As a manager of the department, you reviewed the sales report, and sales are drastically down. You decided to attend a seminar on emotional intelligence, and the seminar encouraged you to implement an emotional intelligence management approach in your department. Propose a strategic solution that details how an EI approach can improve organizational outcomes and sales for the CEO.
As you continue to evaluate your role as a manager, the next task to deliver is an emotional intelligence management approach to the CEO. Conduct a research analysis of the company and propose strategic solutions to the CEO of your chosen organization.
Instructions
Write a 5–7 page, double-spaced paper that includes the following components:
EI and Motivation:
Discuss which of the EI building blocks (select one) would impact management's ability to enhance employee performance and job satisfaction.
You will have to research EI, employee performance, and job satisfaction to formulate your individualized approach to this question.
Describe which motivational theory you would utilize based on research to influence the members of the organization.
Include how the selected theory would aid in helping to utilize this new approach to manage its members. Support your solution.
EI, Social Skills, and Decision-Making:
Explain how emotional intelligence would enhance decision-making within the management team.
Effective Teams:
Describe the core attributes of an effective team and the strategies you would implement to develop team dynamics that will benefit the organization.
Full Answer Section
EI and Motivation: Leveraging Relationship Management
Emotional intelligence, as defined by Daniel Goleman and others, is the capacity to recognize our own feelings and those of others, to motivate ourselves, and to manage emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships. The four key building blocks of EI are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. To address our current performance challenges and boost employee job satisfaction, the most impactful building block to focus on for our management team is
Relationship Management.
Relationship management is the ability to inspire, influence, and develop others while managing conflict effectively. It is the culmination of the other three EI blocks, as it requires a manager to first understand their own emotions (self-awareness), manage them effectively (self-management), and then accurately perceive the emotions of their team (social awareness) to build strong, healthy, and productive relationships.
A manager with a high degree of relationship management skills impacts employee performance and job satisfaction in several key ways. First, they create a psychologically safe environment where team members feel comfortable taking risks, sharing ideas, and admitting mistakes without fear of retribution. This is a direct catalyst for innovation and problem-solving, which is critical for turning around a sales slump. Second, they are adept at conflict resolution, addressing interpersonal tensions before they escalate and poison the team dynamic. This preserves energy that would otherwise be spent on workplace drama and redirects it toward achieving shared goals. Finally, and most importantly, a manager with strong relationship management skills fosters a sense of belonging and value in their team, which is a powerful driver of job satisfaction and loyalty. When employees feel they are part of a supportive and cohesive team, their intrinsic motivation and commitment to the organization’s success naturally increase.
Based on extensive research into human motivation, the theory that would best support this new EI management approach is the
Self-Determination Theory (SDT), proposed by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. SDT posits that for an individual to be truly motivated, three fundamental psychological needs must be met:
- Autonomy: The need to feel in control of one’s behaviors and goals.
- Competence: The need to feel effective and capable in one’s work.
- Relatedness: The need to feel a sense of belonging and connection with others.
The new approach, centered on relationship management, would directly aid in meeting these needs. A manager skilled in this block of EI would influence members not through command-and-control but through coaching and empowerment, thereby supporting their
autonomy. They would provide specific, constructive feedback and celebrate successes, which directly builds a sense of
competence. Most critically, their focus on fostering a positive team dynamic, managing conflict, and building strong working relationships would directly fulfill the need for
relatedness.
For our sales team, a manager using this approach would not simply dictate sales targets. Instead, they would collaborate with team members on setting goals, providing them with the autonomy to craft their own strategies. They would offer tailored coaching to help each team member hone their sales skills, building their competence. And through regular, genuine check-ins and team-building activities, they would strengthen the sense of relatedness, transforming the team from a collection of individuals into a cohesive unit that supports one another to achieve collective success. This is a far more sustainable and effective motivator than external pressures alone and is directly linked to an increase in both performance and job satisfaction.
EI, Social Skills, and Decision-Making
The role of emotional intelligence in enhancing decision-making within the management team cannot be overstated. A high-stakes, high-pressure environment, such as one with declining sales, can trigger powerful emotions like fear, anxiety, or frustration. Unchecked, these emotions can lead to poor decision-making, such as overreacting to a single bad report, making rash cuts to a critical budget, or blaming team members instead of addressing systemic issues.
Emotional intelligence provides a powerful filter through which to make more rational, data-driven decisions. Managers with high EI can first recognize and manage their own emotional reactions, preventing them from clouding their judgment. They can take a step back, identify the emotional triggers, and consciously choose to base their decisions on objective data rather than on emotional impulses.