Mehler and colleagues’ 2024 workplace review found moderate average gains on emotional-competency measures after training. It does not establish that employees became more accurate at noticing emotions or more effective in real disagreements: no emotional-awareness or conflict-management studies met its inclusion criteria. The review supports interest in training, while leaving those specific outcomes unproven.
What did the workplace review actually find?
The claim that workplace emotional skills can improve has real support, but the measured outcome matters. In a systematic review and meta-analysis published in December 2024, Mehler and colleagues combined workplace programs aimed at emotional intelligence (EI), empathy, and emotion regulation. Their pre/post analysis included 50 studies, 3,233 participants, and found an average standardized mean change of 0.44 across follow-up periods. A separate comparison of 27 controlled studies found an effect of 0.46 against control groups. A standardized mean difference expresses change across different scales in a common unit; it does not mean that 44 or 46 percent of participants improved. The authors report that average effects remained detectable beyond three months. [1]
This is stronger than a collection of enthusiastic course testimonials. A controlled comparison asks whether scores changed more in a trained group than in a comparison group, which helps distinguish training effects from change over time. An earlier meta-analysis by Mattingly and Kraiger provides broader context: across 58 published and unpublished adult EI-training studies using pre/post or treatment-control designs, it also found a moderate positive effect on EI scores. That synthesis included adults from varied settings, so it cannot tell us what happens in a workplace disagreement. [2]
The controlled estimate’s confidence interval ran from 0.30 to 0.63, which signals uncertainty around the pooled average rather than one precise effect shared by every course. Study results also varied considerably. A moderate mean can coexist with smaller, larger, or uncertain changes in individual programs, especially when both the intervention and the test differ from study to study. The authors found no significant differences between EI, empathy, and emotion-regulation training effects, but that comparison does not show that the programs taught interchangeable skills. [1]
The newer review’s scope is its value. It focuses on employed adults and brings together related emotional-competency programs that earlier reviews often treated separately. But the pooled estimate combines different trainings, populations, and scales. It is evidence that measured emotional competencies can shift on average after training, not a universal estimate for every course or every skill.
Sources: Training emotional competencies at the workplace: a systematic review and metaanalysis; Can emotional intelligence be trained? A meta-analytical investigation
Why are emotional awareness and conflict still unanswered?
The review authors explicitly searched for emotional-awareness and conflict-management training. Conflict programs could qualify when they taught emotion management and assessed emotional competence with a validated measure. Studies also needed employed adult participants and enough numerical information to calculate an effect. Despite those rules, none focused on emotional awareness or conflict management met the review’s criteria. [1]
That boundary changes what the pooled gains can mean. Most of the 50 included programs focused on EI (41 studies); seven focused on empathy and two on emotion regulation. None trained emotional awareness or conflict management as the review defined them. So the overall estimate cannot answer whether training helps someone recognize a colleague’s frustration accurately, ask what is behind it, or keep a disagreement from turning personal. Those are plausible course goals, but they were not demonstrated outcomes in this evidence set.
The gap is about what qualified for this review, not proof that no such research exists or that the skills cannot be taught. A program might improve awareness but fail to measure it with a validated emotional-competence tool; another might teach conflict communication but report too little data for an effect calculation. The review’s search was updated in November 2022, so it also cannot include later studies. The right conclusion is narrow: this review leaves the effect of awareness- and conflict-specific workplace training unresolved.
Sources: Training emotional competencies at the workplace: a systematic review and metaanalysis
Do score gains show behavior changed?
A score can move without answering whether behavior changed in the situation a worker cares about. Mehler and colleagues found substantial variation between studies and judged the overall evidence methodologically weak. Eighteen of the 50 studies were at critical risk of bias, and 28 at serious risk; common concerns included confounding and outcome measurement. Participants or assessors often knew that training had occurred, and many outcomes came from self- or peer-reports. Only seven studies used ability tests. The review authors call for more high-quality randomized trials and stronger outcome measures. [1]
These measures answer different questions. A self-report asks how a person sees their usual behavior or skill. An ability test asks how well they handle particular emotion problems under test conditions. A colleague rating records behavior another person says they observed. None automatically shows that an employee handled a live disagreement better. For example, a person may report greater confidence about emotion regulation after a course; that does not establish that coworkers saw them pause, check an assumption, or return to a hard conversation constructively.
