Emotional intelligence involves being sensitive to and perceptive of other people's emotions, and having the ability to intuitively facilitate improved performance based on this knowledge. The modern workplace is characterized by open communication, team work, and a mutual respect among employees and their supervisors.

Possessing emotional intelligence allows managers to better understand and motivate people they supervise. In an economy characterized by scarce labor, it's going to become increasingly important to hold on to the good employees.

At the same time, competition for the best employees is going to become even more fierce, and good workers who feel they aren't treated fairly at work will have an easy time finding employment elsewhere.

Daniel Goleman, who wrote the book Emotional Intelligence - which first popularized the concept, also wrote Working with Emotional Intelligence which you may want to read.

Caveat: While I read (nearly) all the first book, I have to admit that I didn't get through all of the Working with... book because too much of it (at least toward the beginning) seemed to be repeating its predecessor.

Take a quick glance at the websites www.leadership-eq.com and www.teambuilding-eq.com. Both speak directly about the role Emotional Intelligence plays in a person's professional performance and organizational success.