Inward Focus,Coaching & Consulting, recently conducted an independent survey with a group of working professionals from across India to understand the concept of Emotional Intelligence and its relevance in the organisations of today.
This study threw up several insights from the responses of working professionals related to the evolution of the concept, and its impact on making workplaces more engaging and enriching. The questions sought to elicit the respondents' perception on the role EI plays in the workplace, whether it determines success, their own assessment of their current EI levels, and whether their organisations focus on improving the EI of their employees.
The survey conducted by Inward Focus contacted over a 100 working professionals across mid-senior management levels across locations in India. The results of the survey indicate that EI is overwhelmingly positively correlated with professional success, with a whopping 94 percent of the respondents believing that emotionally intelligent people are more successful.
Despite near unanimity in EI contributing to success, more than four in 10 respondents (41percent) rated their own EI as that requiring improvement. Further, one-third of the respondents (32 percent) state that they may not be giving enough importance to improving their EI levels.
The positives and improvements in work-life ascribed to high EI are lesser conflicts and higher levels of trust leading to collaboration at the workplace (30 percent). improved leadership skills (27 percent). Other improvement areas indicated are fostering a positive culture, and better relationships at the workplace.
Despite evident positives from high EI at the workplace, less than a third (31percent) of the respondents' organisations consistently lay emphasis on leveraging the benefits of EI through interventions such as relevant trainings. This indicates that most organisations are missing out on the opportunity to make their workplace more positive, integrated and engaging, and to set up their people for professional success.
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Sandhya Mathur, an EQ Assessor and Mentor Coach, (Sandhya is an ACC Credentialed Certified Executive and Empowerment Coach and coaches through Emotional Intelligence. She is also a Certified MasterSpirit Coach.), said, "This is a reiteration of how self-awareness and effective perception is essential to succeed in a diverse workplace because emotions drive the way we react or respond stimuli. Self-awareness forms the bedrock of an individual's Emotional Intelligence. We believe that developing self-awareness is incredibly rewarding in the process of identifying our feelings, the triggers and the responses - which may otherwise be on autopilot. Emotional Literacy is a prerequisite to decision making and will help gain powerful insights into yourself and then understand what drives people so that you can influence and motivate them."
She further said, "In the 21st century, a large part of leadership is dependent on emotional intelligence skills. But organizations are struggling to train employees and enhance emotional intelligence that is considered critical for leadership, team effectiveness, customer service and sales.
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