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RESULTS
Enhancing Leadership Effectiveness ™ Program
Large Government Organization - A Case Study Report
It's difficult to remember when a world this chaotic touched our lives and businesses so globally. In the US, we were barely recovering from the New Economy effects of the dot bombs when the September 11 tragedy occurred, shattering our sense of safety and destabilizing our ability to think and work. The New Economy ushered in unprecedented levels of change and, as a result, unequaled levels of stress on the job. Information hurtles at us from email, voicemail, beepers, and cellphones, following us wherever we go. The threat of downsizing keeps us in a state of chronic, churning anxiety. Fewer employees doing more work means we multi-task, watch our hours at the office expand, and see our time shrink from those we love. Pressured from all fronts, our health problems increase.
In the fall of 2001, a regional vice president of a large government organization decided to address these issues by helping his op-level group of forty (40) executives enhance their Emotional Intelligence skills. With the key goal of enabling each executive with techniques and skills to manage the increasing stress and pressures of his/her job, they asked Byron Stock & Associates (BS&A) to facilitate the Enhancing Personal Effectiveness™ leadership program.
This case focuses on the issues confronting the governmental organization key leaders and describes the program methodology and results of applying the program's technology as a proven way to significantly and simultaneously produce improvements in attitudes, performance, and health. The results proved to be both immediate and sustainable.
Introduction
In late 2001, for the first time in their history, a large government organization faced significant reduced volumes in their plants. In all likelihood, this meant they would have to downsize - another historical first for the organization. They had recently entered into a contract with their major competitor to provide service in a critical product area. However, the competitor was not delivering timely service. Additionally, the six unions and management associations the organization dealt with were a constant source of daily battles. As a government agency, the organization is significantly under-funded for the service they provide, creating tremendous pressure to reduce costs. And since the tragedy of September 11, the organization has faced life-threatening bio-terrorism issues.
The Vice President of Operations indicated that during this time of unprecedented, dramatic change, all of his executives were carrying tremendous responsibilities, causing them to become fatigued and stressed. Most of these executives managed groups of between 1000 and 5000 employees. Compounding this, many of them were also in that stage of life where serious health conditions had accumulated and were beginning to emerge in full force. Most importantly, the need to make faster, better decisions was critical to meet the challenges of the present and near future.
The Vice President of Operations was seeking an intervention or interventions that would ...
- Enable each executive with techniques and skills to manage the increasing stress and pressures of his/her job.
- Improve the executives' physical, mental, and emotional health.
- Improve the leadership capabilities of each executive.
- Enable each executive to become a more effective role model for his/her direct reports and all the people under his/her care.
- Improve the way executives work together as a team.
As providence would have it, the Senior Diversity Officer of the Vice President's staff attended the Emotional Intelligence workshop, Enhancing Personal Effectiveness. The workshop provided a life-changing experience for this individual and, as a result, the Senior Diversity Officer presented the Vice President of Operations with the concept of using this program for his executives.
Executives at this level were expected to participate in a yearly developmental experience. Typically, they would go to a variety of developmental programs offered through various universities. One of the advantages of using the Enhancing Personal Effectiveness program was that all the executives would go through the same developmental experience at the same time. This increased the likelihood that they would build bonds, enhance teamwork and cohesion, and strengthen relationships beyond that of the normal, day-to-day work environment. Another advantage of bringing in this program was that it was extremely cost effective compared to programs offered at universities.
Emotional Intelligence
The evidence supporting the critical importance of Emotional Intelligence is mounting. Negative emotions have long been recognized as a major contributor to stress and, more recently, as important to personal and organizational success. Emotional Intelligence is one's ability to acquire and apply knowledge from one's emotions and the emotions of others in order to make more effective decisions about what to say and do (or not say or do).
In his best selling book, Emotional Intelligence (Bantam Books, Oct. 1995), Daniel Goleman cites the five domains or competencies of Emotional Intelligence as emotional self-awareness, emotional self-regulation, emotional self-motivation, empathy, and nurturing relationships. And in his landmark Harvard Business Review article, "What Makes a Leader?" (HBR Nov./Dec., 1998 p. 93), he shares insight into the power of emotional intelligence:
"... when I calculated the ratio of technical skills, IQ and emotional intelligence (identified in competency models from 188 companies) as ingredients of excellent performance, emotional intelligence was twice as important as the others for jobs at all levels. ...Moreover, my analysis showed that emotional intelligence played an increasingly important role at the highest levels of the company, where differences in technical skills are of negligible importance..."
