While being clever has brought people professional success for centuries, the majority of us are only just beginning to understand the benefits of emotional intelligence. As successful companies continue to attract the best talent in their respective industries, emotional intelligence, or EQ, has become a new way that recruiters faced with competitive application fields make decisions.
Teams with rich emotional intelligence tend to perform better, but not all of the best-qualified applicants have native EQ. This is an area where providing access to training can provide a great return for employers. Today, the team at Corporate Essentials is going to layout 36 benefits that emotional intelligence training provides your teams.
1. Emotional intelligence creates stronger team environments
Mutual understanding is a key component to successful, strong teams in the workplace. And understanding is about far more than being able grab the correct take away from a mass email. Team members with a higher EQ are more likely to make accurate interpretations of written messages, in-person interactions and those unspoken sentiments that can come from meetings. A strong team communicates with less effort, and because there is no feeling of belaboring points to get them across, the team members have more time to focus on essential workplace functions.
2. Employees work in an organizational culture that supports learning
Emotional intelligence training should be viewed as any other training opportunity. It is something the company lays on to improve staff skills for the benefit of the firm, as well as the individuals. By providing EQ training for team members, you as the employer boost the feeling that your workplace cares about the development of staff through supported learning opportunities.
3. Emotional intelligence predicts performance and leadership skills
Leadership is all about being a people person, which means those with a higher EQ are more adept at handling leadership positions. Using the participation level and engagement information that a good emotional intelligence training can provide, you should have a clearer idea which team members are likely to shoulder the burden of leadership with grace.
4. Training identifies areas for improvement
Every annual evaluation cycle presents difficulties for those who are at the top of their game professionally. Emotional intelligence training can present a unique opportunity for those employees who have reached a crossroads or plateau in their professional development, offering them a chance to develop themselves personally for the betterment of the firm.
5. Training reduces overall stress
Even the best workplaces can be stressful from time to time. By giving your staff the tools to improve their emotional intelligence, you keep the inevitable stressors of the workplace in check. Those with a higher EQ are better at “self-management,” which means they are more in control of their own expectations and reactions where colleagues are concerned. Additionally, those who have good emotional intelligence are more socially aware, making them more capable of handling interpersonal relationships and team dynamics.
6. Staff stability improves
In the world of recruitment and retention, staff stability is a key indicator of success. A company that invests in emotional intelligence training benefits from more well-adjusted workers, who are more likely to stick around and invest themselves more fully in the work they do daily. Employers who benefit from stable staffing achieve a higher return on their investment in trainings of all sorts.
7. Personal power grows through emotional understanding
Being able to chair a committee or kick start a conversation with a new client can be invaluable skills, and both are things that solid EQ helps employees do with ease. By focusing on the individual, and allowing them to learn more about and understand the importance of emotional intelligence, they become stronger individuals. And stronger individuals yield a more robust whole team, which in turn creates a more solid operation overall.
8. Employees learn self-regulation
One of the most important skills that many high-achieving adults lack is the ability to self-regulate. Controlling your own response to someone else’s actions is a skill that can take a lifetime to master. Those with a higher EQ are more likely to demonstrate a better knack for controlling their own responses to the people and events that surround them.
9. Staff are more able to remain calm
Self-regulation feeds naturally into this next point: keep calm. While the WWII-style posters adorn more cubicle walls than anyone cares to admit, there is something important about the “keep calm” sentiment. People who understand their own emotions are more able to self-soothe, whether that means sneaking off to the break room to enjoy a soothing cup of tea or taking a lap around the building before replying to an upsetting message.
10. Employees better absorb feedback
Being able to give constructive, purposeful feedback is a vital business skill. Being the kind of staffer who can absorb and act on such feedback is an equally important, but less-often discussed skill requiring emotional intelligence. Whether you are providing feedback on a presentation, new product concept or someone’s job performance, their ability to digest and respond is important to the process, and a well-developed EQ gives them the tools to do just that.
11. Employees master their emotions, thoughts and actions
Often we hear about staff that “let their emotions get the best of them”, “dwell on a poor performance” or “get carried away by their train of thought.” The unfortunate fact is that these are all signs that your staff could use a better understanding of EQ. Providing emotional intelligence training gives your people the tools they need to keep charge of their feelings, reactions, thoughts and actions. Allowing creativity to thrive without becoming a runaway train.
12. Employees enhance their abilities to empathize
In situations that require cross-departmental collaboration, it is easy for one team to feel like the other simply does not understand where they are coming from or what they do. This can lead to derailed projects communication breakdowns and hard feelings on both sides. However, having teams and leaders with solid EQ training allows everyone to come to the table with an open mind – encouraging them to listen and learn for everyone’s benefit.
