Identifying key domains for workplace emotional skills training

Abstract

Background

This study explored the optimal design of workplace emotional skills training, focusing on emotional blackmail, emotional intelligence, and emotional contagion. Emotional management is crucial to individual performance and organizational operations, particularly in high-stress or uncertain environments.

Objective

To identify key workplace emotional indicators, evaluate their importance, and provide practical recommendations for course design to improve employee well-being and organizational effectiveness in the high-tech industry.

Methods

A modified Delphi method was employed to establish workplace emotional indicators, and the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process was then used to determine the indicators’ relative weights. This study's expert panel included human resource managers, management personnel, and employees with substantial experience in the high-tech sector.

Results

“Cultivating emotional intelligence” (0.468) was the most crucial dimension, with “self-motivation” (0.320) and “interpersonal relationships” (0.209) being the key indicators. In the “recognizing emotional blackmail” dimension, the key indicators were “work stress management,” “blackmailer characteristics,” and “blackmail victim characteristics.” The main focus of the “managing emotional contagion” dimension was “positive emotion cultivation,” which supports team performance.

Conclusions

Emotional intelligence is central to managing emotional blackmail and remaining resilient in high-stress environments. The present findings highlight the value of long-term emotional training programs, focusing on self-motivation and emotional regulation at the individual level and the cultivation of positive emotions at the organizational level. Employee turnover may serve as a contextual, long-term outcome, but short-term measures such as engagement and conflict reduction are more appropriate indicators of a program's effectiveness.