This proposal is designed to oversee the application of emotional intelligence (EI) in our organization’s program of professional development. The focus is on finding the best approach to motivating and stimulating employees’ performance while giving consideration to the aspect of EI management and motivational theories. The program is designed in a way that that primary concern is on the aspects of emotional intelligence and motivation; EI and social skills and decision making; effective teams; and reward systems in the organizational context.
EI and Motivation
Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to a guiding concept penetrating every area and aspect of organizational improvement (Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee 4). The managerial ability to influence the performance of employees and increase their motivation can be affected by various EI competencies including self-management and relationship management. Any organizational leader must focus on satisfying employees’ social needs alongside their desire to grow from a professional angle and get recognition among their colleagues. Improved decision-making and improved demonstration of social skills can only be realized when an organization stresses the need to develop inspirational leadership, conflict management skills, mentorship, as well as achievement orientation. Effectiveness and efficiency of organizational teams also require having inspiring leaders who push the teams to follow common goals and ensure that every team member is fully involved in discussions. Emotional building blocks also have an impact on the management’s ability to enhance employee performance and job satisfaction. Emotional building blocks can be defined as an individual’s basic emotional skills that can improve the individual’s EI capacity. The most important EI building blocks that would impact an organization’s ability to enhance both job satisfaction and employee performance include self-actualization, self-regard, emotional self-awareness, as well as self-perception and leadership. Self-actualization refers to an individual’s ability to improve their awareness and themselves in entirety in pursuit of key goals and objectives. Emotional self-awareness can be defined as an individual’s ability to show awareness and understanding of their own impact and feelings. Self-regard refers to how capable a person is when it comes to accepting their own strengths and weaknesses. The building block of self-perception and leadership refers to a person’s ability to understand not only their self-image but also their leadership-related capabilities.
Both positive and negative reinforcements can also play a role in the motivation of organizational members. Positive reinforcement is usually a reward to an individual for doing something extremely well or more than expected (Wei and Yazdanifard 9). The management of the organization can rely on this motivational tool in a situation where tasks are allocated to employees and the management’s focus is on promoting competition among the employees. A good example of positive reinforcement that the organization can utilize is awarding bonuses for certain tasks completed. On the other hand, negative reinforcement is usually a motivational tool used in situations where poor performance is exhibited (Wei and Yazdanifard 10). The management of the organization can rely on this motivational tool when employees show reluctance in completing assigned tasks in the organization. It can also be crucial in a situation where employees show resistance and go against set organizational rules, policies, and procedures. A good example of negative reinforcement that can be utilized by the organization is punishing employees who report to work late.
EI and Social Skills and Decision Making
What shows motivation among members of an organization are full participation in various organizational activities and decision-making as well as accepting opinions of others. Usually, organizational leaders and management influence members through encouraging them to participate in discussions aimed at resolving various organizational issues. A result of this is that employees are likely to feel that their opinions are considered important and that their roles are recognized and accepted by other organizational members. Such moves to encourage participation at the organizational level can enhance the quality of relational management particularly employees’ capability to get involved in and shape organizational decisions, develop social skills that improve interaction and relationship with organizational leaders, as well as improve conflict resolution. In the EI perspective, social skills are the skills needed in effectively handling and influencing the emotions of others (Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee 51). This means that core concepts of emotional intelligence can help in enhancing various social skills in the management context. These core concepts can also help in the enhancement of decision-making efficacy in the management context. These perspectives are deemed critical for employees and organizations in their entirety in their objective of improving overall performance. Some of the social skills that are important for organizational leaders and managers in this regard include communication skills, persuasion and influencing skills, conflict management skills, rapport skills, as well as team-working skills.
Communication skills as type of social skills for the management team are important when the management needs to pass information to employees and other stakeholders. The management must communicate effectively with employees to reduce conflict or confusion and to ensure exemplary performance by employees. Persuasion and influencing skills are also important for the management in its aim to ensure that things are done. The management can use this skill to convince stakeholders to initiate interventions and projects that are beneficial to the organization. The skill can also be targeted at employees who will be convinced about the need to perform assigned tasks excellently and diligently. Conflict management skills can also be enhanced to help in the resolution of problems or issues that arise within the organization. Issues or problem that arise may cause poor performance by both the management and employees thus affecting the organization’s overall performance. Rapport skills must also be enhanced as the management has to build good relations and coexistence with employees to ensure high performance standards are maintained. Team-work skills are also important social skills for management as they provide an environment where employees and managers can work together. With team-work skills, organizational management can improve performance of employees and pave the way for improved overall organizational performance.
