Organisations

Higher EI = Higher Performance

High performing organisations create a developmental culture, providing opportunities for their people to increase their capabilities whilst also equipping leaders with the skills needed to coach others.¹ Up to 89% of new employees who fail in their role, do so because of their attitude, their interpersonal approach, or behavioural factors rather than their technical skill level.² Further, studies have shown that up to 70% of customers are lost owing to EI-related reasons often grounded in poor interpersonal customer service.³

Developing EI across an organisation provides the opportunity to support in all of these areas. Additionally, there is evidence that employee EI levels predict job performance across a wide range of roles. In particular, EI is also especially critical for roles with high emotional labour. Specifically, developing EI results in employees displaying more effective behaviours that contribute to better performance in 'Adapting & Initiating'; 'Relating & Supporting'; Leading & Managing'; and 'Interacting & Influencing'.⁴

It also stands to reason that those who are well enough to be at work more regularly (Greater Well-being), and those who are proactively striving for positive outcomes through their work (Better Engagement), will also be more inclined to produce a higher work performance.

Better EI = Better Engagement

In 2023 only 10% of the UK workforce felt engaged at work, with 79% not engaged, meaning that alarmingly the remaining 11% are activity disengaged from their work.⁵ Gallup⁶ also suggest that highly engaged employees are more productive than their lower engaged colleagues by an average of 17%. Multiple studies also show that productivity is positively influenced by better engagement.^7,8

Further, 98% of industry sectors consider their employee's EI capability and their sense of purpose to be critical for job satisfaction and success², meaning that the business case for investing in EI is already robust. This is before considering the impact of low engagement on employee turn over, with almost one third of the UK working population (31%) watching for, or actively seeking a new job.⁹ With the relationship between managers and employees central to enhanced engagement⁹, having emotionally intelligent people throughout your organisation is key, as these people are more able to reduce their own negative feelings towards work, which creates higher feelings of job satisfaction, resulting in increased retention and also higher profits.⁴

Greater EI = Greater Well-being

In 2023, 47% of the UK working population was found to be lacking positive well-being, or in emotional distress. Further, with 23.3 million reported sick days attributed to work-related stress and burnout, the cost of these absences alone to the UK economy is £28 billion a year, ¹⁰ with other sources suggesting the true cost of poor mental health is £99 billion every year.⁴ With 40% of the UK workforce thought to experience stress "a lot of the day", a figure that has increased by 2% from the prior year, with 27% reporting feeling sadness (up 5% from the prior year),⁹ it would seem that the well-being problem will get worse for organisations who are not putting proactive measures in place.

Developing EI has been linked to increased well-being,¹¹ as individuals are more able to achieve positive emotional states, and as a result of this achieve higher levels of well-being. Additionally, the development of EI is also linked to increased resilience, where individuals will 'bounce-back' from setbacks more readily,¹² and also reduced levels of stress,¹¹ again owning to less intense, or shorter episodes of negative emotional states.

For organisations to capitalise on the benefits of increased EI in their workplaces, the question that remains is whether EI can be effectively developed, and how this is best achieved.

Emotional Intelligence - Can it be developed?

Two key meta-analysis studies^13,14 (studies that combine the findings of multiple other research studies) concluded the EI is a trainable construct. This means that organisations who invest in EI training for their people can expect increased levels of EI across their teams. There is also some evidence to suggest that interactive or participative training delivery methods were most likely to result in change,^13,14. Whilst it is also suggested that for lasting change to occur, attitudes should also change so that they are aligned with desired behaviours.¹⁵

Using an attitude-based emotional intelligence tool called the EIP, a case study found that three months following EI training (3.5 days of workshops and a 21-day habit change activity), participants had improved all 16 EI scales measured by the tool. Most notably, they improved their self regard by an average of 21%, their regard for others by 10%, their emotional resilience by 14%, the emotional expression and control by 11% and their ability to learn reflectively by 18%.¹⁶

By drawing on best practice it is possible to provide EI development experiences that maximise these gains to EI for those who attend and engage in the training.

What's available...

Developing EI training courses are available at 3 different levels to suit the needs, experience and requirements of your team.

All Developing EI training courses run by The EI Room are accredited by Talogy. A Talogy accredited eip3 user will also be responsible for delivering the 1-2-1 psychometric feedback for each delegate.

Looking for other talent management services?

We offer a wide range of leadership and other talent assessment, development and management services.

If you are seeking support with your general HR management, special human capital projects, or you want to assistance managing broader organisational matters such as culture, succession, development, other training provision, or 360 assessments, contact us with your request and we will arrange a time to speak.