13. Employees enhance their social skills
You might have some of the best programmers in the world on your team – but often, having your head buried in a terminal window for eight hours a day can have a negative impact on your interpersonal skills. Giving staff emotional intelligence training provides tools that even your most technical teams can use to unlock their personal (and professional) social puzzles with ease.
14. Better people skills improve client interactions
One of the biggest return on investment opportunities that EQ trainings offer businesses comes in the form of better client interactions. Ultimately, your business thrives on meeting the needs of your clients – and no one can meet the needs of someone else without having their own needs met. So, by providing this sort of training to your teams, improving their emotional intelligence and encouraging them to meet their own needs, you are ensuring that your people put their best foot forward when it comes to meeting the needs of your clientele.
15. Employees handle group settings better
There is little point in having a well-stocked break room brimming with the best fresh snacks and delicious coffee if your people feel awkward hanging out and getting to know one another. Social anxiety can be a seriously debilitating condition. Providing your people with the steppingstones they need to overcome such issues through improved emotional intelligence is a great way to bolster the cycle of support for your business.
16. Employees learn self-management
Being more in tune with your needs is a gateway to being a better self-manager. Self-managing people are more efficient at virtually any task they choose to take on for a number of reasons. The simplest explanation of this is that good self-management leads to a better balance in meeting the needs that arise throughout the day on both personal and professional levels.
17. Employees stop negatively comparing themselves to others
Knowing yourself is one of the keys to good self-esteem. Being comfortable in your own skin, acknowledging the areas worth improving and accepting the unchangeable elements of your persona are huge steps toward self-actualization. And being truly self-actualized is the ultimate measure of emotional intelligence. Training can help your staff learn to stop drawing parallels between themselves and their colleagues, particularly where unfavorable comparisons are concerned. This is not to say that staff should avoid comparisons: often the best lessons we learn as professionals come from our colleagues. Rather, it is part and parcel of being emotionally aware enough to realize when a comparison serves a purpose from which one can learn.
18. Employees gain the drive to achieve more
By eliminating the emotive niggles around the office, you free up time so that staffers are able to focus on their real goals and ambitions. This enables everyone involved in projects to give their whole focus to their designated tasks. In turn, that sharper focus provides better results for the firm, as well as individuals.
19. Employees can assess their own strengths and limits
Being more acutely aware of your needs and the needs of others puts you in the unique position of knowing what you can do to help others. This is beneficial for both team working and overall office dynamics. EQ training can help teams better focus on their assets by making staff more aware of the individual contributions they bring to the table and how those solo pieces come together.
20. Teams learn to manage time better
Time management is a valuable skill for individuals and teams alike. Learning how to self-manage ones needs makes them more adept at working to deadlines, especially those with conflicting priorities or cross-team input. Emotional intelligence training gives your staff an edge in terms of time management by helping them foresee needs the individuals in their group may have before those needs become critical. That means more time spent meeting the deadline, and less time wasted running around finding a quick snack for that hangry team member who always needs a nibble in the afternoon.
21. There will be less procrastination
Procrastination has many causes: boredom, distraction, fear of failure or just enjoying the rush of meeting a deadline. The reality is that for offices where workers benefit from EQ training, procrastination is less frequent. Why? Simply put, through increased emotional awareness, workers are less prone to giving in to ideas that support short-term fun over long-term objectives.
22. Employees learn to maximize opportunity
By providing your staff with the tools they need to work within the dynamics of their team, playing to one another’s strengths, you are giving them access to better opportunities to collaborate and ultimately, succeed. Emotionally intelligent staff are able to make good choices, engage with adversaries for positive outcomes on both sides and truly maximize the opportunities that arise for both personal and professional gain.
23. Staff learn techniques to improve their self-awareness
People with higher emotional intelligence are able to adjust their approach to a given task on the fly to accommodate for their own needs. Self-aware people know they will do a better presentation if they stop and grab a cup of coffee from the break room first, and they understand that meeting their own needs makes them better team players. These are staffers who make great use of emotional intelligence training – and put the lessons learned to work for you.
24. An employee will be able to read others better
Someone who has been through a good EQ training program will be more in tune with their own emotions, as well as the subtle queues everyone gives off when going through their daily routine. This is an invaluable skill for negotiations with new clients, rehashing contracts with long-standing partners and even hosting the simple scrum each morning. Knowing how to read people is not something everyone is adept at naturally, but with a bit of training, it is a skill most people can learn.
25. Employees learn to adapt to any professional situation
We are not saying that your team will become a fleet of “jack of all trades” types overnight, it simply is not possible for most businesses. However, with solid emotional intelligence raining, people are often able to pick up the skills necessary to fulfill a variety of roles within a given firm. This is most beneficial where your team members need to present, negotiate or collaborate with others at a variety of levels. Having the EQ to remain calm when having a disagreement with someone higher up the corporate ladder than you are is definitely a plus to EQ training.
