The research paper analyzes the significance of emotional intelligence and motivational strategies to improve Wells Fargo’s corporate culture. It also provides a professional development program proposal for emotional intelligence. If Wells Fargo incorporates emotional intelligence to their leadership skills, it would improve their productivity, foster teamwork, improve communication, and strengthen interpersonal relationships. Emotional intelligence describes the ability of managers to manage and understand their individual and employee emotions. Emotional intelligence comprises of five essential elements: social skills, self-awareness, empathy, self-regulation, and motivation.
When managers are self-aware, they will always know how they feel and how their decisions, actions, and emotions may affect employees. Self-regulation means waiting for the right avenue, time, and place to express their emotions. Proper emotional intelligence includes more than just understanding individual and employees' emotions; it involves being able to apply the knowledge in the daily communications and interactions. Empathy describes the skills of understanding the emotions and feelings of other people. Managers and employees who are emotionally intelligent can motivate themselves beyond external reward systems such as acclaim, fame, recognition, and money. Emotional intelligence is one of the indicators of good leadership and human success. Also, teamwork is an aspect that should be built through emotional intelligence, practice, strategy, and discipline. The CEO should support the proposal because it will assist him to have a team of managers with emotional intelligence who will improve Wells Fargo’s productivity.
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Keywords: emotional intelligence, manager, empathy, decision making, self-regulation, social skills, self-awareness, communication, motivation, Wells Fargo, corporate culture
The Wells Fargo scandal has affected the firm for more than two years. More than 3.5 million fraudulent accounts were opened without customers’ knowledge and permission (Verschoor, 2017). Over 800000 customers were erroneously charged for car loan insurance that they did not require. Over 5300 employees were sacked, and the middle-level management shifted all the blame to the employees instead of evaluating their toxic corporate culture (Verschoor, 2017). However, if the department managers incorporate emotional intelligence to their leadership skills, it would improve their productivity, foster teamwork, improve communication, and strengthen interpersonal relationships. Emotional intelligence describes the ability of managers to manage and understand their individual and employee emotions. Leaders who possess a high level of emotional intelligence understand their feelings and how the emotions may affect their employees. The research paper will analyze the significance of emotional intelligence and motivational strategies to improve Wells Fargo’s corporate culture. It will also provide a professional development program proposal for emotional intelligence.
Program Proposal
The training program should take 8 hours. It will expose the managers to all aspects of emotional intelligence and how they can incorporate the skills into the corporate culture. Furthermore, it will allow them to improve their problem identification skills and how they can implement change management. After completing the training, the managers should be able to utilize tools that will improve their social skills, define emotional intelligence and how it will translate to the organization and personal success, and apply various tools to boost their personal skills ( McCleskey, 2014) . The managers will be trained one hour per day for 8 days. The 8 hour training program would be divided into one hour classes that will identify particular topics in emotional intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence Program Training Proposal |
|
| Topic | |
| Day 1 | Introduction To Emotional Intelligence And Evaluation Of Scandal |
| Day 2 | Emotional Intelligence In Leadership |
| Day 3 | Emotional Intelligence and Decision Making. |
| Day 4 | Emotional Intelligence and Teamwork |
| Day 5 | Emotional Intelligence and Social Skills |
| Day 6 | Evaluation of the Wells Fargo Scandal in Groups |
| Day 7 | Presentation of Findings |
| Day 8 | Analysis of other issues and conclusion of training. |
In Day 1, the facilitator will carry out the introduction to EI and then discuss how the scandal affected the company so that the managers can realize the objective of the training program. From Day 2 to Day 5, they will analyze the issues discussed similar to the research paper but in a more detailed and practical manner by associating it with particular issues in the company. In Day 6, the managers will be divided into three or more groups and analyze the scandal and come up with proper solutions through EI. In Day 7, they will present their findings and solutions. The objective of the session will be to evaluate whether the managers have understood the concept. In Day 8, they will identify other issues that can be solved through EI in the company. The subtopics below explain the issues that will be addressed in the program proposal.
