EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE WORKPLACE
What it takes to be the best:
"...close to three hundred different company sponsored studies show that across a wide array of jobs the recipe for excellence gives far more weight to emotional competencies than to cognitive abilities"
Spencer and Spence, Competence at work, 1993.
Emotional competence can be defined as "a learned capability based on emotional intelligence that results in outstanding performance at work".
Daniel Goleman, Working with Emotional Intelligence, 1998.
THE EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE FRAMEWORK
PERSONAL COMPETENCE
These competencies determine how well we manage ourselves.
SOCIAL COMPETENCE
These competencies determine how well we handle relationships.
Daniel Goleman, Working with Emotional Intelligence, 1998
Our work method: Experimental learning, including lectures, discussions, individual and group activities. Discussions, activities and role play are aimed at the integration of knowledge with a social and emotional content.
In his book “Working With Emotional Intelligence” (Bantam, 1998) Goleman focuses on the need for emotional intelligence at work, an area often considered more head than heart. He argues that bosses and leaders need high doses of emotional intelligence and so does every person in a people-oriented job. Bosses and leaders, in particular, need a high EQ because they represent the organisation to the public, they interact with the highest number of people within and outside the organisation and they set the tone for employee morale. Leaders with empathy are able to understand their employees’ needs and provide them with constructive feedback. The higher people move up in the company, the more crucial emotional intelligence becomes.
Emotional intelligence is very important for management and CEO’s. A successful manager with a high EQ is able to adapt to change and is not too harshly critical, manipulative, insensitive, overly demanding or untrustworthy. Employees with outstanding technical skills but poor social skills should not be promoted to be managers. (HayGroup, 1999)
A quote from Time Magazine says: “ IQ (intellectual intelligence) gets you hired, but EQ (emotional intelligence) gets you promoted.” This is not really true anymore, because some companies have already started to appoint their new employees on the ground of their personal and social skills.
Those who know how to deal with stress, have enough awareness of their own feelings to manage them, have the ability to connect with a wide range of people, and can make decisions without fear are likely to be successful in business. On the other hand, those who are least equipped emotionally to deal with today’s economy are those who react with anger and frustration with the fact that their workplace is not the same as it was 10 or 15 years ago. Instead of adapting to the changes, they try to undermine the system. This may be true of many South Africans.
It is very important that the presenter of such a programme is empathetic, warm and genuine and that he/she is capable of coping with strong feelings from the course-goers. Not every motivational speaker or trainer is capable of this. The presenter has to be able to understand and motivate the people in the group, but be sensitive enough not to ask too much personal information. The prospect of needing to develop greater emotional competence is a bitter pill for many to swallow. This is why change is often met with resistance and the presenter should be aware of this. My course is compiled as such that no-one is pressured into giving information they are not ready or willing to give, without decreasing the value of the learning experience.
Research on EQ and work success
During December 1997 Dr. Steven Stein, President of Multi-Health Systems (MHS) in Toronto, reports that "a South Korean graduate student at Manilla University in the Philippines has demonstrated that emotional intelligence (EQ) is significantly and highly correlated with job performance while cognitive intelligence (IQ) has shown a very low and insignificant correlation with performance in the workplace."
Measurement used: BarOn EQ-i
The IQ scores were virtually unrelated to actual on-the-job performance (correlation of .07) as they accounted for less than 6% of the work evaluation scores. The EQ scores accounted for 27% (correlation of .52) of job performance.
How does our program compare to others?
Dr le Roux attended the Conference on Emotional Intelligence - Optimizing human performance in the workplace, held in Chicago IL, during September 1999. Valuable knowledge and expertise in this field were gained. I regard my EQ program as similar and even more comprehensive as most of the programs presented at the conference.
A program which compares favourably with my program, with regard to content and presentation, is The Emotional Competence Development Program applied by the AMERICAN EXPRESS FINANCIAL ADVISORS.
They reported the following results which they directly attributed to the skills gained with the program:
* 11% increase in sales for leaders trained
* 18% increase in advisor production
* 13.5% increase in coping skills
* 88% of leaders report job relevance
* 91% of participants report positive personal benefit.