The impact of unmanaged, negative emotional reactions and lack of Emotional Intelligence skills in business is widespread and significant. Unmanaged, negative emotional reactions or lack of Emotional Intelligence skills by executives and employees at all levels can lead to high turnover, stalled change initiatives, inadequate innovation and creativity, unsuccessful process improvement initiatives, slow development of high potential talent, decreased productivity, decreased customer satisfaction, decreased customer loyalty, increases in stress and healthcare costs, disruptive organizational climate/culture, and even workplace violence.
The link between the employees' Emotional Intelligence and organizational success is profound. Figure 1 depicts how enhancing executives' Emotional Intelligence skills can impact critical moment-to-moment decisions and actions, and, subsequently, job results and departmental/area goals, and ultimately organizational goals.
Program Design
The Enhancing Personal Effectiveness program is a multi-contact program designed to provide specific techniques people can use to enhance their existing Emotional Intelligence skills. The program also supports participants in the application of those techniques back on the job and in their personal lives. The program is powered by the technology based on the research of an innovative, non-profit research and education institute. The institute has been featured on ABC's "Good Morning America," "Peter Jennings' World News Tonight," CNN, and Inside Edition. In addition to being cited in the Harvard Business Review, the institute's research is published in such peer review journals as the American Journal of Cardiology, the Journal for the Advancement in Medicine and Stress Medicine.
Based on the premise that effective leadership and development of high performance teams starts with the individual, working from the inside out, the program ...
- equips people with practical skills to help them manage their emotional reactivity to change, daily pressures, and people and events beyond their control.
- teaches people how to become more balanced - focusing on what's important and what they can control - their perceptions - in the midst of organizational change.
- teaches simple, user-friendly tools and techniques that people can use in-the-moment to improve their communication skills, personal and team effectiveness, and productivity.
As a comprehensive, multi-contact program, the Enhancing Personal Effectiveness (EPE) program included the following training, coaching and measurement components:
- Invitation Letter - Each executive received a letter inviting him/her to the program. The letter described all of the events / activities of the program, personal goals (benefits) and typical outcomes participants have achieved.
- Group Assessment - Executives completed an anonymous, confidential, individual survey called the Personal and Organizational Quality Assessment (POQA).
- Base-Line Blood Pressure Measures - Executives had blood pressure readings taken by the nurse in their local area.
- Personal Goal-Setting - Executives received a Personal Goal-Setting packet. The facilitators of the EPE program then conducted individual, 60 minute, goal-setting discussions via telephone with each executive using the Personal Goal-Setting packet.
- Pre-Training Blood Pressure Measures - Immediately before the training, executives had blood pressure readings taken by the nurse in their local area.
- Executive Development Session #1- During this two-day group session, executives were taught simple, scientifically proven techniques that they could use on the job and in their personal lives. In class, they applied these techniques to real job situations and identified when they could use them both on the job and at home. Each executive was taught how to use proprietary leading-edge software that provides powerful feedback to support the learning. This software display's the learner's heart rate as s/he applies the techniques taught in the program.
- Using the Skills - Executives practiced and applied the techniques daily at work and outside of work.
- Daily Email Reminder - Each executive received a daily email reminder for 15 workdays. These reminders encouraged the executives to use the techniques they learned in the training.
- Executive Phone Coaching - The purpose of this 60 minute, individual, confidential, telephone coaching session (conducted 4 to 7 days after the training) was to ensure the executive's ease and use of the software, celebrate the successes s/he was experiencing in applying the new skills, troubleshoot any difficulties s/he was having, and to encourage him/her to continue using the skills to achieve his/her goals.
- Post-Training Blood Pressure Measures - Three (3) weeks after Executive Development Session #1, executives had blood pressure readings taken.
- Executive Development Session #2 - During this one-day, group session, executives gained new insights and learned new information and techniques about their leadership role. In class, they applied the techniques to real job situations.
- Executive Team EI Workshop - During this one-day session, all forty executives identified EI actions they would take to help individuals and the team be more emotionally competent.
