The surge in interest of Emotional Intelligence followed the publication by Goleman of his now classic book Emotional Intelligence. It carried the sub-title “Why it can matter more than IQ” With the ever increasing rights of the labour force and the emerging new generation of university and college leavers who are determined to prioritise interests other than just cash and careers, an employment environment which reflects a mature, empowering, transparent and engaging approach towards employees is going to be crucial.
There is, however, a distinctive difference in the way an emotionally mature workforce is developed as opposed to almost all other training skills which a company will typically require its employees to undergo. The difference is an EQ environment depends for its life blood upon the influence and drive from the top leadership in an organisation.
EQ skills are not gained like technical skills where one is trained, gain knowledge and show measurable improvement by passing a test. EQ skills are much like leadership skills; we know and identify with them as soon as they are discussed and we can quickly and easily recite the key issues which constitute EQ abilities.
Firstly, the problem is not in their learning, but in the doing. It is imperative that the CEO and his team are seen to be practicing them and encouraging them within his management. Nothing is more persuasive than a committed CEO to the development of an EQ environment. No other catalyst can replace the role of a CEO to establish an emotionally intelligent culture in a company. We often forget that what makes us human is not so much our capacity to think and reason, important though these are, but our capacity and ability to engage and interact with people in both agreeable and disagreeable situations. It is this type of maturity which staff want to see in their leaders.
The most powerful way to develop an EQ culture is for the leadership to practice it, both amongst themselves and with those reporting to them. Civility, a sense of community, empowerment and the healthy and wholesome expression of emotions both in good and stressful times is far more persuasive to staff than all the banners and posters on a wall. Every leader is telling a story about what she or he values, incongruence is quickly identified.
Secondly the building of an EQ workplace requires more than insight on how to apply the skills, it requires leaders to serve as examples and role models of the values which the company is espousing. It is this very aspect which makes building an EQ environment so challenging since senior management are required not just to repeat a set of values like some kind of mantra, but there is need for congruence between what is stated as company policy and what actually happens on the factory floor, in the warehouse, or the back office accounts department.
Unlike company policies which when broken or overlooked can be rectified without too much damage, values when broken or un-done may be just an isolated act, but it undermines trust and confidence and thereby puts the fabric of the organisation at risk. Incongruence of application in policies can be frustrating, incoherence by leadership in the way they interact and deal with staff undermines all the confidence and hope which people had of a new and changing environment. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, and any gap between statement and experience will quickly nullify the efforts of any HR team and those wanting to develop a changing culture.
Therefore, the plan to build any form of EQ culture in an organisation requires the absolute commitment and dedication of the chief executive and his leadership team
A process of developing EQ in an organisation without the full support of the management is a waste of time and money
In fact cynicism and frustration are more likely to multiply. The Norwegian expression that “the fish rots from the head” could not be more apposite. Unless the company’s leadership is committed to the process of change, little is likely to occur. Establishing an EQ culture in organisations which are hierarchy- and heavily- management oriented is a process.
What we need to do with any process of change is to move the thinking amongst the staff from ‘them’ to ‘me’ to “us”. This means we must first move staff from an exclusive attitude of being preoccupied by what the leadership team are doing (them). Typically people then move to the next exclusive step of how this impacts on me! Finally, one must arrive at the mature inclusive approach, which sees all players involved in the solution, and how “we” can all work together on this for the benefit of “us”.
If there is such a commitment, then the leaders need to understand they will need to be the prime demonstrators of the EQ values being encouraged. The nature of values is they find their expression, life and vibrancy in the day to day interaction between people. They may look good on the wall, but staff want to see how well they are written in the hearts and minds of their leaders.
Most importantly, the middle management needs to be carefully and honestly canvassed for their views and buy-in to such a development since they frequently feel the first surge of “freedom” from a more empowered workforce, and it is this level of management which may not be best equipped to handle the change. This may be because of their own inadequacies or because they themselves have not, or cannot embrace this new level of emotional maturity.
