Making work meaningful: Start with the people, build the emotional infrastructure
By: Vidushi Bhatia
Tags: People Management, Management And Leadership, Subroto Bagchi, Emotional Intelligence, Workplace

Swaroop Gokhale, Head of People Operations, MediaAgility talks about the importance of building an emotional infrastructure and shares a few ideas that she has implemented

“In a high-IQ job pool, soft skills like discipline, drive, and empathy mark those who emerge as outstanding,” Daniel Goleman, a renowned science journalist and author.

If the COVID has taught us anything, then it is that building on the emotional intelligence of the community that runs a company is as important as the sum of the other two layers. Your employees are your partners who share the vision and mission of your organization.

Thus, Swaroop spoke about some of the benefits of investing time and money into the emotional infrastructure of the company.

Vidushi Bhatia (VB): Why do you think it is important to invest in building up the Emotional Quotient of employees and leaders?

Swaroop Gokhale (SG): You were on the right track when you quoted David Goleman who is a firm proponent of the fact that an individual’s Emotional Intelligence Quotient is a fairly accurate determiner of their level of success, both personal and professional. So if we can help employees to enhance their emotional intelligence, then we are enabling their success.

VB: Do you see a business impact of building on the emotional intelligence of the company (MediaAgility)?

SG: At MediaAgility, we believe in being people-first. And we want to ensure that Agilites do not feel like they are working in silos or that they are not being heard. So, after the pandemic struck, we started an initiative in which eight employees from all over the world are invited for an informal chat with the leadership. So, in this ‘Circle of 8’ catch-ups, between these eight employees there is no agenda, there is no shop talk. Many Agilites virtually meet each other for the first time at this meeting and it quickly becomes a casual coffee conversation. What we have observed is people becoming more forthcoming in collaborating with each other once they meet in the Circle of 8. They also develop a symbiotic relationship where they share a sense of belonging with the company and association with the C-level leadership.

Apart from the circle of 8, we rolled out some other emotional wellness seminars all aimed at helping Agilites adjust to the changed times and to inspire them to adapt. The most tangible business impact that I can correlate to an engaged workforce is our retention rate. Our current retention rate is far better than the industry average.

VB: What will be your top tip for business leaders to even begin working on building the emotional infrastructure for their company? Where does one really start?

SG: We have to start with people. People are at the core of all businesses. If we want high-performing teams, we need to think about the emotional infrastructure to include all the stakeholders, and that includes the employees and their families, contractors as well as other partners or shareholders.

Building people-first policies beyond benefits; investing in human capital over and above compensation for their work; building a diverse and inclusive workplace where every employee feels and acts like a stakeholder and contributes with their talent, commitment, and experience. I have read that a business turns into a “company” when all vectors are aligned. And one of the fastest ways of doing that is to invest in the emotional infrastructure of your organization.

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