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Giving Employees The Opportunity To Develop EI Through Professional Development

todays global financial uncertainly is putting a strain on both business resources and household budgets. Developing your employees level of emotional intelligence (Ei) can provide your organisation with the resilience and capacity to not only weather the storm, but also to flourish. Emotional intelligence has a direct impact on employees personal energy levels, resilience, optimism, energy and productivity.their level of engagement will determine how much of this discretionary effort they will be willing to invest in their work. Developing emotional intelligence in employees is the lever for creating a high level of employee engagement, and with it comes performance, innovation, retention, team cohesion and sustainable results. According to a Gallup Organisation Poll, over eight in 10 Australian workers show up to work but battle to put energy or passion into what they do; wasting up to four hours a day being unproductive. Daniel Goleman, author of the groundbreaking book Emotional Intelligence, has studied the toll that emotional hijacking takes on employees. When stress piles up at work, employees may lash out at a colleague or start to feel helpless and overwhelmed, which can play out as a loss of energy and motivation, which then impacts decision-making, productivity and effectiveness. A working definition of emotional intelligence is simply the intelligent use of emotions, and Goleman identifies five elements of emotional intelligence that create strong and productive individuals. self-awareness is the ability to recognise and understand moods, emotions and drivers, as well as their effect on others. When people are under distress, the quickest to recover are those who can identify their feelings and put those feelings into words. there are a number of psychological instruments and surveys available for staff to self-discover their levels of self-awareness. Popular and effective instruments often include a 360-degree feedback process in which peers, subordinates and managers provide employees with valuable feedback about aspects of their personality and style of which they are unaware. Another option is to create an opportunity at the end of each day wherein employees reflect and record how different stresses and situations have made them feel during the day. Once your employees have cultivated selfawareness, Golemans second element comes into play. this is self regulation, which refers to the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses; that is, the ability to suspend judgement and think before acting. Great leaders inspire their employees to examine how their actions will affect others before they take them. they encourage staff to take responsibility for their actions, and if they hurt or offend somebody, apologise to them directly. Creating a culture in which individuals ask for feedback can help to eliminate energysapping reactive behaviour. the third element is motivation, which is a passion for work for reasons that go beyond money or status. At a personal level, this entails employees being aware of their purpose and finding ways to express this in their daily work routine. For a leader, this translates into two things: Know what motivates your staff and give them purpose, and then create a vision that is reflective of this and that allows them to live their purpose through work Golemans fourth element in creating Ei is empathy, which is giving your staff the ability to understand the emotional make-up of others. there is skill in treating people according to their emotional makeup. Great leaders model this by learning about their staff through taking a genuine interest in them, and being out in the workplace observing their emotional reactions; then pitching their conversations accordingly. Finally, the last element required to develop Ei is social skills, which refers to peoples ability to find common ground amongst their colleagues and then build rapport and meaningful relationships and networks. Great leaders create workplace

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opportunities that revolve around their team members building connections. Developing employees emotional intelligence does not need to put a massive dent in the budget; it simply requires time, conviction and commitment. Here are a few tips on how to do this: Find a business reason or opportunity to address the issue; for instance, staff retention, team morale, change, vision, worklife balance or absenteeism Recognise that there is no quick fix. Break the process into bite-sized chunks, such as team meetings, breakfast sessions or lunches Establish a clear starting point of reference using one of numerous tools available Link EI to performance-review discussions and create development plans accordingly Make it clear that there are personal benefits for employees and align this with the vision and roadmap for the business Know that this cannot be approached halfheartedly; employees will need confidence in their leaders By investing in employee engagement, DuPont reported a 47.5 per cent reduction in absenteeism; union Pacific returned 75 per cent improved concentration and productivity; and General Motors recorded a 50 per cent reduction in grievances as well as a 40 per cent reduction in lost time. A business case in point: Coors measured a $6.15 return on every dollar invested. Pete Jensen is a highly experienced consultant, coach and facilitator who has worked with many of Australias industry leading organisations in the field of culture transformation, leadership and personal development. Pete specialises in working with emotional intelligence to leverage individual capacity, capability and confidence in order to maximise organisational performance. Pete can be contacted at pete. jensen@larsenjensen.com.

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