Success Factory now offers Emotional Intelligence assessments (EQ-i) conducted by our clinic psychologist, Ingrid James.

PROFILE OF INGRID DIAN JAMES (CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST AND COACH)

Ingrid is a Senior Clinical Psychologist/ Coach , with special interest in the maintenance of well-being and the prevention of mental illness. She has been in private practice for the last five years based in Gauteng.

She trained at the University of Zululand in a community psychology based programme. Zululand in Northern KwaZulu Natal and its surrounding areas is a predominantly mining area where the supporting towns sprang up as a result of migrant employees. The aim of the University in developing the community psychology programme was to create support for the displaced migrant employees, facilitate tolerance in this cultural melting pot, and most of all create an environment of physical and emotional well-being for the employees and their families.

Ingrid was initially moved to concentrate on well-being and prevention of mental illness during her internship where she worked as a consultant psychologist to companies such as Mondi (Richards Bay and Empangeni), South African Ports Authority (Portnet), Ticor and Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT). She was responsible for the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) in each of these companies and was confronted on a daily basis with individuals who struggled to cope with their unfamiliar environments and the demands of work. Her research for her Master’s Thesis was The Effect of Exercise on Psychological Well-Being in the Workplace.

During the course of her practice, Ingrid has dealt with a number of clients with work related difficulties. She was instrumental in establishing the EAP programme in a medical hospital during her Community Service. After establishing a successful private practice, Ingrid branched out into Coaching and received accreditation through Success Factory. This was mainly due to the yearning to be able to intervene at an earlier stage of distress.

Ingrid is an internationally accredited assessor of the EQ-i. Her training as a clinical psychologist, exposure to coaching and work experience equips her to understand the relationships of individuals both with themselves and each other. She excels at managing difficult situations through her attitude, intention and professionalism.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE (EQ)

The concept of emotional intelligence was popularised by Daniel Goleman, mainly through his book ‘Emotional Intelligence’: Why it can matter more than IQ(1995). However the concept of the skills, abilities and competencies outside of cognitive strengths has long intrigued philosophers and psychologists alike. For example, questions such as, why is it that some people, irrespective of cognitive abilities do not succeed or fail to meet expectations? Why is it that some people have a greater sense of emotional well-being?

Dr. Reuven Bar-On - the developer of the EQ-I - was spurred on to discover a way of defining skills, competencies and abilities in a broader, more inclusive way and then measuring them, rather than just relying on a measure of cognitive abilities. He was convinced that it was not as simple as cognitive abilities alone could predict success and was determined to undercover the ‘soft skills’ that literature did not explain.

The EQ-i is an amazing psychological tool that was designed to assess emotional intelligence and extrapolate information required to develop these non-cognitive skills further and therefore equip an individual to succeed in her or his environment to the best of her or his ability. This is an internationally accredited tool which is renowned for providing accurate information, applicable for developmental purposes in a manner that is non-intrusive or offensive to test candidates. It is a self report that allows individuals to represent themselves in a nonjudgmental manner. This tool is a popular choice as a measure of emotional intelligence as it displays minimal bias towards cultural and ethnic backgrounds. It is relatively quick test in accessible language that yields a fortune of information that is useful for both individuals and organizations. The information yielded may be used in many ways, but is used predominately for the developmental and enhancement purposes. Due to the nature of the tool and its uses, candidates are generally less anxious and willing to be open and honest with their answers since there are no incorrect answers. To date in South Africa, there have been in excess of 10 000 assessments carried out.

A large number of these assessments have been conducted at the request of organisations. A useful application of this tool is to enhance productivity with regards to an individual and in a team setting and minimise relational difficulties among colleagues.

The EQ-i is based on the following model developed by Dr. Bar-On and is one of the most effective tools for the effective enhancement of individuals and teams in a relatively short time period.

The five domains of Emotional Intelligence: Inter-Personal, Stress Management, Adaptability and General Mood

The Intra-personal realm concerns your ability to know and manage yourself. The Inter-personal realm concerns your ‘people skills’- your ability to interact and get along with others. The Adaptability realm involves your ability to be flexible and realistic and to solve a range of problems as they arise. The Stress Management realm concerns your ability to tolerate stress and control impulses. The General Mood Realm is an indication of your ability to maintain a realistically positive attitude, particularly in the face of adversity and the ability to feel satisfied with life, that is an ability to enjoy and experience zest and enthusiasm in a wide range of activities.

BENEFITS OF THE EQ-I

Identification of areas for enrichment

It has been proven time and time again, the emotional and social intelligence of an individual is not a fixed ability. By adopting proven methods found in cognitive and behavioural therapy, coaching or psychotherapy, individuals are able to increase their emotional intelligence in easily understandable ways that can be proven. The EQ-i is a tool that is quickly and effectively able to assess the emotional intelligence of an individual. In this way, the individual is empowered with tangible information that may be easily translated into a plan of action for development.

Emerging trends in research have shown that individuals who are more successful in their marriages have more effectual EQ-i profiles. Similarly, in a study of individuals with chronic illness, the more emotional effectual individuals were able to manage their chronic illness better. It is imperative in the business world to assist individuals maintain physical well-being in order to ensure optimal productivity. Absenteeism due to physical illness may cause undue stress and tension in a team, thereby creating resentment and discord. While we may be unable to prevent chronic illness, better management of these conditions can lead to individuals remaining effective for a longer period of time.

Teamwork and Emotional Intelligence in the Business World

Popular corporate culture demands that individuals from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds pull together as a team in order to fulfill commonly defined goals. However, being human, we are all engaged with personal battles or issues of different magnitudes. Emotional and social intelligence empowers us to be able to put internal or individual differences aside for the greater good of a common goal. Often in a context where team dynamics manifest in dysfunctional work relationships or discord, emotional cues are present . The EQ-i enables one to speedily identify underlying factors, vulnerabilities and individual grievances that contribute to the dysfunction. Unpacking such difficulties afford both individual employees and management the opportunity to develop a plan of action as to how such a situation should be managed.

Creating Cohesion and Harmony in the Workplace

The EQ-i offers the organisation an opportunity to view emotional intelligence from and individual as well as a team perspective. One is able to understand the dynamics of a team through a comparison of individual and group profiles. For example, if the inter-personal skills of a particular team is an area for enrichment, one would expect that they often misunderstand each other, are possibly suspicious and negative in their interactions. As a result, the team may be split into many sub-units and have divided allegiances. In such a case, it is extremely difficult to create cohesion for the greater good of the organization without dealing with the underlying concern. If the inter-personal skills of each individual is developed, common goals of the team may be established. A long term goal would be to establish a higher degree of tolerance for each other. An application of the EQ-i that pertains specifically to the team dynamics is a Group Report that may be generated from the individual reports in a particular team. This report enables the assessor to establish the fundamental issues of dysfunction within the team. The precision of uncovering matters makes for a speedy resolution of the issues.

Emotional Intelligence and Communication

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to be aware of one’s own emotional state and that of others around. Individuals who are in need of enriching their emotional skills often struggle with communication. This becomes more evident in a closed environment where there is no other outlet for miscommunication. In order for a team to function effectively, the channels of communication must be open and allow individuals to express themselves without fear of retaliation or vengeance. Managing one’s own emotions effectively facilitates harmonious interaction with others. This is often because one is more aware of the impact of one’s actions and verbalisations.

PROCESS OF THE EQ-i