When recruiting a new member of staff employers are undoubtedly looking for the best person to fill their vacancy.

Some will no doubt believe that the best person for the job will be the one with the highest level of appropriate qualifications, however Alan Patterson, commercial team leader of Carlton Resource Solutions, is reminding employers that emotional skills can play a major role in how well employees perform and also on whether they fit in to the existing team.

He said: "Someone with a high IQ may well have all the qualifications needed for a role but that is not to say that they are necessarily the best person for the job.

"Employers should consider the emotional strengths that candidates display as these can help them to determine whether or not the potential employee will fit well into the company structure. Failing to do so and employing someone that disrupts the team dynamic can have dramatic effects on staff morale and in turn on productivity.

"A person's emotional quotient or EQ includes skills which are vital in the workplace,"

said Alan. "IQ is defined as the measure of cognitive abilities whereas EQ is a measure of emotional intelligence. EQ was first highlighted over twenty years ago in a book by Daniel Goleman entitled Emotional Intelligence'.

"EQ strengths include empathy, creativity, resilience, stress management, inter and intrapersonal skills to name but a few.

These are all key skills for effective performance in the workplace."

He said: "One way of looking at it is that a person with a high IQ will try to convince you of something based on the facts alone where as someone who has a high EQ will appeal to reasons and emotion in order to effectively present their case.

"EQ becomes more important the further up the career ladder you go," said Alan.

"Those who are natural leaders have a high EQ. Think about the people who tend to rise to the top of their profession.

They're not just good at what they do they also have a high level and breadth of emotional strengths.

"When considering a candidate for a post it is important to not just consider their paper qualifications but also to try and gauge their EQ."