes such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skills in EI, and parallels these with millennials’ values of teamwork, personal productivity, fulfilling work, and social responsibility. She rates her current understanding and progress as around 1.5 on a scale, recognizing the need for further development and refinement of her research focus.

Paper For Above instruction

Understanding the intersection of emotional intelligence and millennial career choices is a vital area of inquiry, given the increasing emphasis on soft skills and emotional competencies in workplace success. Millennials, born between approximately 1981 and 1996, have distinguished themselves through unique attitude shifts towards work, characterized by a desire for purpose, social impact, and personal fulfillment (Howe & Strauss, 2000). Simultaneously, emotional intelligence, as defined by Goleman (2015), comprises self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management, all of which influence leadership, teamwork, and job satisfaction. Exploring how EI influences millennial career decision-making can provide insights for organizations seeking to attract and retain this demographic, aligning employee engagement with organizational goals.

Existing literature suggests that millennials place high importance on social consciousness, work-life balance, and personal development (Calk & Patrick, 2017). These values align closely with components of emotional intelligence, particularly social awareness and self-management (Goleman, 2015). For example, a millennial who possesses strong self-awareness and social skills may be more inclined to seek employment that aligns with their values of social impact and personal growth. Moreover, their emphasis on teamwork and collaborative environments correlates with EI’s social skills domain, which emphasizes effective communication and relationship building (Mayer & Salovey, 1997).

Research exploring the motivational factors driving millennial career choices indicates that they prioritize organizational cultures that promote authenticity, social responsibility, and personal fulfillment (Ng & Johnson, 2015). These motivations may be underpinned by emotional competencies that enable millennials to navigate complex social and professional environments effectively. For instance, emotionally intelligent individuals are better equipped to manage workplace stress and adapt to organizational changes, making them more resilient and satisfied in their roles (Salovey & Mayer, 1999). Therefore, understanding how EI influences the career development of millennials can inform recruitment strategies and organizational policies aimed at fostering an emotionally intelligent and engaged workforce.

Despite the promising connections, limited research explicitly combines EI with millennial career decision-making. Most studies tend to focus separately on either the traits of millennials or the components of emotional intelligence (Abiola & Salako, 2014; Calk & Patrick, 2017). This gap presents an opportunity for future research to explore whether emotional intelligence mediates or moderates the relationship between millennial values and career choices. For example, do emotionally intelligent millennials prioritize socially responsible employers more than their less emotionally intelligent counterparts? Investigating such questions could advance understanding of how emotional competencies influence career satisfaction and organizational fit among millennials.

In conclusion, aligning the themes of emotional intelligence with millennial motivations and values presents a compelling research avenue. Understanding this relationship can benefit organizations by enabling them to develop targeted recruitment, retention, and development strategies. As the workforce continues to evolve, integrating EI into organizational practices may prove essential in attracting and engaging millennial employees, ultimately fostering a more dynamic and emotionally intelligent workplace environment.

References

  • Abiola, D., & Salako, A. (2014). Predicting the effect of emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, job interest, life satisfaction and pay incentives as correlates of effective community policing in South-West, Nigeria. IFE Psychologia, 22(1).
  • Calk, R., & Patrick, A. (2017). Millennials through the looking glass: Workplace motivating factors. Journal of Business Inquiry: Research, Education & Application, 16(2).
  • Goleman, D. (2015). What makes a leader? In Harvard Business Review (Ed.), On Emotional Intelligence (pp. 1-21). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.
  • Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation. Vintage.
  • Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Educational Implications (pp. 3-31). Basic Books.
  • Ng, E. S., & Johnson, J. (2015). Generational differences in work values: A comparison of Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(2), 265-283.
  • Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1999). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personal Development, 9(3), 185-211.
  • Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation. Vintage.
  • Black, R. (2017). E-Mentoring the online doctoral student from the dissertation prospectus through dissertation completion. Journal of Higher Education, 13(1).