Emotional Intelligence in Leadership
The topic will be addressed in day 2. Emotional intelligence comprises of five key elements: social skills, self-awareness, empathy, self-regulation, and motivation. The topic will assist managers to understand the five elements of emotional intelligence and how to apply the elements in the organization.
Self-Awareness
When managers are self-aware, they will always know how they feel and how their decisions, actions, and emotions may affect employees. It also entails being humble and knowing their strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, it involves knowing the emotions, actions, and moods of employees. It will allow the managers to know how employees feel towards particular decisions in the company. For instance, if the managers have self-awareness, they would have realized that the sales targets of the employees were unattainable and that their hyper-competitiveness clouded their judgment. Managers who are self-aware can recognize their limitations and strengths while being open to new experiences and information from their interactions with employees ( McCleskey, 2014) . Furthermore, such leaders are confident in their abilities, have a good sense of humor, and are aware how employees perceive them.
Self-Regulation
Other than managers being aware of their own emotions and their effect on employees, emotional intelligence requires them to manage and regulate their emotions. Selecting a high sales target may be thrilling, but it should be achievable. However, it does not mean locking down their emotion and hiding their true feeling. Self-regulation means waiting for the right avenue, time, and place to express their emotions. Some managers had expressed concerns over the increasing cases of fraudulent accounts before the scandal was made public, but it was too late, and the unethical practices had adverse effects on their brand image ( Hurley & Barron, 2018) . Self-regulation requires the managers to be flexible and adapt to various changes within the company. Managers who are good at self-regulation are good in managing difficult situations, conflicts, and diffusing tension. They are responsible for their actions and how they influence employees.
Social Skills
Being emotionally intelligent requires managers to have proper social skills. Proper emotional intelligence includes more than just understanding individual and employees' emotions; it involves being able to apply the knowledge in the daily communications and interactions. In all professional settings such as Wells Fargo, managers can only benefit by creating connections and relationships with employees. On the other hand, employees must build a strong rapport with their co-workers and leaders so that they can foster teamwork ( Ramchunder & Martins, 2014) . Some of the essential social skills include persuasiveness, active listening, nonverbal communication skills, and verbal communication skills.
Empathy
Empathy describes the skills of understanding the emotions and feelings of other people. However, it requires more than knowing the emotions of employees; it also includes the response of the managers according to the information they have. When a manager senses that an employee is feeling hopeless or sad, it will be essential for the manager to respond appropriately. The manager may make an effort to lift the spirits or treat them with special or extra care. Managers should be empathetic because it allows employees to understand the power dynamics that affect social relationships in professional settings such as Wells Fargo ( Hurley & Barron, 2018) . Managers who are competent in the field allow them to understand and interpret different situations accurately.
Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is an essential aspect of emotional intelligence. Managers and employees who are emotionally intelligent can motivate themselves beyond external reward systems such as acclaim, fame, recognition, and money. Instead, they have a purpose and passion for achieving inner goals and needs. Such managers pursue internal rewards, pursue peak experiences, and experience satisfaction from achieving goals. Managers who are competent in motivation tend to be action oriented. Often, they set achievable goals, are focused on achieving the goals, and look for better ways of completing tasks ( McCleskey, 2014) . They tend to be initiative and committed.
Emotional Intelligence and Decision Making
The topic will be covered in day 3. Emotional intelligence is one of the indicators of good leadership and human success. Emotions have a key impact on individual success, thoughts, and decision making. The topic would assist the managers to understand how emotional intelligence influences good decision making and productivity in the workplace. Emotions are intricately connected with the way people think and behave while making decisions. The five skills of emotional intelligence described earlier are important for successful decision making ( Ramchunder & Martins, 2014) . Managers can use self-management to establish consistent records of quality emotional control and achievement while earning the trust of the entire management and employees.
