Working from home has not only made employees and employers value work-life balance more but also made them understand the value of soft skills and emotional quotient (EQ). With many people dealing with losses during this period in many different forms like sickness, isolation, deaths, employees as well as employers both have had to increase their soft skills.
Soft skills include active listening, being a team player, having good communication skills and adaptability (a quality that was essential during the pandemic). Emotional intelligence — the ability to manage emotions in positive ways and empathise with others, has also gained prominence during this time.
In the post-Covid workplace, employees are now more inclined towards working under bosses who show empathy and compassion, a LinkedIn survey of around 23,000 workers has highlighted. Additionally, 61 per cent said soft skills in the workplace are just as important as hard skills.
“In today’s volatile world, the sense that we are in it together and will navigate the challenges together to achieve our common purpose and goals is critical,” Anuj Poddar, MD and CEO, Bajaj Electricals Limited, told Economic Times.
He added that EQ is something the company takes seriously, saying that in the past year, most of its leadership team members have undergone a structured assessment exercise of their leadership qualities and are now undergoing IDPs (individual development plans). “Softer skills and individual temperament have an increased weightage in our performance appraisal,” he noted.
At Marico, chairman Harsh Mariwala himself undertook changes while speaking to employees post-Covid which include checking on their well-being, sharing his personal experiences and vulnerabilities. “Talking about my own stressors during the pandemic resulted in more open conversations with my direct reportees,” he said.
Stressing that this is a good time for top bosses to develop their EQ, Mariawala said, “Instead of simply offering post-facto measures such as employee counselling and Friday wellness sessions, the pandemic has given leaders a great opportunity to think about mental well-being from a preventive lens which would contribute to better all-round employee well-being and emotional health.”
Payment solutions provider PayU’s CEO Prashanth Ranganathan also echoed the same adding that social and emotional skills are just as important as business goals and growth and emphasis on EQ needs to start from the top.
“I believe that empathy that trickles down from leaders can result in a cultural shift of caring and compassion, which can make the workplace highly desirable for employees as well as potential job seekers,” he opined
Another top executive who believes that EQ is critical to success in a post-pandemic world, NASSCOM Foundation CEO Nidhi Bhasin said that it helps leaders understand a situation or a colleague better. The company has incorporated a feedback system where empathy, collaboration, inclusion, etc. have been introduced as measurable parameters.
“The challenges employees talk about are no longer just about their work, internal stakeholders or performance; they discuss a range of complicated personal, health and lifestyle issues. High achievers want to work and succeed but it’s not so easy in the fluid, constantly changing and hybrid context we are in. So much of the dilemma is about navigating this and dealing with anxiety,” said Nanda Majumdar, chief human resources officer, Waterfield Advisors.
Bajaj Electricals’ Poddar is of the view that while organisations and leaders need to demonstrate empathy towards their employees, organisations do have tangible business goals to meet and operate in a highly competitive environment. “Empathy cannot be at the expense of aspiration,” he said.