26. EQ training prepares staff for intense interactions and conflicts
On a similar note, emotional intelligence training gives staff the necessary skills to defuse tense moments during meetings or negotiations. The idea that employees are able to articulate their needs, stand up for the interests of the firm and be confident that they are making the right calls is a key factor in establishing the mutual trust that leads to a great business culture.
27. Employees understand the differences between cognitive and emotional learning
One of the more subtle benefits of emotional intelligence training is that your employees will learn the differences between traditional, cognitive learning and the “new” emotional learning. Because so many people go through daily life not truly understanding the importance of EQ, the realization that emotional understanding has value can be a real game changer.
28. Employees identify how personality types affect work relationships
There are always people in the office you get along with great, and those you are less fond of – but have you ever wondered why? Your own personality traits contribute hugely to how you view others, which in turn impacts your ability to work with people at all levels. Emotional intelligence training can help your employees discern what it is about those people who they are less fond of that makes them less compatible. More importantly, EQ training will help your staff learn how to work with those people more efficiently by minimizing the impact of personality clashes.
29. Employees understand their strengths and weaknesses
The odds are, every job interview you have ever taken part in has included a short discussion where the candidate is asked to identify their strengths and/or weaknesses. The unfortunate thing is that most interview processes do little to help a candidate understand where their true strength or weakness may lay – and being able to truly identify the areas where one are at their best or worst can make all the difference in both individual success and the success of one’s team. Emotional intelligence training offers people the chance to develop a thorough understanding of their strengths and limitations, meaning they can more accurately predict the need for help or speed a project along by providing their specific expertise.
30. Employees gain better verbal and nonverbal communication
Having a firm grasp of language and knowing how to carefully choose your words is important. But being able to pick up on subtle queues that might indicate a colleague needs a break, or a client has lost focus, is just as vital to a successful business meeting. Through emotional intelligence training, staff can become more adept at these nonverbal indicators, learning the value of communication in all its forms in the workplace.
31. Employees are able to utilize their skills on and off the job
This is an area where providing training pays dividends in terms of employee loyalty and corporate culture: emotional intelligence training helps employees make the most of their relationships both personally and professionally. The investment in their personal development shows that you, as an employer, care about their overall wellbeing. By the same token, the investment in their ongoing professional development shows a keen appreciation for their contribution to your company’s ongoing success.
32. Employees learn to positively influence others
We all exercise a degree of influence over others daily, whether intentionally or otherwise. One of the unsung benefits of emotional intelligence training is that it can help individuals exert greater, positive influence over those they interact with whatever the reason. This can be as simple as providing better motivation for team members, offering supportive criticism to mentees or asking for help at the best time. EQ training gives your employees a new lens for viewing their interactions, encouraging them to shape their relationships proactively, which has a benefit for everyone.
33. Employees improve their negotiation techniques
Another huge return on investing in emotional intelligence training comes from creating a better team of negotiators for your firm. This starts with bringing the old adage, “it is not what you say but how you say it” to life, and finds its truest manifestation in negotiating a hotly contested deal where everyone walks out feeling like they won the day. While it is not always possible to give everyone what they want, the more important take away for those involved in deals is often how the negotiation process made them feel. If you lose a deal and still feel like you were respected and treated fairly, the odds are you were negotiating with people who have undertaken EQ training in the past.
34. Employees can give honest feedback to upper management
A difficult part of the annual review cycle is always providing feedback to or about your own manager. Through increased emotional intelligence, your staff will feel more at ease providing this information about their up-line managers and the higher-ups in the company in general. This allows you all to get a more realistic picture of how things can change for the positive to continue fostering a great company culture, where new ideas grow, for years to come.
35. Emotionally intelligent employees show more leadership potential
As we touched on earlier, EQ training allows you to forecast leadership skills and abilities in your staff. Knowing that you have people in place who can readily move along your promotion track is a boon to any team. Additionally, having emotionally intelligent leaders will make your teams stronger and foster a better air of collaboration.
36. They develop the strength to say “NO”
Being able to say “no” is one of the hardest skills for many high-achieving professionals to master. However, those who have absorbed the skills on offer in a quality emotional intelligence training will find it increasingly easier to say “no” when asked to add yet another new duty to their already bustling calendar. And odds are the person they turn down will not mind at all.
With almost 20 years in the office coffee business, the team here at Corporate Essentials knows a thing or two about emotional intelligence. We are always here, ready to provide the essential balm of fresh coffee and delicious office snacks that helps smooth out the rough spots in your office, to keep things humming along just as they should. To learn more, reach out to our team today.