Social awareness and the core competencies of organizational awareness, empathy, and service orientation of managers allows them to not only evaluate the impact of their decisions but also the processes involved in decision making. If the management had used emotional intelligence when making the annual targets, it would have allowed them to evaluate the effects of their decisions on their ethical values. Decision making is a primary aspect of achieving organizational goals and is one of the core responsibilities of the company’s management team ( Ramchunder & Martins, 2014) . Therefore, emotional intelligence will allow the managers to make good decisions and act ethically.
Emotional Intelligence and Team Work
The topic will be covered in day 4. Teamwork is a popular and important aspect in Wells Fargo. However, it is an aspect that should be built through emotional intelligence, practice, strategy, and discipline. Most organizations talk about teams but building a productive team involves more than selecting the team members. If the manager lacks emotional intelligence, the teams are less likely to be successful ( Ramchunder & Martins, 2014) . Most learning in organizations takes place when employees or the management make costly mistakes. The topic will encourage the management in Wells Fargo to realize the value of teamwork. However, if Wells Fargo utilizes emotional intelligence in building productive teams, most of the mistakes can be avoided.
Emotional intelligence skills are one of the building blocks of successful teams in organizations. Teams that have a higher emotional intelligence tend to have higher productivity in comparison to teams with lower emotional intelligence. Teams are more productive and creative when they attain higher levels of collaborations, participation, and cooperation among their members. The success of completing tasks and responsibilities is higher when team members engage in the task wholeheartedly ( McCleskey, 2014) . Emotional intelligence encourages participation, a sense of group efficacy, group identity, and pride in the group. Besides, it makes all stakeholders understand that they can only achieve goals if they work together.
Emotional Intelligence and Social Skills
The topic will be discussed in day 5. Social skills in emotional intelligence describe the skills necessary to understand and influence employees' emotions effectively. It may appear as manipulation, but it may involve simple actions such as understanding that happy employees are more productive than angry or sad employees. Also, smiling at employees allows them to smile back at the managers and may make the employees feel more positive about them. Besides, it allows the managers to be persuasive. The topic will assist the managers to understand that leaders who are influential or persuasive tend to read the emotional atmosphere and how to appeal to the involved parties ( Hurley & Barron, 2018) . Social skills encourage managers to have good communication skills. A good manager should listen to employees, convey their ideas, emotions, and their thoughts. Also, it boosts their change management skills. Effective change managers act as change catalysts who direct employees in their desired paths without alienating any member. The skills are necessary because Wells Fargo needs to change its corporate culture so that they can improve their brand image and regain the confidence of the public and investors (Verschoor, 2017).
Conclusion
The research paper analyzes the significance of emotional intelligence and motivational strategies to improve Wells Fargo’s corporate culture. It also provides a professional development program proposal for emotional intelligence. The Wells Fargo scandal tarnished the brand image, and an emotional intelligence development program will allow the managers to rebrand their image while improving the company performance ( Hurley & Barron, 2018) . The program will also boost the company’s compliance with their core values. The CEO should support the proposal because it will assist him to have a team of managers with emotional intelligence who will improve Wells Fargo’s productivity.
References
Hurley, J., & Barron, D. (2018). Emotional intelligence and leadership: In Emotional Intelligence in Health and Social Care (pp. 95-108). Routledge.
McCleskey, J. (2014). Emotional intelligence and leadership: A review of the progress, controversy, and criticism. International Journal of Organizational Analysis , 22 (1), 76-93.
Ramchunder, Y., & Martins, N. (2014). The role of self-efficacy, emotional intelligence and leadership style as attributes of leadership effectiveness: SA Journal of Industrial Psychology , 40 (1), 01-11.
Verschoor, C. C. (2017). Wells Fargo Scandal Continues: New disclosures increase the scope of fraud and raise issues of audit and disclosure failure. Strategic Finance , 99 (5), 18-20.