The development of an EQ workforce, depending on an organisations prevailing culture, can represent a significant change in culture and leadership style. That needs to be handled with care, compassion, but clarity and determination of purpose. Principles and values which significantly change the culture of a company will be unnerving for all managers and leaders. If they are not carefully and fully consulted, they are able through passive resistance and quiet sabotage can derail the best efforts of the CEO.
Before implementing changes, some of culture audit needs to be affected so that the leaders have a key understanding of the gaps within in the company between what leaders understand to exist and what staff experience. If management want to empower, develop and enrich the working experience of staff by developing an EQ culture in the company, it is most important that they have a sound understanding, of the company’s present reality as regards how well staff are already empowered and how much they enjoy the working environment.
Such an enquiry should show any gaps between what management think already exists and what staff believe the situation to be. When both parties know the gaps between what staff is experiencing and what management wish to achieve, both groups are able to better bridge the gap, and make sure the program for developing EQ as a culture is successful. Leaders need to understand the gaps between values and experience so they can work towards closing these as they set about introducing the new model.
Once the gaps are assessed it requires a carefully managed process of planning, and then extensive discussions and interaction amongst the leaders and subsequently middle management about the process to be followed. In the case of middle management, their commitment and agreement to the new way of doing things is vital. The leadership team will already have made this commitment and will already have understood some of the increased vulnerability and perhaps the changed practices they will have to adopt to give evidence to their commitment to this new approach.
Such an audit should act as an independent source to highlight where the gaps between the new values and concepts are likely to clash with the existing approach. Such an audit questionnaire can typically be handled by a company’s own HR department. However, for the more important aspect of implementing the process, it is preferable that an independent umpire or counselor be appointed. The Counselor’s responsibility is to challenge leadership on things which they are, or are not doing, which varies with being emotionally intelligent.
A strong empowered HR leader may be able to raise this with a CEO and the team his/her team, but in the absence of such an “outsider” who can speak what he or she observes is of inestimable value in helping a CEO and his or her team see their own blind spots.
What emerges must be better and more productive than with what the leadership started. A properly birthed and nurtured EQ workplace develops its own seeds of on-going maturity, growth and excellence. The journey is sometimes tough but the destination is well worth the while.
Case Study
The Hollandia Reinsurance Group needed, and wanted to move from the dominant and over-bearing management style of its CEO to a more inclusive, empowering and risk taking culture. The CEO whilst committed, to this process undermined it by his own impatient and harsh interactions with staff. This mitigated against the desired culture from developing because his personal style intimidated rather than empowered the work force.
A staff climate audit was undertaken. This highlighted the gaps between what was claimed as “being the company’s values” and what was experienced by staff. The gap between what was espoused by leadership, and what was actually experienced by staff became the basis for working with the company’s leadership around the discrepancies. Did the leadership still feel they wished to develop an Emotionally Intelligent workforce and would they be willing to adjust behaviour and conduct so that it aligned with such values? This meant working through just what would need to be changed, and in particular, how errors and mistakes would be handled.
Having secured their commitment and that of the CEO in particular, the next important step was to engage with the middle strata of supervisors and explain that what they should be experiencing in increased autonomy, empowerment, transparency and emotional maturity from the company’s leadership, was the very thing they would be required to exhibit in their own areas of responsibility.
Without the ongoing enthusiastic and demonstrative support of the CEO, little will change. There is no question that such journey’s of cultural change are demanding and call for courage from the leadership team. However whilst the journey may be challenging, arriving at the destination of an empowered and emotionally competent work force is highly satisfying, and beneficial for all.
What is the outcome of the exercise?
The outcome of much effort, interaction and discussion, was a more empowered, motivated responsible team, where both management and staff pulled together for the company’s goals of growth and excellence.
Contributed by Training Edge Editorial Team
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