- Executive Phone Coaching - After the Team EI Workshop, a second round of coaching was conducted.
- Additional Requested Phone Coaching - Although these additional coaching sessions were not in the original plan, the V.P. of Operations suggested that various executives may benefit from additional coaching sessions at their own request.
- Group Assessment - Approximately four weeks after the Executive Team EI Workshop, executives completed an anonymous, confidential, individual survey called the Personal and Organizational Quality Assessment (POQA).
- Impact Interviews - Approximately two months after the last training session, 60 minute, individual, telephone interviews were conducted with a sample of ten executives (25% of the total executive team) to identify specific examples of how the training impacted their performance, their staff and organization, their own health, and their relationships.
- Post-Post-Training Blood Pressure Measures - Three months after the Executive Team EI Workshop, executives had blood pressure readings taken.
- Final Report and Presentation - A final report summarizing the POQA, Impact Interview, and blood pressure data was presented at a group, executive meeting.
How to Evaluate Training
It is generally agreed among training professionals that there are four levels of evaluation for any training program. Those levels are...
| Level 1 |
Reaction to the training event - often determined by an end-of-training questionnaire
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| Level 2 |
Capability to use the techniques at the end of the training session(s) - as demonstrated by trainees during the training
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| Level 3 |
Use of the techniques on-the-job - there are a variety of ways to determine this
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| Level 4 |
Impact of use of the techniques on key personal or organizational measures - there are a variety of ways to determine this
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How to Evaluate "Soft Skills"
"Soft Skills" training is used to enable people to improve their reasoning so that they can make better choices and decisions in-the-moment. For soft skills training one should examine the choices, decisions, behaviors, and outputs/outcomes of trainees in their work environment. The key question is "What affect is use of the techniques having on executives, their staff and others who interact with the executives, and their division or department culture."
Developing Emotional Intelligence skills is of particular importance for executives in any organization. All businesses have, at their core, three critical business performance measures ...
- Voice of the Employee
- Voice of the Customer
- Voice of Business
Methods Used to Evaluate the Enhancing Personal Effectiveness Program
Four methods of Level 3 and Level 4 evaluation where chosen for this program:
- Examples of use and results obtained from the coaching sessions
- Group changes that occurred between the pre-training and post-training completion of the Personal and Organizational Quality Assessment (POQA) survey
- Individual and group changes that occurred between the pre-training and post-training blood pressure measurements
- Individual examples of use and results obtained from Impact Interviews.
Evaluation Design
It should be noted that this report represents a case study, in that no control group was used. Therefore, to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the program, one should take the results of all four of the evaluation methods together. Are there positive results for all four methods used? Or, are the results for the four methods mixed?
Confidentiality
Each of the coaching sessions was deemed to be confidential from the beginning of the program. Therefore, only general trend indicators are reported here. No specific person, situation, location, sex, or executive position can be determined from the general trend indicators shown. Participants were informed that information from the Impact Interviews might be shared. However, for confidentiality purposes, statements have been generalized (i.e., spouse vs. husband or wife, child vs. son, etc.).
Results
Many participants indicated the Enhancing Personal Effectiveness Program was one of the very best they have attended. From a Level 2 standpoint, every participant used every technique during the training.
Post-Training Coaching
Based on the coaching sessions, executives were using the techniques in a wide variety of situations to help them achieve a wide variety of purposes. Some of those include...
- To have better mental clarity
- To be more patient
- To be calmer and clearer
- To be less impulsive
- To eliminate procrastination
- To state facts and not get into personalities
- To get better ideas of what to do in various situations
- To improve understanding with peers and staff
- To allow executives to open up and share their concerns
- To make better choices
- To keep executives from overreacting
- To keep from criticizing staff and others
- To significantly improve relationships between themselves and others
- To appreciate peers and others
- To gain cooperation, respect and demonstrate caring
- To save time and energy
- To get "in the flow"
- To keep from "head hunting"
- To get to win-win solutions
- To resolve conflicts
- To move from reactive to proactive
- To write better emails
- To be more empathetic and understanding
- To minimize judgments
- To stop overcares
- To clear up misunderstandings
Post-Post-Training Blood Pressure (BP) Data Collection
Of the 39 subjects that began the study, 28 were available for the six-month post study measurements: A 72% completion rate. Out of the 28 subjects used in the final analysis, 6 subjects had hypertension as defined by the American Heart Association (systolic BP 140 or higher and/or diastolic BP 90 or higher - Figure 3). Additionally 6 subjects had high-normal BP (systolic BP 130 - 139 and/or diastolic BP 85-89 - Figure 4). The five point reduction in diastolic pressure for the hypertensive group was significant (p < 0.05).
