hug are we Rachel?” and “Are you going to make us warm and fuzzy?” No! this isn’t what emotional intelligence is about. There is nothing warm or fuzzy about feeling angry, anxious, resentful, frustrated, scared, intimidated, cheated, lonely, or powerless; yet these are all emotions, and all emotions that may occur in hotel staff. Emotional intelligence involves the full range of emotions, not just so-called “positive” ones. Similarly, emotional intelligence is not about making people happy, or saying “yes” to people. Nor is it about being emotional. Being emotional may be no more intelligent than ignoring or repressing emotions. Can emotional intelligence influence your bottom line? Yes! Recent Australian research has shown that the more emotionally intelligent managers and leaders are, the more likely they are to be successful. This applies to you and the managers in your hotel. In fact, research by Palmer and Stough has found that emotional intelligence accounts more for managerial and leadership success than IQ does, although both are important. Also, there are increasing amounts of economic data that demonstrate that people with higher levels of emotional intelligence (EI) economically outperform those who have lower levels of EI. I don’t just mean in terms of their pay packets, but also in terms of annual business turnover, increased sales, customer loyalty, etc. For example, David Rosete, from the University of Wollongong, found that, “Executives who achieved superior business outcomes scored higher on the EI ability test. The ability measure of EI predicted effective leadership over and above wellestablished workplace measures such as reasoning ability and personality…”. And does it matter how emotionally intelligent your staff are? Yes! Further research conducted by Palmer and Stough has found that employees who have higher levels of emotional intelligence are more likely to cope with organisational stress, have less absenteeism and higher job satisfaction. In other words, people with lower levels of emotional intelligence could be having a detrimental effect on your bottom line. How much does absenteeism cost
your hotel and add pressure to your housekeeping team? Employee engagement and staff retention are also influenced by emotions. Disengaged staff are less productive, they may not be absent but they may not be present either. Do you have disengaged staff? Also, each time a member of your staff leaves it costs your hotel money. Staff quit, just like the gentleman in the opening scenario, when they feel demoralised, undervalued or undermined. Emotions influence the success of your department and hotel in retaining staff. Employees are far less likely to seek alternative employment when they feel valued, proud of their work, and excited about working for you, aren’t they? Which emotions you recognise, acknowledge, manage and foster in yourself and others could make a big difference to the ease with which your housekeeping department functions.
Suffice it to say, ignoring emotions may be possible, but there are negative consequences if you do, such as less buy-in on decisions, more conflicts and misunderstandings, and diminished levels of staff retention. What does an emotionally intelligent Executive Housekeeper look like? Here are a dozen features that an Executive Housekeeper with high levels of emotional intelligence may display. Use this as a quick self-test and tick off those that may apply to you and give yourself a score out of twelve. I have used the female gender pronoun, as it is less cumbersome than she/he. Men please feel included; emotional intelligence is important for you too, this is not a “girly thing”. • Cares about emotions in herself and others, rather than thinking emotions are just a nuisance. atches for emotions in herself and • W others, and knows how she and her staff are feeling.
The Executive Housekeeper
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