Saturday, April 23, 2011

EMOTIONS: OB PERSPECTIVE


Decision making: Emotions are best when they are left "out" of the decision making process.  Due to the fact that humans are emotional creatures, it would be foolish and unwise to advocate people to "get rid of their emotions". This is both unnecessary and unhealthy, for we all have emotions for a reason. However, there are times when our emotions must be keep in balance.  One such example of this is when we have to make decisions, particularly critical decisions. History shows that when people mix their emotions with decision making, they tend to make bad decisions, which in turn lead to severe consequences.
In general, when you have a decision to make, and you're emotional about it, it is best not to make the decision based on the dominant emotion you have at that moment, because this will generally lead to you making a decision that ends up hurting you in the long run. There is a time for emotions, but emotions should never play a factor in the decisions you make in life, for disaster usually follows.

Motivation: Emotions play an integral role in motivation. Individual differences in emotional tendencies interact with organizational events and social interactions to yield emotional reactions that importantly shape an individual’s goals and the persistence of effort in the face of obstacles. The influence of emotional reactions to organizational events, such as downsizing, may seriously weaken personal commitment to organizationally desired goals and, in turn, job performance.
Motivational processes also play an important role in the elicitation and expression of emotions. Theories of cognitive appraisal, for example, posit the critical importance of appraisals of personal significance for the elicitation of emotional responses. As such, the emotional significance of an event depends on the extent to which the event is appraised as relevant to the individual’s goal concerns.

Leadership: All leadership works – and has always worked – through emotions. Every undisputable leader has earned their reputation because their leadership was emotionally compelling to a larger or smaller group of followers. The leader of any group acts as the group’s emotional guide. And in today’s organisations a fundamental task of leaders is still emotional.
But leadership in corporations goes beyond reaching a short-term goal or ensuring that a job is well done. Leadership in corporations is also about driving the collective emotions in a positive direction – and avoiding or controlling deadly emotions. In addition to their required professional skills, the leaders and managers of the corporation also have leadership skills; the social and emotional competencies required to handle their own and other people’s emotions, and to drive these emotions in the right direction. If leaders fail to drive emotions in the right direction, everything else they do might not have the positive impact that they intended. 
Successful corporate leaders have the social and emotional intelligence required to make the emotions in their group work for – and not against – the interests of the organisation.

Interpersonal conflict: emotion plays a major role in triggering interpersonal conflict, people who do not have the emotional intelligence and does not know how to manage his emotions might enter into conflict with colleagues easy. Driven by negative emotions, different views can be enhanced by open argument, hidden sabotage and destructive office politics. Recognizing importance of emotional intelligence, multinational companies had invested in emotional intelligence training and training for their staff. They usually go with a deeper understanding of emotional intelligence, but not really in touch with their negative emotions.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Assessing and measuring Emotional Intelligence


Instruments used for measuring Emotional Intelligence



EQ-I (Bar-On, 1997): a self-report instrument to  assess those personal qualities that enabled some people to possess better emotional well-being than others.


Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (Mayer, Caruso, & Salovey, 1998):  a test of ability where the test-taker performs a series of tasks that are designed to assess the persons ability to perceive, identify, understand, and work with emotion.


 Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) (Goleman, 1998):  a 360 degree instrument, where people evaluate the individuals within an organization (Individual Feedback Reports). Or the organization as a whole (Work Force Audits). These audits can provide an organizational profile for any size group within the company. The Emotional Competence Inventory works with the 19/21 competencies described above (See under Five Domains of EI).

Thursday, April 21, 2011

EI DIMENSIONS



• Self-awareness. Being aware of what you are feeling. It is exhibited by self-confidence, realistic self-assessment, and a self-deprecating sense of humor.

• Self-management. The ability to manage your own emotions and impulses. It is exhibited by trustworthiness and integrity, comfort with ambiguity, and openness to change.

• Self-motivation. The ability to persist in the face of setbacks and failures. It is exhibited by a strong drive to achieve, optimism, and high organizational commitment.

• Empathy. The ability to sense how others are feeling. It is exhibited by expertise in building and retaining talent, cross-cultural sensitivity, and service to clients and customers.

• Social skills. The ability to handle the emotions of others. It is exhibited by persuasiveness, and expertise in building and leading groups and teams.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EI)


Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to an assortment of non cognitive skills, capabilities, and competencies that influence a person’s ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures (Robbins).
EI is the ability to monitor your own and others emotions, to discriminate among them and to use the information to guide your thinking and actions (Mc Shane & Von Glinow).
EI differs from emotional labour because the latter is a job requirement (the demand to smile, express enthusiasm, etc.) while the former is regarded as a personality trait. A person with low EI may control his emotions because of a request from a manager (thus engaging in emotional labour), but might otherwise not do so.
Several studies suggest EI may play an important role in job performance. For instance, one study looked at the characteristics of Bell Labs engineers who were rated as stars by their peers. The scientists concluded that stars were better at relating to others. That is, it was EI, not academic IQ that characterized high performers.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Felt vs. Displayed Emotions


1. Emotional labor creates dilemmas for employees when their job requires them to exhibit emotions incongruous with their actual feelings. It is a frequent occurrence. For example, when there are people that you have to work with whom you find it very difficult to be friendly toward. You are forced to feign friendliness.

2. Felt emotions are an individual’s actual emotions.

3. Displayed emotions are those that are organizationally required and considered appropriate in a given job. They are learned.

4. Key—felt and displayed emotions are often different. This is particularly true in organizations, where role demands and situations often require people to exhibit emotional behaviors that mask their true feelings.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

EMOTIONAL LABOUR


The term "emotional labour" was first defined by the sociologist Arlie Hochschild as the "management of feeling to create a publicly facial and bodily display"
The concept of emotional labour originally developed in relation to service jobs. Airline flight attendants, for instance are expected to be cheerful, funeral counselors sad, and doctors emotionally neutral. But today the concept of emotional labour seems relevant in almost every job. You’re expected, for example, to be courteous and not hostile in interactions with co-workers, and leaders are expected to draw on emotional labour to recharge the troops. Almost every great speech, for instance, contains a strong emotional component that stirs feelings in others.

As these studies show, however, managing emotions can take a toll when there is a discrepancy between the outward behaviour the person is required to display as part of his or her job and the inward feelings that the person has.85 Therefore, while emotional labour can have positive implications within the workplace, it can also have negative personal consequences when a person consistently hides real emotions behind a work “face.