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increase participation, however, by of-fering
employees a safe and welcoming
environment. This can be achieved, in
part, by obtaining the full support of se-nior
leaders. Employees who see their
managers actively working to improve
their own emotional intelligence levels will
be inspired to participate.
The results of emotional intelligence as-sessments
should be delivered with care
and provide individuals with informa-tion
on their strengths and weaknesses.
Employees should be given plenty of time
to digest the information. Once the infor-mation
has been processed, it is time to get
to work.
Initiative participants should work
with trainers or coaches to identify the
competencies they want to improve, and
together, develop a plan on how to acquire
them, breaking goals into manageable
steps. Participants should be actively in-volved
in developing this plan, because it
will increase the likelihood of success. The
selected competencies, however, should be
linked back to the competencies identified
in the organizational assessment. Trainers
and coaches should also work closely with
individuals to provide honest, timely, spe-cific
and behaviour-based feedback and to
allow for opportunities to practice in a safe
environment.
4. EVALUATE THE PROGRAM’S
EFFECTIVENESS
As with any training or long-term devel-opment
initiative, goals and measures to
assess outcomes should be identified dur-ing
the planning phase. Goals may include
improvement in the key competencies
identified during the organizational as-sessment,
but may also include improved
productivity, decreased turnover and
improved employee engagement and mo-rale.
To assess these, a control group of
non-participants can be compared to
the participant group at regular inter-vals
agreed to by senior management (e.g.,
three, six, nine months and a year after
the start of the initiative). Senior leaders
should be reminded that this type of ini-tiative
will require time because it involves
behaviour change. HR and talent manage-ment
professionals should take the lead to
ensure that these measures are assessed
and reported back to senior management.
BENEFITTING AN
ORGANIZATION
The concept of emotional intelligence has
stood the test of time, and study after study
has demonstrated the value it can bring to
an organization. HR and talent manage-ment
professionals have the opportunity
to improve their organization’s productiv-ity
and bottom line by making increased
emotional intelligence a strategic organi-zational
goal. It will require assessment,
planning and long-term commitment for
everyone involved, but the potential bene-fits
make the effort and time commitment
well worth it. ■
Lauren Garris is the author of the white pa-per,
Emotional Intelligence: Can Companies
Really Feel their Way to Success?, and is client
relationship manager for UNC Executive
Development.
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ MARCH/APRIL 2014 ❚ 25