You think EI training is a luxury your company can't afford right now? Think again.
A recent article on LinkedIn recounted one dad’s current reality: two parents working from home while managing the distance-learning needs of their kids during the stay-at-home order. The dad, Brian Rich, described their work week and the inherent challenges of both parents attending simultaneous online meetings. He also shared how they struggled to finish their workload, even when working through the weekend. Rich pleaded with childless coworkers to understand his situation, and requested they create flexibility around their schedule so he could make significant contributions to the company’s projects.
Rich’s experience, and his reaction, reveals how uncertainty leads to conspiracy. In his mind, he’s concluding that he won’t get promoted because he can’t deliver 50-60 hours of work right now. He openly writes about his fear of not being valued. To date (05/03/2020), the 1,304 reactions and 128 comments to his article confirm that many working parents are going through the same experience.
Do you know what I see in his story? I see an opportunity and a need.
Do you know what I see in his story? I see an opportunity. I see the need to create a safe work environment and make sure that, moving forward, all team members can work from their optimal space. And I know that if companies took steps to raise their employee’s emotional intelligence, they’d become a more cohesive, creative, and productive team.
Whether you’re a parent or not, nobody is getting out of this crisis unscathed. We are all living our own struggle:
- Parents are overwhelmed trying to balance their workload with caring for and schooling their kids;
- people who are single might suffer from extreme isolation;
- immunocompromised co-workers might be struggling with fear and uncertainty;
- others might worry about their elderly family members.
This crisis weighs heavily on all of us and it will change our collective human experience.
If companies want to emerge from this crisis with stronger and more solid footing, they have to show that they care about their people. Employees can only make meaningful contributions when companies invest in their psychological well-being and emotional health.
In his powerful and moving article, Rich hit on all of the Emotional Intelligence (EI) competencies covered in the GENOS EI assessments (including self-awareness, self-management, and authenticity). I invite you to take the “EI temperature” of your team or company, and experience the power of Emotional Intelligence training for yourself.
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