February 13th, 2024
With the growing mental health burden where 1 person in 5 suffers mental illness, 1 person dies of suicide every 40 seconds, and the high cost (direct/indirect) of managing the mental health risk, today’s workplace dynamics have inevitably changed calling for building an environment and people skills that mitigate behaviors predisposing to mental ill-health. The biggest challenge in this era will be sustaining a vibrant workforce and making meaningful contributions despite the normal stresses of life. The key accelerator to mental health is a work skills-set that can identify, sensitively appreciate, and appropriately respond to emotional challenges among team members. Among other skills is Emotional Intelligence (EQ). EQ is the ability to manage both your own emotions and understand the emotions of people around you. It is composed of five (5) elements, being self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. While an academic career focuses on a high intelligence quotient (IQ), there is a need to upscale skilling and learning to acquire Emotional Intelligence (EQ) for a cohesive work environment that drives workplace empathy, and team energy to foster performance. A strong, mentally stable, and collaborative workforce will need to build EQ capacity to buffer effects, symptoms, and breakdown progression (low-performance turnover).