Employee Engagement and Emotional Intelligence

Leaders that Strengthen Their Level of Emotional Intelligence Enhance Employee Engagement

Most likely you have heard it before, the workplace is changing rapidly. With the pandemic, the great resignation, working at home, hybrid work arrangements, virtual teams, and the list goes on “¦ This can be overwhelming for some. These are unprecedented challenging times, no doubt about it. There is more stress. And many of us are dealing with numerous mental health issues, etc.

But suppose you step back and look at what is happening in the workplace from a high-level view. You may notice that the employees’ need to work, belong, and do good remains the same whether pre-pandemic, during the pandemic, and post-pandemic periods.

Human beings still have the exact basic human needs they have always had. Human needs must be nurtured, and the interventions should address the current and continually evolving work environment. The evolution of the workplace has been in a state of change for a very long time. So the questions should be more about how great leaders lead, how the leader can get the most production from each employee, and what we need to do to enhance organizational excellence. The words we use to describe the current state have changed. But unfortunately, a few myths remain “¦. for example, your home life stays outside your work life, or soft skills are just that “¦ soft skills.

In the mid-1960, F. Fiedler, P. Hersey, K. Blanchard, and others introduced us to the Contingency Model of Leadership and Situational leadership theory. Hersey and Blanchard stated that there are two primary areas a leader needs to focus on their behavior “¦ relationships, and tasks.

The leadership behavior that focuses on relationships (soft skills) is now being identified by social science research as critical to a person and organization’s success (D. Goleman, 1995). Now, it’s hard to not see or read an article about the importance of relationships. And I suspect the evidence through research will continue to support the importance of a leader’s ability to form, develop, and mature relationships with others. This is often referenced as emotional intelligence.

I encourage you to read as much as you can about emotional intelligence and view our learning experiences on the subject matter.

Now, let’s visit the questions:

• “How does a great leader lead?”
  • Great leaders have the passion, will, knowledge, and the ability to execute.
• “How can a leader get the most production from each employee?”
  • The leader is aware of everyone in the organization and the importance of their contribution to the big picture.
• “What a leader needs to enhance organizational excellence?”
  • A leader needs to build relationships and listen to staff more often than telling them what to do. Build confidence. Have a common goal and share it with the team to gain genuine commitment. Allocate the work and facilitate a sense of fulfillment among staff regarding their work contributing to society.

A lot of research and talk indicate employee engagement is the answer. For the most part, I agree. But I also propose that to enhance employee engagement, you must first strengthen the level of emotional intelligence within the workplace or self.

Without the ability to build relationships, you cannot increase employee engagement “¦. and, therefore, not be able to reap the benefits employee engagement brings to the workplace.

It may seem like emotional intelligence and employee engagement are the magical answers to leading or running a great business team. They are”¦ but mainly as a significant foundation of our ability to lead and grow. But there is so much more about emotional intelligence and employee engagement than what has been shared here. They are subjects of a large amount of research being addressed these days. And there are hundreds of books on the subject matter. In addition, I encourage you to learn more about emotional intelligence and employee engagement and how you can increase the capacity of emotional intelligence and employee engagement within the workplace. Check out our webinars and other training sources by clicking on  www.quantumleadershipinc.com.