Post-Training Personal and Organizational Quality Assessment (POQA)
There aware dramatic improvements in 9 of the constructs of the POQA including reductions in anger, distress, depression, sadness, fatigue, sleeplessness, anxiety, body aches, and indigestion. Most items improved somewhat. (See Figure 5.)
In addition to looking at averages of scores on an item, it can be enlightening to look at what is referred to as a 2-bin sort. For example, by examining the top two bins (Almost never/Rarely, or, Strongly disagree/Somewhat disagree) or the bottom two bins (Most of the time/Often, or, Strongly agree/Somewhat agree) one can see movement (post scores compared to pre scores) by those participants who are at either end of the spectrum on a specific item. The only caution is be careful how you interpret movement, given the item and the 2-bins being reported on.
For example, one of the sets of bar charts is shown below in Figure 6. By looking at the title, Anger, and the bars themselves, one could easily say to himself, "Measures of anger went UP for all three items." But on closer examination and paying attention to the 2-bin sort, Almost never - Rarely, we see that going up is a positive improvement. That is, after the training, a greater percentage of the executives almost never or rarely was angry, annoyed, or mad compared to where they were before the training!
Similar positive improvements in two-bin sorts were experienced in peacefulness, sleeplessness, body aches, indigestion, anxiousness. Also, improvements were noted in the following statements:
- We listen carefully to each other at work.
- My supervisor and I communicate well with each other.
- I feel supported by those close to me.
- My work goals and my work organization's goals are the same.
Impact Interviews
Ten executives (25% sample) participated in these 1-hour interviews. They provided 66 specific examples of how they were using the techniques taught in the program. Executives indicated the following average percentage improvement in the Personal Goals areas:
| Manage emotional reactiveness |
53% |
Understand others |
42% |
| Reduce stress and worry |
47% |
Listen more, talk less |
55% |
| Gain greater mental clarity |
30% |
Manage relationships effect. |
51% |
| Increase personal productivity |
37% |
Influence others |
46% |
| Stay motivated |
64% |
Resolve/manage conflict |
43% |
| Develop more self-confidence |
33% |
Improve morale/motivation |
34% |
| Increase personal creativity |
39% |
Improve teamwork |
44% |
| Increase change flexibility |
44% |
Team-to-team cooperation |
29% |
| Increase personal/prof. balance |
45% |
Below are a few specific statements from executives during the Impact Interviews:
"These techniques do work if you take the time to use them. When we began this program, some people said, 'This can't work. It looks too good to be true. Even a 5% improvement would be impossible.' But as I have just described to you, I have seen 40% to 50% improvements in my three goal areas. Others may say, 'That's really too good to be true.' But it is true. When every day I go into a workplace that is very negative, I now don't dread it. I enjoy it. The situation hasn't changed, but I have. I now have tools to make choices about how I feel - how I react."
"...By using these techniques, I don't react to them (stressful events). Even though I still work long hours, I don't come home frustrated as I was. I really was in bad shape. So although the situation remains the same, I have changed. I am more productive (30%-40%) because I'm not spending energy and time venting, feeling frustrated, feeling anxious. I tend to see more positives in the person who bugged me. ...This 40%-50% reduction in stress/worry is having a big impact on my health. My blood pressure is now stabilized in the 70's to low 80's. There used to be days when it would peek into the 90's. I am able to sleep soundly with no sleeping medication. I used to take it 1 or 2 times a week. I used to have severe headaches as well and take pain medication for that. Not anymore."
"My fuse has gotten a lot longer. I don't get as angry. I used to go home and be anxious and re-hash the reasons why people did what they did. Now there's a 180 degree turn around. I look at things from the perspective, 'That things will work out.' Daily closure comes easier. I'm not constantly redoing the day's activities. I don't have a thousand bookmarks open. That used to drain my energy."
