By Russell Cullingworth

Let’s face it, HR is a tough profession—stuck somewhere between upper management and the rest of the staff (with both expecting you to represent their needs and expectations to the other).

Often, HR is charged with implementing the professional development program, and is well aware that everyone in the organization, particularly the management, needs Emotional Intelligence training far more the more popular technical skills training.  The problem is, most field-toughened construction, operations and project managers would rather have a root canal than have to spend a day learning what they perceive to be “touchy-feely” soft skills.

As an HR professional, how do you “sell” the value and need for ongoing interpersonal skills development with a team of hardened business managers? Here are five simple starters:

1.  Focus on Everyday Business Issues:
Managers live in a reality where their performance is measured mostly by the numbers.  The link between leadership, effective teamwork, trust, loyalty and retention is sometimes too distant from the more immediate demands of deadlines, cost controls and profit margins (EBITDA).

By focusing on these everyday business issues by which their success is measured—such as increasing profitability or productivity, reducing costs, increasing agility, retaining talent, and generating revenue—you will be able to engage managers and help them to recognize the link between interpersonal skills and success in their jobs.

2. Partner With a Facilitator to Work on Ideas:
Independent facilitators typically work with a large variety of clients and have extensive networks. It is quite likely that they have experience, ideas or contacts that can help you formulate a unique strategy for your organization—or put you in touch with other professionals who have faced and overcome similar challenges.  A great facilitator will be happy to offer some time and resources to help you to develop a workable plan to promote their program within your organization. All you need to do is ask.

3.  Be Careful With Terminology: 
As mentioned earlier, many hardened operations and field managers will do anything to avoid programs related to examining themselves and their emotional competence.  It may be stating the obvious to advise caution with terminology, but various trigger words should be avoided—words like “soft skills”, “communication training”, “personality type” or “emotions.”  These can be replaced with terms like “management training”, “leadership development”, “productivity” or “organizational effectiveness.”

4.  Engage Top Managers and Influential Staff:
Engaging influential employees in the program may be the best way to change attitudes and to get the rest of the team to recognize the value of the training.  Influential employees include not only the formal managers in the organization, but also the informal influencers whose opinions weigh heavily amongst employees.

Identify the formal and informal leaders and engage them first; they can provide feedback and support if the program has value and is worth the investment.  If these influential employees don’t buy into the program, chances are it would not succeed anyway, so a “pilot workshop” would be an excellent gauge of how the program’s success potential.

5.  Provide Practical Learning Value, Tools and Defined Action:
Finally, take the time to find the right program.  The saying ,“you get what you pay for,” often holds true for development programs.  You want to find a program that offers practical tools and techniques that managers can use on a daily basis to repeat and perpetuate the learning.  The program should also lend itself to a longer term cohesive development strategy for all levels in the organization – from basic skills to advanced interpersonal skills and emotional competence for executives.

The IQ of EQ
The research is clear—according to the Harvard Business Review, 87 per cent of business issues arise from a lack of inter-personal skills, and have nothing to do with the technical competence of the parties. Emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills are critical to the success of individual, team or organization. Canadian executives and managers will eventually embrace this reality, but in the meantime we hope you can use these tips and techniques to lead the way in your organization.

Russell Cullingworth, MBA is president of EQAdvantage Learning and Development Inc.