Why are Employees Missing Critical EQ Skills?
By Gretchen Fox Palmer, CEO of MTO Agency and Creator of EQ @Work
So, why don’t employees already have these critical social-emotional skills? The answer lies in a combination of historical, cultural, and organizational factors:
1. Traditional Focus on Technical Skills
- Emphasis on Hard Skills: Historically, workplaces have prioritized technical skills (hard skills) over soft skills. The assumption was that job success primarily depended on specific technical competencies, with less emphasis on emotional intelligence, communication, or empathy.
- Industrial Age Legacy: Many modern management practices have roots in the Industrial Age, where efficiency, productivity, and standardized processes were paramount. Emotional and social aspects were often considered secondary.
2. Cultural Norms
- Stoicism and Professionalism: Many workplace cultures have long upheld values like stoicism and professionalism, often equating emotional expression with weakness. This cultural norm discouraged open discussion of emotions and the development of social-emotional skills.
- Work-Life Separation: The belief that emotions and personal issues should be left at the door when entering the workplace has perpetuated the idea that social-emotional skills are not relevant in a professional context.
3. Lack of Awareness
- Limited Understanding of SEL Benefits: Until recently, the impact of social-emotional skills on job performance, team dynamics, and overall company success was not well understood. Without clear evidence or awareness of its benefits, companies did not prioritize SEL in training programs.
- New Research: The research linking SEL to improved work outcomes is relatively recent. As psychological and educational sciences have advanced, so has the understanding of the importance of SEL in the workplace.
4. Education System
- Education’s Focus on Academics: Many educational systems have historically focused on academic achievement and cognitive skills, often neglecting the development of social-emotional competencies. This gap continues into the workplace, as employees enter the workforce without these critical skills.
- Slow Adoption of SEL in Schools: While SEL is gaining traction in schools, its integration into the curriculum is still uneven. As a result, many people entering the workforce have had little exposure to SEL concepts.
5. Workplace Structure and Dynamics
- Hierarchical Structures: Traditional hierarchical organizational structures often discourage the open communication and emotional expression that SEL promotes. Employees may feel that social-emotional skills are irrelevant or risky in environments where hierarchy and control are emphasized.
- Focus on Short-Term Goals: Companies have often prioritized short-term productivity and profit over long-term employee development. This focus leaves little room for the softer aspects of employee growth, such as SEL.
6. Economic Pressures
- Cost and Time Constraints: Training in social-emotional skills can be seen as an added cost, and in tight economic climates, companies may deprioritize it in favor of more immediate financial concerns.
- ROI Challenges: Measuring the return on investment (ROI) for SEL programs can be challenging. Companies often prefer to invest in areas with more easily quantifiable outcomes, such as technical training or process improvements.
7. Resistance to Change
- Inertia in Organizational Change: Even when the benefits of SEL are recognized, changing established practices and mindsets can be slow and difficult. Organizations may resist adopting new training programs or cultural shifts due to comfort with the status quo.
- Perceived Irrelevance: In some industries, there may be a perception that SEL is unnecessary or irrelevant, particularly in fields traditionally viewed as being more technical or task-oriented.
8. Evolving Work Environments
- Rise of Remote Work: The shift to remote and hybrid work environments has highlighted the need for SEL, but traditional in-person training methods may not easily translate to these new settings. This has delayed widespread adoption.
- Increasing Complexity: The modern work environment is increasingly complex and interconnected, requiring higher levels of emotional intelligence and collaboration. As workplaces evolve, the need for SEL becomes more apparent, but there’s a lag in adapting training programs to meet this need.
Want to learn more? I recommend reading this next: The Transformative Impact of 9 Hours of EQ Skills Training
Or skip to learn about the step-by-step EQ @Work blueprint to: Inspire Performance in the Post-Pandemic Workplace by:
- Increasing Employee Capacity & Resilience
- Improving Productivity
- Reducing Problematic Behaviors
