Emotional Intelligence

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Table of Contents

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE        

1        QUESTION 1        

2        QUESTION 2        

3        QUESTION 3        

4        QUESTION 4        

5        QUESTION 5        

6        References        

Table of Figures

Figure 1 : Determinants of leadership        

Figure 2: Improved results of the Sheraton        

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

This assignment is based on emotional intelligence (EQ) as the most dominate training area that was identified in assignment one.

QUESTION 1

According to (Allix, 2014) packaging in South Africa is always changing, which is also made worse by industry conditions that are constantly changing. This means that packaging companies need to be more flexible and agile in order to stay competitive. Astrapak keeps up with the competition through its focus on innovation, packaging technology and service. The underlying factor that assists in achieving this focus is people, which the organisation firmly believes is its competitive advantage

In Financial year 2014, the organisation noticed that the people indicators that are monitored monthly had started to move towards a negative direction which signaled that there were significant underlying factors that needed to be resolved. The labour turnover had increased from an average of 2% to 13% across the organisation and there had been increased disciplinary action incidences. Though production indicators where not reported under people management, an increase in customer complaints and production of rework were duly noted.

This prompted the executive team to investigate the cause of the negative trends because should this continue, it would have a negative impact on the bottom-line and company reputation. A climate survey was requested 5 months earlier than planned. The survey was conducted by a neutral external body that has always conducted the company climate surveys previously. The results of from the survey showed a significant drop from the previous year’s 91% to a disturbing 52%. This change may be attributed to the change in management team structures that had occurred through the restructuring of the organisation to respond to the changes in the external market.

The scores on the 12 themes that had been measured in the survey as well as the individual comments collected from the climate survey, the issue that was highlighted by the surveying service provider as the organisations biggest obstacle was the management teams emotional intelligence skills. Thus a decision was made to design and implement an Emotional Intelligence programme focused on the senior to junior management levels across the organisation as the first phase before implementation to the rest of the workforce.

QUESTION 2

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is defined by (Salovey & Mayer, 1990) as “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions"”. This concept was made more popular in 1995 when Daniel Goleman published the book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ.

The organisation had confidence that a programme aimed at increasing the management teams’ EQ would correct the negative trends. Therefore, a reputable service provider with a good track record was selected to deliver the programme across the organisation. However, the content was customised to ensure that it aligns to the organisations 24 leadership competencies such as empathy, integrity and resilience that are linked to EQ. This programme design allowed the participants to explore

1. Self-Awareness—the skill to recognise own emotions, internal drivers, inclinations, resources, and instinct
2. Self-Management—the skill to manage own emotions and instincts, and ability to adapt to changing situations
3. Social Awareness—the skill to sense, recognize and respond to others’ people’s feelings, requirements and apprehensions while understanding social networks
4. Relationship Management—the skill to inspire, impact and grow others while handling conflict.

The programme was not designed discriminate against the different levels of management so as to allow interaction between all the levels during a training sessions, because it focused on all the competencies required in leadership. These, however, according to the role that a participant holds, some competencies are used more than others depending on the situation that is experienced.

Before all the participants attended training they took an online assessment. This tool was used to assess their EQ profile which would be used as part of the training session to understand their own weaknesses and strengths. The results assisted the participants to draw an action plan about the development of their weakness that have an impact on their role in the organisation and other external relationships. They have taken into consideration the suggestions that have been outlined by the registered assessor.

To ensure success of the programme, qualified coaches and mentors, specialising in EQ were contracted and assigned to the participants for a period of six months to ensure that the participants’ follow-up on the action plan and use the learned tools in the workplace to improve relationships which will ultimately have a positive impact on the labour turnover, disciplinary incidences, customer complaints and rework production. When the six moth process was completed a follow-up climate survey was conducted to track post intervention progress.

QUESTION 3

The key objective of a leader is to deliver results successfully through people that are engaged and employing their strengths either in a team scenario or as individuals. EQ assists leaders to better recognize and manage their own emotions and of those around them to cultivate an environment that is conducive for organisational performance.

(Goleman, 1998b) Claims EQ is twice as important as the Intelligent Quotient (IQ) or technical skills when concerned with organisational performance. If work teams, as explained by (West, 1994)  achieved their goals through reliance on relational interactions, therefore the enhancement of performance of these teams is improved by variables contributing to enhanced relationship skills. Though teams are guided by leaders on a hierarchal structure, according to (Goleman, Boyatzis, & Mckee , 2002) leadership does not only sit with the top person in the structure, however, it is found in all people at different levels because in some way they act as a leader by captivating,enthusing and inspiring us. These leaders can be identified through traits such as strong values,integrity, emotional intelligence, moral purpose and charisma. They are energetic, driven and enthusiastic. These people, even through adversity, motivate and challenge others while remaining optimistic.Further to this, (Harris & Lambert, 2003) say these individuals that are found at different levels in an organisation, create change, development and improvement.These abilities that are linked to EQ contribute to improved relational skills (Mayer & Salovey, 1997)