Effective Teams
Having an effective team is crucial to any organization’s success. However, a challenge many organizations face in this regard the difficulty in establishing an effective team. Establishing an effective team requires the organization to focus on a number of attributes and team dynamics. Some of the attributes of an effective team include having clear objectives, balanced team responsibilities, appropriate leadership, mutual cooperation and individual development, as well as effective communication (Bannister, Wickenheiser, and Keegan 184). An effective team must have clear objectives that are mutually agreed upon by the team leader and members. It is also important for every member of the team to have a clear understanding of the team’s objectives and positively contribute toward the achievement of the same. An appropriate leadership is crucial for the effectiveness of a team. This implies that any person leading the team must possess leadership traits such as the ability to instil confidence in the team and being trustworthy. Balanced responsibilities can also have a positive impact on how effective the organizational team is effective. Every organizational team has members with various capabilities or skills that give them an upper hand when it comes to the execution of their responsibilities. Emphasis should be put on this perspective to ensure that every team member is assigned tasks that they can perform exemplarily. Balancing of responsibilities in the organizational team also entails ensuring that no individual team member is left out or overworked. Effective communication as a core attribute of an effective team implies that communication among team members must be efficient and productive. Communication in the team should be clear as well to ensure increased productivity among team members. Mutual cooperation and individual development are also a core attribute of an effective team and it requires team members to grow both from team and individual perspective. Developing as individuals allows team members to be empowered and subsequently showcase their strengths and effectiveness for the team.
Development of team dynamics that are beneficial to the organization relies on the various strategies implemented by the organization. One of the strategies that can help achieve this objective is having the management choose individuals who are capable and effective to lead the various organizational teams. Capable and effective leaders could help in identifying strengths of the teams thus working toward making the teams better and stronger (Zaccaro, Rittman, and Marks 457). Another strategy to develop team dynamics that can benefit the organization is identifying the team’s weaknesses and coming up with improvement mechanisms. The management can also decide to create teams based on members’ different capabilities to improve team and individual performance. The decision to include team members with different capabilities helps to ensure that no member if left out during the decision-making process or carrying out various responsibilities in the team.
Reward System
With a reward system in place, the organization will encourage and motivate every member of the organization. A perfect reward system for the organization would be introducing a staff rating system on the basis of qualitative and quantitative indicators of activities undertaken. Such a system must entail the provision of incentives for people with higher ratings. The rating system could have a positive impact on employees in various ways. First, it would show the performance of every team member on a monthly basis and this will ensure transparency in the execution of duties. Second, the reward system would influence a change in behavior of employees paving the way for their growth from a career perspective.
A strategy that would be incorporated to motivate and influence behavior with the reward system in place is ensuring that staff are treated with EI competence. Through this, the management of the organization will be in a position to strengthen every team member’s professional capabilities. The strategy would also be accompanied by the provision of training that would both motivate employees and positively influence behavior. Another strategy that would be vital to motivating employees and influencing behavior is pushing for collaboration that would be complemented by allowing employees to participate in the implementation and designing of the new reward system (Wei, Frankwick, and Nguyen 548).
In sum, professional development is dependent on EI and motivational theories including reinforcement of employee behavior. With EI, employees can understand and recognize own actions and emotions and those of colleagues. It is important for the management of organizations to stress on positive reinforcement as it helps to build trust and good relationships not only with employees but other stakeholders as well. Effective organizational teams must be small and must have core attributes such as effective communication, clear goals or objectives, appropriate leadership, balanced responsibilities, as well as mutual cooperation and individual development. Reward systems such as staff rating can help to motivate employees and influence positive behavior all of which are crucial in long-term organizational success.
Works Cited
Bannister, Susan L., Hayley M. Wickenheiser, and David A. Keegan. “Key elements of highly effective teams.” Pediatrics133.2 (2014): 184-186., https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hayley_Wickenheiser/publication/259826700_Key_Elements_of_Highly_Effective_Teams/links/5b22ec6a458515270fcf51cf/Key-Elements-of-Highly-Effective-Teams.pdf
Goleman, Daniel, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Annie McKee. Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Harvard Business Press, 2013.
Wei, Leong Teen, and Rashad Yazdanifard. “The impact of positive reinforcement on employees’ performance in organizations.” American Journal of Industrial and Business Management 4.1 (2014): 9.
Wei, Yinghong, Gary L. Frankwick, and Binh H. Nguyen. “Should firms consider employee input in reward system design? The effect of participation on market orientation and new product performance.” Journal of Product Innovation Management 29.4 (2012): 546-558.
Zaccaro, Stephen J., Andrea L. Rittman, and Michelle A. Marks. “Team leadership.” The leadership quarterly 12.4 (2001): 451-483., http://www.qub.ac.uk/elearning/media/Media%2C264498%2Cen.pdf