This is where course claims should become more specific. If the aim is better conflict handling, look for practice and an outcome tied to the behavior: does the course rehearse checking an interpretation before responding, and does later feedback examine whether that happened? If the goal is awareness, ask whether the measure tests recognition or understanding rather than general confidence. That is a decision guide drawn from the review’s measurement limits, not a finding that any particular technique works.
Sources: Training emotional competencies at the workplace: a systematic review and metaanalysis
Does the healthcare research close the gap?
A second 2024 review offers a useful comparison, but not a solution. Powell and colleagues reviewed 17 longitudinal EI-training studies among healthcare workers aged 18 and over. All reported increased EI after intervention. The authors caution that methodological limitations may have overestimated the effects and call for research on effective duration and delivery. Their search covered studies through August 31, 2022, and EI was the primary outcome. This is a narrower healthcare evidence base; it does not establish emotional-awareness accuracy or conflict behavior across workplaces. [3]
Together, the reviews support a careful verdict: workplace EI-related scores often improve after training, yet evidence that a course changes a specific awareness or disagreement behavior is not established by these syntheses. The positive averages are a reason to take development seriously. High heterogeneity, risk of bias, and outcome mismatch are reasons to ask what was measured before treating the average as proof of transfer.
For a recurring work difficulty, name one action you want to observe: for instance, asking a colleague whether your reading of their reaction is right, or setting a time to resume a tense discussion after a pause. Choose training that practices that action, then seek specific feedback on whether it happened over time. A private 32-item Emotional Skills Profile can help organize reflection on recent habits and authored scenarios; it is an educational prompt without validated norms or established ability-test validity. It cannot verify that training worked or predict how you will handle conflict. If a structured view of your own patterns would help you choose a practice focus, explore the [Emotional Skills Profile](/assessment).
Sources: Training emotional competencies at the workplace: a systematic review and metaanalysis; Emotional intelligence training among the healthcare workforce: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Questions readers ask
Does workplace emotional-intelligence training work?
A 2024 workplace review found moderate average gains on emotional-competency measures across 50 pre/post studies and 27 controlled studies. High heterogeneity and methodological limitations mean the result does not guarantee that a particular course will work or change a specific behavior.
Did the review show that training improves emotional awareness or conflict management?
No. The review reports that no emotional-awareness or conflict-management training studies met its inclusion criteria. That leaves those outcomes unresolved; it does not show that such training is ineffective.
How can I tell whether a course addresses the skill I need?
Name the behavior you want to practice, then check whether the course rehearses it and measures a matching outcome. General emotional-competency score changes do not by themselves show that a person became more accurate at reading emotions or more effective in a disagreement.
Sources
- Training emotional competencies at the workplace: a systematic review and metaanalysis
Reports pooled workplace training effects, eligibility rules, absence of qualifying awareness and conflict studies, outcome methods, and risk-of-bias limitations.
- Emotional intelligence training among the healthcare workforce: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Reports 17 longitudinal healthcare-worker studies, EI increases in all included studies, methodological caution, and the review's population and search limits.
- Can emotional intelligence be trained? A meta-analytical investigation
University-hosted abstract reports a moderate positive effect across 58 adult EI training studies and identifies variation by publication status.
Apply it to the real situation
Choose one emotional skill to practice at work
From this guide: The reviews leave a personal question open: which response habit would make a difference in your next difficult conversation?
The Emotional Skills Profile gives you a private way to reflect on recent emotional habits and judgments in authored scenarios. Use that picture to select one behavior to observe and practice, such as checking an interpretation before replying. The profile can help organize reflection; it does not certify ability or show that a course changed your behavior.