The Value of Emotional
Intelligence in the Workplace
By Jun Salipsip
Business issues today had become more complex that is why companies
require more innovative solutions to customer’s changing taste, more accurate
sales forecast in unpredictable times, appropriate production capacity to serve
fluctuating demand, lower inventory costs in spite of rising prices, financing
growth without incurring heavy debt, etc.
But because of the complexity of the issues today, an
individual employee does not have all the answers or knowledge about all the current
and emerging industry trends, creeping social changes, changing technology that
has been overrunning rigid political systems, unpredictable local economic cycles
influenced by developments from other parts of the world, and multiplying competition
that is not only direct and indirect but also replacement or substitute
competition.
Each employee needs to work closely together to become more
effective and efficient in understanding the impact of new trends and in
dealing with complex problems as they operate in turbulent times, volatile
situations and exponential growth in innovations. Workers are becoming increasingly more
interdependent so that they could deliver innovative solutions required by the diverse
interest of the market and other stakeholders.
In addition, employees need new learning in view of accelerating
changes due to exploding development in technology, agility and quicker
response due to deregulation and the increasing competition, and skilled handling
of complex solution due to growing customer sophistication because of their
access to knowledge about their choices.
How could all of these be achieved in organizations that have
been growing more diverse?
In a diverse organization, employees think, feel, and act
differently. Some employees learn by
gathering more facts before trying out anything while others prefer to try and
learn as they go. Some employees are
more willing to act fast (risk taker) while others prefer to take it slow and
easy (risk averse). Some employees feel it is good to listen while
others feel it is a waste of time and prefer to ignore others’ point of
view. And since employees like most people
are creatures of habit, each tends to act consistently in the way that is
comfortable to them. But in doing so, it
makes others who are different feel uncomfortable, thus creating unproductive
tension in the organization.
In such an environment work is difficult.
At one extreme, confrontation can be the way things get done and
the results achieved could be at the expense of others. It is easy to have misunderstanding and
conflict which could be very stressful. Under
such situation it is easy to have a lot of bucket dumping that leads to more
unproductive behavior.
At another extreme, people may try to be nice, try to get
along and cooperate, and disagreement is avoided at all cost. But outcomes are often a compromise between
competing interests and improvements, if any, could only be incremental.
Between the two extremes, people could collaborate to achieve
shared goals by spending some time understanding individual differences in
terms of intentions, motivations, and desires.
The capacity for understanding others and oneself and for learning how
to react to others in a productive way is what some people call emotional
intelligence and the knowledge gained in such an undertaking could be very
helpful in achieving breakthroughs and avoid breakdowns in work.
How could that be done?
To begin, we need to be less judgmental because it is so easy for us to
decide that someone is quiet or loud; aggressive or passive. Once we have made such a decision, we start
seeking confirmation of our judgment and begin relating to that person as
though the judgment we have just made is true. Generally, a person who is not like us makes
us uncomfortable and is judged negatively.
People who are similar to us make us comfortable and are judged
positively.
For example:
-There are some people who want to act
fast, get results for the work that they do and need to be in control to get
things done. These people would like
others to get to the point because they are irritated by inefficiency and
indecision1.
-There are some people who want to do a
lot of different things spontaneously, get recognized for them, and need to be
at the center of things. These people
would like others to be as enthusiastic and as energetic as they are in
pursuing multiple projects. They are the
big picture guy and couldn’t be bothered with details and would like others to
be the same.
-There are some people who want a methodical
predictable routine, achieve deadlines in the work that they do, and need clear
direction. These people would like
others to be as well prepared, logical, thorough and detailed in their
communication.
-There are some people who want a slower
pace, get approval from people and take time to gain consensus, and need to
feel included. These people would like
an atmosphere that encourages close relationships, easy pace of work, and
assurance of support.
Obviously, people who want to act fast would have difficulty
with people who want a more leisurely pace.
And people who want details would find it hard to deal with people who would
not be bothered with minutiae. The more
diverse an organization, the greater is the potential for conflict and
breakdown in communication and work.
Each of the above groupings would like certain ways by which others
interact and communicate with them. And
those who adapt to their style, they find easier to work with and those who don’t,
they find more difficult to work with.
And if possible, each group would prefer to select the people they would
work with.
But what is the reality?
Can people always select the people they would like to work
with? Obviously the answer is no. That being the case, people need to learn how
to relate to each other by accepting the differences between people and
accepting that people are not difficult just because they are different. With acceptance of the differences, an awareness
of the strengths and weaknesses of each group should come and the realization
that the weakness of one group could be the strength of the other should help
each group in being more open and non-judgmental. As a result of this awareness, there should
be more willingness to temporarily modify behaviors when dealing with each
other to fit each other’s needs when interacting, because if each group
consistently operate from their own comfort zone, they run the risk of making each
other uncomfortable.
And as the saying goes, different strokes for different folks
- we need to approach people according to their intentions, motivations, and
needs.
The purpose of adapting to people whose styles are different
is to minimize the relationship tension.
This is important because relationship tension in an organization
reduces productivity in the company.
This concept of adapting to the behaviors of other persons in order to
meet their needs and make them feel comfortable is called versatility2.
What are the
characteristics of people perceived to be highly versatile?
People who are
versatile tries to meet the needs of others, acknowledges other ways to do things, gets things done through effective relationships, is aware of individual differences, and looks for ways to develop a comfortable working relationship.
To be versatile, first, one must have knowledge of individual differences. It means knowing how to recognize styles – one’s own and others – in order to be
able to develop a strategy to interrelate with others. Second, one must have knowledge of the expectations of other people. It means being able to identify the specific needs of a particular style, once that style is identified.
Since emotional intelligence
is the capacity to understand one self and others and how one’s behavior
impacts others, individuals would become more careful in navigating
interpersonal differences. Learning to
react to others in a way that empathizes and meets the needs of others would
result in reduced arguments and conflict.
Without awareness we automatically react based on our comfort zone but
with awareness we are able to pause and consider our feelings and the feelings
of others and manage the choices that we have in reacting to the
situation.
With emotional
intelligence one is able to build better relationship. It will result into a healthier working environment
that will surely reduce turnover and absenteeism. Employees would have stronger relationship with
their supervisors, their peers, and their subordinates that will be based on
trust. And it will be much easier to
build sustained engagement in pursuing the goals of the organization and help
manage change effectively.
Emotional intelligence is a skill that is quite important in
preventing breakdowns in company operations and in having the potential to
achieve breakthroughs in work.
Recently, I attended an Enderun Colleges Success Series Talk
with the new CEO of CITI Bank Philippines, Mr. Batara Sianturi. He talked about the challenges faced by the management
and the leadership of an organization and in the process of his presentation he
mentioned IQ and EQ in the workplace. He
differentiated IQ as the measure of general intelligence and EQ as the measure
of emotional intelligence.
He said, “In today’s workforce, success is more dependent on
your EQ.” He explained that it is a leadership
skill or trait that enhances collaboration and performance that result into
higher productivity.
And to conclude his talk, he further represented IQ as one’s
aptitude and EQ as one’s attitude and he said, “Your attitude, not so much your
aptitude, will determine your altitude in the organization.”
References
2.
Wilson Learning (http://www.wilsonlearning.com/wlw/products/brv)
