BSBPEF502 Develop and use emotional intelligence Task 2

Task 2 – Prepare to develop emotional intelligence

Complete the following activities:

This task is designed to prepare you to support others in developing emotional intelligence and promote emotional intelligence in the workplace.

To complete this task, you will assume that your class is the MMI's workplace, and therefore some of your classmates will play the role of MMI's departmental managers when required and as instructed.

Task 2.1 Develop awareness of own emotional intelligence

Evaluation criteria

Develop four (4) criteria for assessing emotional strengths and weaknesses.

Document the four criteria in the table below.

Learning Journal

As a leader, you must lead by example. Furthermore, when supporting others in developing emotional intelligence, you should be aware of your emotional strengths and weaknesses.

This task will assist you in self-assess your emotional intelligence, helping you to determine areas for improvement.

Complete a learning journal (Template 1) by week 3 of class.

You will use this learning journal when completing task 3.1 in Assessment Task 2.

Complete the Learning Journal as instructed.

Template 1 – Learning journal

Emotional Diary

Keep a diary for three days. For each day:

• Document events related to your current workplace, your behaviour and the behaviour of others at work
• If you have not worked that day, document significant events from your daily life and interact with others
• Reflect on your diary entry at the end of each day

Note: overall, the diary should cover both your personal and professional life.

For each day, address all the following points:

• Describe the event and/or behaviour
• Describe any interaction with others
• Describe the feelings you felt
• Reflect on and describe the impact the event and/or behaviour had on you (positive and negative feelings)
• Reflect on and describe what impact you had on other people (positive and negative feelings)
• Reflect on what may have caused/triggered a positive and/or negative emotion in you

At the end of the three days, read the diary and reflect on the following:

• What emotional strengths and weaknesses have you shown?
• What personal stressors can you identify (in both your personal and professional life)?
• What personal/emotional triggers can you identify? What caused an emotion?
• What impact did your feelings have on you, and how did you handle them?

Record your reflection in the table below:

(200-250 words in total)

Past event

Think about a past event in your life that impacted you. Reflect on the event following the guidelines below:

• Describe the event
• Describe the emotions you felt; use the range of emotions listed in https://www.healthline.com/health/list-of-emotions#sadness
• Describe how the event impacted on you
• Describe your behaviour in that situation
• Reflect on and identify any emotional strengths or weaknesses that you displayed
• Reflect on and identify any personal stressors or emotional triggers that you might have experienced in that situation
• Identify any impact that your behaviour and/or emotional response might have had on others, both during and after the event occurred
• Reflect on and describe how you could have changed your behaviour to reach a better outcome
• Reflect on and describe how you could have better managed your emotions to reach a better outcome
• Reflect on and describe what you could do to improve your behaviour in similar circumstances

Summarise your reflection below.

Feedback from others

Ask 3 of your friends and colleagues to provide you with feedback about three of your emotional strengths and your emotional weaknesses.

Record their response in the table below:

Reflect on the responses that you have received and address the following:

• Is there anything that surprised you?
• Is there anything that you disagree with?
• How can you use this feedback to improve your emotional strengths and weaknesses?

(50-100 words)

Record your reflection in the space below.

Tests

Complete the following tests:

TEST 1

Quiz Yourself: Do You Lead with Emotional Intelligence? : https://hbr.org/2015/06/quiz-yourself-do-you-lead-with-emotional-intelligence

How did you score?

TEST 2

Test you EI- how well do you read other people? https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/quizzes/ei_quiz

How did you score?

TEST 3

Test your personality – Myers-Briggs

https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test

What is your Myers-Briggs personality?

TEST 4

Test your personality -DISC test

https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test/

What is your DISC personality?

Self-assessment

Review the learning journal and assess your emotional strengths and weaknesses against the four criteria developed in Task 2.1A.

Task 2.2 Plan to develop emotional intelligence in the workplace

Review the Case-Study scenario in Appendix 1.

