Pension operators promote emotional intelligence in workplace 

By Rosemary Iwuala

To address the effect of workplace emotions in the ever-changing and always evolving work environment that place several levels of pressure on individuals and organisations, the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp) has given a thought on employees’ state of mind.

For this, the group recently put together a seminar to tackle some of the issues, tagged “What’s Emotions Got to Do with the Workplace?”

The online session which was open to pension professionals sought to answer questions such as: Can I learn how to be emotionally intelligent? How can I master and understand my emotions? Can I understand the emotions of my colleague?

The session was facilitated by Yinka Akande, the people and training lead at PenOp, and a seasoned facilitator adept at helping individuals and businesses upskill as well as access a competent workforce through professional soft skill training and development programmes.

Akande spoke about the critical components of emotional intelligence, including self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. She also identified the various opportunities that come along with applying the values of Emotional Quotient for businesses.

Talking about being self-aware, Akande educated the participants on how they can improve on their individual selves and breach communication gaps amongst the DISC personality types.

She further explained the STOPP regulation on how workers should manage their emotions as individuals. She stressed that for someone to be motivated, that person needs to be ready to challenge him or herself.

She further spoke about the various ways social skills could be improved as well as the steps to building empathy as an individual.

She said that Emotional Quotient not only allows people to build good and long-lasting relationships but also improves organisational goals, advising organisational heads to leverage on emotional intelligence, prioritise wellness and mental health check-ins with their staff.

The knowledge-sharing session, according to Oguche Agudah, PenOp chief executive officer, forms a forum that enables operators in the pension industry to network, share ideas and listen in as subject matter experts discuss topical and relative issues.