Emotional Intelligence (EI) is defined as a set of emotional and social skills that influence the way we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges, and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way.
With the pandemic deeply impacting organizations and their workers, EI is ever more crucial for leaders to understand and adopt, as workplace culture is determined by how effectively the leadership and management cultivate this within the organization in order to be implemented effectively.
BusinessToday talks to Melissa Norman, founder of talent solutions company, Aisling Group, about what organizations are looking for in employees, how they can help their team improve to become more emotionally intelligent and how organisations can affordably measure EI to identify suitable talent and avoid costly mishires.
A certified EQi-2.0 professional, Melissa herself walks the talk as she is certified in competencies that are highly correlated with the ability to provide transformational leadership, effective teamwork, exceptional customer service, and sales excellence.
She says that the main EI behaviours a person can learn to apply for their personal and professional lives are skills that can be learnt and developed with the right training.
“We’re working on a whitepaper based on a survey we did earlier this year, and found that among the skills that organisations consider as crucial at this time are problem solving, mental wellness, innovation, and project management; skills that would apply no matter what industry you are in.”
In the Emotional Quotient (EQ) training done by Aisling Group, self-assessments are conducted followed by a coaching plan for participants to improve their self-perception, self expression, interpersonal skills, decision-making abilities, and stress management.
“The majority of our clients have stated that they have seen a vast improvement in social skills, self-management and communication skills upon having completed the EQ program. One of the critical parts of personal development is awareness; it’s very common that once an individual discovers the opportunity for themselves to improve, they will,” she adds.
On how leaders can implement and set the culture throughout their organisations in adopting these emotionally intelligent behaviors, Melissa says that in any organisation, the workplace culture would be set by the leadership, but the successful adoption and implementation would hinge on how successfully the leadership filters this to the rest of the team, and how the team as a whole understands and practises this culture.
Organisations have to facilitate their employees’ personal and professional development, which in turn will promote a positive workplace culture.
“At Aisling, all our employees undergo a profiling assessment called REACH profiling, which supports a wide selection of specialised applications, including personal growth, team-building, leadership development, sales training and recruitment,” she says.
She adds that from the results of the assessment, employees are provided with 10 personality dimensions that shape personal style, matched with strengths and coaching points. Assessment tools such as the REACH profiling tool help organisations to identify their workforce’s strengths and areas for improvement, which would enable them to better plan their human resource strategies.
Aisling has leveraged on this profiling tool in several workshops, seminars and one-on-one coaching to great success.
The certification that Melissa herself has been conferred is called the EQi-2.0, a certification she encourages all business leaders and human resource professionals to aspire to. However, being a highly sought-after certification, it comes at a hefty price, costing anything from RM2000 above depending on the certification provider.
Melissa says that there are a lot of profiling and assessment tools that employers can utilise online free of charge; however, one would still need input from a professional to translate and leverage on the findings of these assessments. There are a variety of assessments that exist today in comparison to 5 years ago, the costs can differ based on the methodological approaches of the assessment platform.
Some approaches and methods are fairly scientific with a larger base group for comparisons whilst some have specific algorithms that compare norms across regions. The level of accuracy depends on the methodology and companies will have to ascertain their objectives and what is important for them in order to invest in the right tool.
“It is important to note that profiling and assessments are meant to help individuals know themselves with the intention of raising awareness. This alone isn’t enough for its success, what’s needed is the development thereafter. One without the other would make no difference in the individual’s growth,” she stresses.
“Aisling provides not only the assessment and follow up analysis but we also provide relevant training based on the assessments and needs of the company and the employees, as well as employment opportunities,” she says.
The investment into doing the profiling and assessment would be well worth it as through profiling and assessment employers would be able to identify if a potential hire would be a good fit for the company, or locate areas to focus upskilling and reskilling efforts for existing employees.
