It wasn’t that long ago that happiness and job satisfaction weren’t considered important by business managers. Employees came in, they did their work, and they got rewarded for their efforts. Effective management and leadership was associated with authority and strong-arm tactics, and certainly not with emotions or the needs and wants of employees.
Thankfully times have changed, and emotional intelligence (EI) is now considered an important skill in today’s business leaders. What is EI? It’s the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. In short, an emotionally intelligent manager has the interpersonal skills and confidence to get the best out of their employees.
So what does EI have to do with marketing? Employee satisfaction is the ultimate brand-booster. Staff who understand, believe and live your brand promise are the most influential ambassadors for your brand. Actively empowering these employees to create conversations and represent your brand, particularly on social media, is a powerful marketing strategy.
I recently attended the ‘Manage People Effectively’ course at the Australian Institute of Management (AIM), and EI was a key theme across a variety of topics. Here we reviewed the six components of emotional intelligence, which are:
- Emotional reasoning – using the information in feelings and combining it with other facts and information when decision making
- Self-management – managing one’s own mood and emotion; time and behaviour; and continuously improving oneself
- Inspiring performance – facilitating high performance in others through problem solving, recognising and supporting others’ work
- Self-awareness – being aware of the behaviour you demonstrate, your strengths and limitations, and the impact you have on others
- Awareness of others – noticing and acknowledging others, ensuring others feel valued and adjusting one’s own style to best fit with others
- Authenticity – openly and effectively expressing oneself, honouring commitments and encouraging this behaviour in others
In addition to improving your own levels of happiness, improving your EI can lead to better professional relationships, higher productivity, improved morale and increased collaboration. These each have positive impact on your business brand, and consequently, the business itself.
If you want to improve your EI, you can always turn to Dr Google, or do as I did and enrol in a specific course like the one offered by AIM. Now you know the impact it can have on your marketing and your business bottom line, there’s even more of an incentive to put these tips into practice!
Image Source: A S E F / Shutterstock.com
