‘To survive and thrive in the future, businesses need to actively champion EI’
“Perceptive” companies, or those that pay attention to the development of emotional intelligence (EI) capabilities, see tremendous benefits, but only 18 per cent of respondents to a survey agreed that EI is an ingrained aspect of their organization's culture, according to a new report.
Half of the respondents (50 per cent) say that their organization is “uncommitted” or neutral on the matter while 32 per cent say that their company is “detached” and EI is not ingrained in their company culture, found the Harvard Business Review’s The EI Advantage Driving Innovation and Business Success through the Power of Emotional Intelligence report based on a survey of 599 HBR readers.
This is the case despite 40 per cent of respondents from perceptive organizations reporting much stronger customer loyalty compared to 17 per cent from uncommitted companies and 12 per cent of detached organizations.
“To survive and thrive in the future, businesses need to actively champion EI, and… emotional intelligence is the critical key to unlocking an organization’s expansive potential,” says the report.
Nearly four in 10 (37 per cent) of those in the “perceptive” group also reported much stronger customer experience compared to 19 per cent in the uncommitted group and just eight per cent in the detached group. More than three in 10 (31 per cent) of those in the perceptive group reported much stronger customer advocacy against 13 per cent in the uncommitted group and eight per cent in the detached group.
More than six in 10 (64 per cent) of respondents in the perceptive group also say that their organization offers a high degree of empowerment with clear decision rights, incentives and risk tolerance compared to 40 per cent and 20 per cent in the uncommitted and detached groups, respectively.
Almost all (93 per cent) respondents believe that having a well-embedded emotional intelligence capability and sense of purpose is essential for employee success and job satisfaction: 93 per cent for the perceptive group, 94 per cent for the uncommitted group and 91 per cent for the detached group.
Disconnect between employers, employees
Employers and employees alike put emphasis on certain traits passion (34 per cent for employees versus 38 per cent for employers), integrity and empathy (56 per cent versus 46 per cent).
However, employees put more value on self-awareness (41 per cent versus 13 per cent), analytical skills (40 per cent versus 11 per cent) and sense of humour (19 per cent versus three per cent) compared to employers.
Employers, meanwhile, put more value on drive (41 per cent versus 24 per cent), emotional detachment (14 per cent versus three per cent) and single-mindedness (13 per cent versus one per cent).
Corporate culture was listed as among the top concerns for Canadian executives in 2020, according to a separate report.
