Emotional Intelligence and Soft Skills Development: Strategic Assets in the Modern Service Economy

Document Type

Book Chapter

Source of Publication

Strategic Human Resources in the Modern Service Economy

Publication Date

5-28-2026

Abstract

In today’s fast-paced service-driven economy, technical expertise alone no longer guarantees success. Increasingly, it is the human side of work—our ability to understand emotions, communicate effectively, adapt, and build meaningful relationships—that drives real value within organizations. This chapter explores how emotional intelligence, and soft skills have become essential elements of strategic human resource development, especially in industries where service quality and customer experience are paramount. Rather than viewing soft skills as secondary or innate traits, the chapter highlights their growing significance as learnable, measurable competencies that contribute directly to employee performance, leadership effectiveness, and organizational resilience. Drawing from psychological theories and contemporary HR frameworks, the discussion examines how these capabilities can be purposefully cultivated through recruitment strategies, staff training, coaching programs, and performance evaluations.

ISBN

[9798337363950, 9798337363967, 9798337363974]

Publisher

IGI Global Scientific Publishing

First Page

141

Last Page

180

Disciplines

Business

Keywords

Soft skills (0.81) | Coaching (0.75) | Emotional intelligence (0.72) | Psychology (0.63) | Knowledge management (0.56) | Human resources (0.53) | Value (mathematics) (0.51) | Quality (philosophy) (0.5) | Applied psychology (0.47) | Human resource management (0.44) | Customer service (0.44) | Resource (disambiguation) (0.34) | Skills management (0.33) | Social psychology (0.32) | Service (business) (0.32) | Human intelligence (0.3) | Dreyfus model of skill acquisition (0.29) | Service quality (0.28) | Social skills (0.27) | Organizational behavior (0.27) | Organizational culture (0.26) | Emotional labor (0.26) | Cognitive psychology (0.26)

Scopus ID

105043646246

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

Link to Full Text

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