Emotional stressors

Identify and analyse four (4) potential emotional stressors in the workplace, and identify strategies and methods for responding to them.

Summarise your analysis in the table below.

Opportunities to express thoughts and feelings in the workplace

1. Identify three (3) opportunities for departmental managers to express their thoughts and feelings in the workplace.

Document the opportunities in the table below.

2. Develop an action plan (Template 2) to implement the identified opportunities.

(5-6 key actions).

Template 2 – Action Plan

3. Promote one of the opportunities by developing a social media post for the company's FB page.

The post can be as simple as content +picture.

Document the post in the space provided below.

Appendix 1 – Scenario

The company

XYZ Pty Ltd, trading as MMI Professional Education, is an Australian boutique education provider in Melbourne Registered Training Organisation -RTO), offering VET accredited and non-accredited business courses to corporate clients and to local clients (domestic students).

MMI was founded in 1998 by brothers Mark and Andrew White, who built the company to become a quality RTO with major accounts in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. Mark Brown sold his shares to his brother Andrew who is the current chairman of the company.

The education provider is centrally located in Collins Street, Melbourne CBD, with state-of-the-art facilities:

• Administration and Management Offices (including the main boardroom, 2 meetings rooms and a computer lab with 20 PCs) on Level 45
• 15 Classrooms, kitchenette, client lounge room and a trainers' room on Level 46

Corporate training is mainly non-accredited and delivered at the clients' premises around Australia, but it can also be catered for at Collins Street. Corporate clients include major Bank groups, National Management Consultancy firms, Manufacturing companies and Government agencies.

Accredited courses are delivered in Collins Street with a combination of face to face and online training delivery. The accredited courses are the Diploma of Business and the Diploma of Project Management. MMI has a current capacity to enrol 500 clients; current enrolment number is 250 clients.

Important note:

• A VET accredited course has been assessed by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) as compliant with the Standards for VET (Vocational Education and Training) Accredited Courses and the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). Accreditation means that the course is nationally recognised and that the registered organisation (RTO) can issue a nationally recognised qualification or Statement of Attainment (this for single units only).
• Non-accredited courses are business courses that have been highly customised to meet clients' training needs.

The current organisational structure is as follows:

The Teams are composed as follows:

• Board of Directors

• Mr Andrew White - Chairman
• Ms Francis Green - Executive Director
• Mr Eli Brown – Non-executive Director
• Ms Josephine Magenta – Non- executive Director
• Ms Deborah Red – CEO
• Mr Leonard Black - CFO

• Finance Department: CFO and 2 x financial officers (full-time)

Summary of duties: account receivable, account payable; invoicing; payroll; financial record keeping and reporting; taxes/fees

• Marketing Team: Manager (full time) and 1 x marketing officer (part-time)

Summary of duties: promotion; design of marketing collaterals for events; social media; market research; public relations

• HR Team: HR Manager and 2 x admin officers (part-time):

Summary of duties: Recruitment; Induction and training; performance management support; employee relations; safety; compensation and benefits

• Client Services: Client Service Manager and 2 x receptionists; 4x client service officers, 1 x team leader, 1 x maintenance officer

Summary of duties:

• front of office and back of office customer service activities (to include reception and response to enquiries)
• support to academic staff
• client admin: client admission, enrolment, enrolment variations, pastoral care, completion
• building maintenance: 1x maintenance officer

• Academic Services: Academic Manager and 5 contract business trainers for corporate training; 4 full time (ongoing) business trainers for accredited training

Summary of duties: accredited and non-accredited training and assessment; learning material and assessment development and validation; support with compliance monitoring; pastoral care.

• IT services: outsourced to an external company

Summary of duties: network service; database administration (inventory and staff files); maintenance and update of communication system including CRM (Customer Relationship management system); data management and security.

