By Team Learning Minds
Information overload, changing policies, incoming deadlines – it’s no wonder that the modern workplace is an emotionally challenging environment, and how employees’ coping mechanisms or lack thereof adds to the chaos. A successful workplace environment is one which provides employees with practices and the freedom to express their sentiments and feel psychological safety. In this day and age, it is high time that we bestow emotional intelligence the same value as technical intelligence.
Here are 5 ways through which you can encourage healthy emotional well-being in the workplace and develop emotional intelligence skills in your employees.
- Build a Culture of Trust
Employees will not feel comfortable in sharing their emotions unless there is mutual trust between them. Thus, it is essential that the organization establishes an open culture whereby employees are encouraged to talk about their struggles with each other and reduce some part of their workplace stress. Managers should make sure that employees’ personal information is safeguarded and is not held against them.
- Maintain Journals
Audio or video employee journals could provide employees with a medium through which they can healthily channelize their emotions, significant experiences, and the challenges they face on a daily basis – work and life related. This could be done either weekly or monthly in accordance with their schedules. These journal entries would come off as self-assessment of instances that induce frustrations and anxiety which then can be tackled. Moreover, the entries would symbolize the journey that an employee had and how far he/she has progressed.
- Group Meetings
Group meetings focused upon praising employees for their hard work could be increased and conducted weekly in order to instill in them a sense of accomplishment. This will increase their self-efficacy and will lead to productive job performance as well. The organization’s atmosphere will be self-enhancing.
- Conscious Engagement
Managers and employees themselves can develop healthy relationships by making an effort towards a small kindness every day. This could be done through acts as small as getting an extra coffee for your neighbor colleague or complimenting a colleague’s desk organization skills. Such acts exhibit the fact that people notice your skills and care about you.
- Emotional Intelligence Apps
People around the world attest to the benefits of mindfulness on their mental health. Stress levels, attention skills, ability to control emotions can all be monitored through emotional intelligence applications. These could be a part of the company’s everyday task whereby employees would put in their details for their wellbeing for the day and move forward. This can also act as a process of letting go of previous stresses and feeling fresh for a new day.