As we move into 2011, we see the economy picking up and businesses starting to grow their teams, it's important to recognize the effect emotions have on performance and consequently the bottom line. In fact, higher Emotional Intelligence (EI/EQ) has been positively correlated with increased employee engagement, lower turnover, and improved job performance. The core attributes for success in today's workplace.
It can take up to four hours for us to recover from a negative emotional experience. Anyone who's been involved in an emotional outburst knows how long it can take to refocus on the work at hand. During this time our bodies go through physical and mental changes affecting our energy to do things and decreasing our concentration levels.
Emotional Intelligence is being smart with feelings, your own and other's. It's about what happens within and between people. The benefits to increased EI have effects at several levels. For the individual, improved EI can lead to reduced stress, improved engagement, and more job satisfaction. For the team, better EI means increased engagement and productivity enhancements. The organization benefits from cultural changes that in turn increase ROI and bottom line numbers.
In the old work culture, emotions were swept under the carpet and some believed that showing or dealing with emotions was unprofessional. In the new work environment, being smart about emotions and managing them is an essential skill.
In hard times, the soft stuff often goes away. But emotional intelligence, it turns out, isn't so soft. If emotional obliviousness jeopardizes your ability to perform, fend off aggressors, or be compassionate in a crisis, no amount of attention to the bottom line will protect your career.
Emotional intelligence isn't a luxury you can dispense with in tough times. It's a basic tool that, deployed with finesse, is the key to professional success". (HBR, 2003) Unlike IQ, which is set when we are young, EQ can be increased through training and life experiences.
"Perhaps the best news: Many of the companies experiencing powerful results from EQ have done so with a modest investment of time and money ". (Freedman, 2010)
The first step to increasing your EQ is to become aware of your current scores. This can be done by taking a short assessment. The next step is to identify areas where improvement is desired and design a plan to do that.
For you and your team, learning skills for controlling and managing emotions in the workplace, i.e. increasing your EQ, will add to career satisfaction, team productivity, and as a result increase the bottom line.
Steve Osborne, who has an Electronic Engineering from Cal Poly, worked with the construction clients of an accounting firm in Monterey and later become executive administrator of that three-office firm and spent 10 years in that position. During this period, he received an MBA in human resource management and developed a deep understanding of the inner workings of an accounting firm, its technology, client service issues, culture, and human capital management concerns.
In 1999, Osborne and his wife Edi Osborne launched Mentor Plus and the first Consulting Accountants’ RoundTable in 1997. From the start, the two collaborated on the development of curriculum for their workshops.
Besides his practical experience working with, Osborne has a special understanding of the dynamics of team building, conflict resolution, and people development. His education and certifications in the field of Behavioral Assessments provides a balanced perspective for the people side of any business. In addition to consulting directly with individuals and companies, he works with participants of the Consulting Accountants’ RoundTable and their teams. Presently, he is extensively involved in consulting on the Trimetrix Hiring and Coaching System.