Emotional Intelligence also form part of the MBA program as A Managerial Assessment and Development Course at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (Goleman, 1998).
Give your business a competitive advantage by developing positive EQ skills!!
It is now possible to enhance the emotional intelligence of yourself and your co-workers by choosing one of the following options:
1) A full three-day course where I facilitate modules 1-9. This is mainly focussed on insight and awareness. In-depth attention to specific areas is not really possible.
2) Attending the different modules as separate day courses. You can choose any of the modules you want to suit your company’s or individual’s specific needs or you can choose any combination of the modules in the order you want them to be done. It is also possible to do two or three modules on consecutive days. Integration may/will take place as I give more in-depth attention to specific parts of the EQ components.
3) I can facilitate the whole course or modules for individuals on a one-to-one basis to meet their specific needs. Some persons may prefer this option as they can focus entirely on their own situation and feel more comfortable than in a group situation. This is only possible for employees in Gauteng.
DIFFERENT MODULES AVAILABLE for EQ training:
MODULE 1: Emotional Awareness and Emotional Control Knowing your internal states, emotions and their origins. Learning the difference between controlling and suppressing your emotions and how to keep your impulses in check. Recognise the impact our emotions may have on our health and well being.
MODULE 2: Cognitive awareness: Increase your awareness of your thinking patterns, assumptions, beliefs and perceptions and how they regulate your emotions and behaviour. Our thinking patterns determine all that we do and are. Create new rational and constructive thinking patterns in order to experience more positive feelings and congruent behaviour. Become aware of your needs and values and their relation to your cognitive states.
MODULE 3: Expanding self-knowledge, self-assertiveness and personal responsibility Having a strong sense of your self-worth and capabilities. Knowing one’s strengths and growth areas enhances your self-confidence. Learn how assertiveness can change your life. Recognise the influence of temperament and brain profile on your emotional state and your relation with other people. Groups may understand their dynamics more once they are aware of their differences in brain profiles.
MODULE 4: Improving Communication, support and trust Sensing others’ feelings and perspectives. Learning the value and use of empathy and listening in work situations. Learn how to react to the feelings of others (validation and invalidation) in order to build and strengthen relationships, support and motivate people and customers. Sending convincing and clear messages. Anticipating, recognising and meeting customers’ needs. Maintaining standards of honesty and integrity.
MODULE 5: Conflict management, negotiation and coping with criticism Delegate learns how to recognise his own and other people’s anger during conflict and how to cope with it. Negotiating and resolving disagreements. Delegates learn about coping with being criticised and when to use it for self-improvement.
MODULE 6: Feedback, recognition and motivation Motivation may be reached by giving the correct kind of feedback and by giving recognition when applicable. Feedback is a constructive process for which the manager has to prepare. Sensing others’ developmental needs, giving attention to it and bolstering their abilities may motivate them. They may then strive to improve or meet a standard of excellence. You create a readiness to act on opportunities.
MODULE 7: Stress management and the importance of balance Stress can be managed and minimised in various ways by recognising the origin thereof. Being able to cope with stress enables the worker to perform better as constant stress can affect his health and overall productivity to a large extent. Various techniques for coping with stress will be discussed and practised.
MODULE 8: Coping with change Delegates learn about adaptability/flexibility in coping with change and setbacks. Knowing how to deal constructively with anger, negativity, and failure is emotion management at its best. The ability to persist despite obstacles (resilience), and to change course if necessary, is a by-product of emotion management and the reason why people with emotional intelligence are more likely to succeed. They can react positively to a potentially troublesome situation, such as company downsizing, retrenchments and transformations. They learn about the healing power of forgiveness and the ability to let go of several personal and other issues that may cloud their lives.
MODULE 9: Formulating your mission statement, vision, goal setting, finding your personal “North Star” and happiness The way to reach personal fulfilment and actualisation in a realistic and innovative manner. Learn why we do not reach most of our goals and how to rectify this. Delegates realise that happiness is an attitude, that it is their own responsibility to be happy and that it is all about accepting themselves and their circumstances.