Emotional Intelligence - a Multi-problem Solution

Based on my experience in the area of Emotional Intelligence (EI), a group of internal consultants asked me to facilitate a session for their Chicago Organizational Development Network. Comprised of highly seasoned consultants from large organizations, the group gathers with the purpose of sharing best practices. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to be with such a highly experienced group by drawing on their expertise. Through a highly interactive session, the group identified the significance of Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills for the workplace.

After defining Emotional Intelligence and providing some examples of the results obtained from our applied EI skill-building programs, I asked the group to divide into three smaller groups and note on flipcharts what issues or problems could be improved within their organizations by increasing EI skills. The groups were given 10 minutes to identify and discuss the problems or issues and then reported on their lists. Below is a composite, alphabetized list of 45 identified issues.

- Absenteeism

- Call reluctance

- Change management

- Coaching

- Communication

- Conflict management

- Creativity

- Culture change

- Customer satisfaction

- Decision-making

- Developing leaders

- Efficiency

- Emergencies

- Employee engagement

- Employee satisfaction

- Expectation setting

- Goal attainment

- Goal setting

- Grievances

- Group interaction

- Health care costs

- Lawsuits

- Leadership

- Lost time accidents

- Mergers

- Non-union status

- Patient safety

- Performance management

- "Politics"

- Problem solving

- Process improvement

- Productivity

- Project management

- Quality

- Retention

- Sales/revenue

- "Silo" mentality

- Stress

- Succession planning

- Supplier relations

- Teamwork

- Thought clarity

- Trust/loyalty

- Work/life balance

- Workplace violence

It's quite eye opening to see this expansive list which is, most likely, not all-inclusive. I can't think of any other organizational improvement intervention that has the potential to positively impact so may organizational problems concurrently. Development of Emotional Intelligence skills does not just improve leadership competencies or management skills. It has a far-reaching effect. And the percentage improvement our clients have experienced is dramatic. Program participants have reported improvements that range from 20% to 40% reduction in stress and worry, 20% to 35% increase in personal productivity, 15% to 35% increased teamwork and similar improvements in personal motivation, management of emotional reactiveness, work/life balance, creativity and more.

I am always conservative when determining results such as those listed above. Let's be even more conservative by cutting the above ranges in half. What would a 10% to 17% increase in personal productivity, a 7% to 17% increase in teamwork or a 10% to 20% reduction in stress and worry mean to your organization? Since we know that stress impacts health, we can infer that there may well be an indication of reduced health care costs which, in turn, directly and positively impacts the organizational bottom line.

Let's look at a few other areas identified by our group of experts. Grievance resolution is one of the toughest issues on the list. Despite its difficult nature, one of our participants, using simple, proven techniques, was able to resolve grievances at the first step in the process and reported a significant reduction in step 2 grievances. And in another specific example, a participant reported an increase in employee engagement. As a result of applying the techniques, he was viewed as more approachable, and his direct reports presented an idea that, when implemented, saved the location the equivalent of 10 people per year. The impact on the bottom line is a savings of about $300,000.

I always enjoy stories from the transportation industry. When asked about improvement in resolving or managing conflict, one participant stated, "This is huge! I used to thrive on the conflict. Now I avoid it. It's a daily issue. Now I will talk between dock guys and drivers. Now we're not yelling and throwing stuff. It would get ugly sometimes - wresting matches at times. Drivers are rough around the edges and can get pushy/feely. I was always the first one to step up. This hasn't happened in awhile. Arguments don't break out now. I let people vent and explain why (the issue is they way it is) or I don't say anything (just let them vent and be heard)."

The point is that helping people at all levels of the organization to develop their EI skills helps improve or resolve multiple problems and issues. Rather than focusing on a narrow, targeted intervention such as conflict management or change management, or communication, consider leveraging your scarce resources with EI skill-building.