"In 80% of my interactions, I am concentrating on listening to what is being shared with me. That is why I am getting the impression that people really try. It's the 'feeling' part of listening - trying to put myself in other people's shoes and really appreciate and understand what they are feeling. That is what this program is all about: understanding people's humanness. I am listening not only with my ears, but also with my intuition, my gut, and learning to trust. That makes me more effective in all my interactions."
"A manager called me. S/he was stressed out. By listening, I understood the person's need to vent, so I created an atmosphere for him/her to vent. Then I did some things to help the person calm down. Next I'll be doing some things to assist those who work for this person to understand him/her and his/her issues better."
"(One of the) techniques is my biggest use in answering emails. It keeps me from responding too quickly with a knee-jerk response."
"Monday mornings I used to be very nervous about all that had to get done. Now I hand over things to my people to do the work. Monday mornings are not devastating. I'm on a path to success. Before I was always anxious. Now my folks take care of me. A tremendous anxiety has been lifted off of me."
"I'm becoming more willing to spend time and listen to (my staff). It is enabling me to have a much better working relationship with people. They are more willing to do something in the future. ...I feel much more effective than I did 3 months ago."
"I have a lower stress level. I'm not tired at home. I'm able to work harder. My productivity has improved at least minimally 10%. I work 10 hours, not 12 hours and am getting a lot more done."
"(The technique) helps me be more organized, more systematic. It provides additional consciousness. I feel more comfortable. My schedule is more locked in without reminder notes, so my energy is focused. I have no wasted time. I focus my energy on the task at hand."
"My staff members come by and check to see if it is a good time to come in and sit down and talk. They didn't do that before. I think it is because I am open and listening better."
Level 3 Impact - Many Executives Are Experiencing Dramatic Benefits
Results from the various coaching sessions, the POQA, the Impact Interviews, and the Blood Pressure Data indicate significant improvement among those who are using the techniques frequently.
Level 4 Impact
There is a very large positive Level 4 impact on the organization. For example, executives ...
- are getting more work done themselves
- are creating an environment were their staff and others feel free to talk and suggest ideas for improving the operation
- have used the techniques to develop their staff
- are being positive role models in difficult situations
- are using the techniques to encourage creativity and out-of-the-box thinking
- are retaining their staff and their staff's staff better and developing loyalty
- are using the techniques to solve performance problems of their people
One example may show the Level 4 impact of this training. One executive told us that because of the change his/her staff saw in the executive, the staff was more willing to approach the executive with an idea for improvement. Their idea was implemented and is currently saving that location the equivalent of 10 people per year! Conservatively, if you translate this into dollars, the impact is at least a $300,000 savings.
Was the Purpose of the Program Achieved?
The answer is "Yes!" particularly for those who are using the techniques taught in the program. Most of the executives are using one or two techniques either regularly or have used them so frequently that they have become unconsciously competent. That is, they have learned and applied the techniques so frequently they no longer have to make a special effort to remember to use them. Use of the techniques has become a part of the way they lead and who they are. A small number of the executives are not using any of the techniques. They have chosen not to practice the use of the techniques or have found it difficult to remember to use them and have thus stopped trying.
Lessons Learned
If we were to do the program over again, what would we change to improve the outcome and why?
Not Just a "Gift"- An Expectation to Use
We would strongly encourage the lead executive not only to position the program as a "gift," but also to set an expectation that everyone participating in the program should use the techniques on a regular basis.
Presentation Before the Invitation Letter
We would strongly suggest that a one-hour presentation to the entire group be made before the invitation letter was sent out. This would have given the participants a better understanding of EI initially and an opportunity to ask questions and meet the training facilitator/coach.
More Involvement Identifying When to Use Each Technique for Each Executive
We would work with each executive so that they could identify, for themselves, more examples of the "cues" for using each technique. This would increase the frequency of use and the frequency of success.
Byron Stock, a former engineer and director of corporate education, guides individuals and organizations toward excellence by showing them how to develop their emotional intelligence as a powerful tool to achieve strategic objectives, lead change, and improve organizational culture. Byron is best known as an international speaker and seminar leader, teaching people to achieve immediate, significant, and sustainable improvements in mental clarity and personal productivity. To discuss this case study, email Byron at Byron@ByronStock.com
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