Note: in loco computer maintenance is performed by the maintenance officer who has some IT knowledge

Company Ownership structure

The company structure is a Pty Ltd:

• Chairman Andrew White holds 51% of the shares
• 40% of the shares are held by an external corporation since late 2017, as a silent business partner
• The remaining 9% is owned by other members of the Brown's family

Vision

Our vision is to develop outstanding individuals through quality business training that encompasses personal and professional growth.

Mission

• We create successful careers in business to advance business growth and to positively impact on the broader community.
• We strive to provide exceptional business training that focuses on quality of teaching, practical learning, and successful outcomes

Values

Our core values are:

• Quality
• Integrity
• Accountability
• Respect for diversity
• Innovation

MMI quality standards

• Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) standards
• ISO9001 – Quality Management Systems
• ISO 27001 Information Security
• ISO 31000 Risk Management
• Australian Business Excellence Framework

MMI – Boards' of Director expectation

• Quality of practices
• Innovative solutions for business growth based on hard data and extensive research
• Build an innovative and agile company that can respond to the challenges of an ever-changing business environment
• Become market leader
• Increase value for shareholders and clients

Industry, market, and strategic business direction

MMI Professional Education is a Registered Training Provider (RTO) based in Melbourne, Australia, that offers business accredited and non-accredited courses to corporate clients and local clients.

Strategic Objectives:

• To expand the basis of the operation to Sydney, where the company has experienced a high increase in demand for corporate training
• To increase revenue by 10% annually for the next 3 years
• To increase profits by 10% annually for the next 3 years
• To position the company as a leader for quality business education in Australia within the next three years
• To expand the course offering by adding new qualifications to the scope of registration: the Diploma of Leadership and Management and the Advanced Diploma of Program Management
• To increase the base of local clients attending accredited courses
• To implement sustainability to work practices: social, financial, and environmental
• To expand the offering to international students by repackaging accredited business courses to add an internship component during the course

Current positioning

• MMI enjoys a good reputation in the industry as a quality provider of business courses for corporate clients
• Courses are marketed as hands-on, with trainers that currently work in the industry, providing current and cutting-edge skills to business professionals
• MMI currently holds 15% of the corporate business training in Australia
• MMI does not currently deliver business courses to international clients
• MMI does not currently deliver courses overseas
• The company is financially stable and sustainable

Operational overview

• State of the art facility in Melbourne to be replicated in Sydney
• Systems in use:
• Student Management System (MMI system)
• Learning Management System (Moodle)
• Accounting Management System (MYOB) – does not interface with MMI system
• Share drive
• Share points
• Zoom
• Project Management Application for remote teamwork (trainers): Wrike
• Trainers work both on-site in Melbourne and around Australia
• Senior management to stay in Melbourne: campus director and team leaders to be employed to manage and supervise Sydney's operations
• Staff to be employed for the Sydney Campus
• Administrative tasks such as enrolments will be undertaken by Melbourne's campus
• Virtual teamwork practices to be implemented between Melbourne and Sydney
• Website tailored to international students to be developed
• Develop and implement sustainability policy and practices across the organisation, and sustainability has not been on the top five priorities of the company so far
• All trainers are based in Melbourne; this impacts financial costs when moving trainers to other Australian capitals to conduct corporate training. Trainers who deliver corporate training receive a generous daily allowance when outside Melbourne ($250/day); all travel and accommodation expenses are paid for by MMI. This generous package impacts an average of 20% on the profit margin for each corporate course that is sold

Organisational culture

The organisational culture experienced at MMI is a mix of market and hierarchy culture.

• The Market Culture: This culture is built upon the dynamics of competition and achieving concrete results. The focus is goal-oriented, with leaders who are tough and demanding. The organisation is united by a common goal to succeed and beat all rivals. The main value drivers are market share and profitability.
• The Hierarchy Culture: This culture is founded on structure and control. The work environment is formal, with strict institutional procedures in place for guidance. Leadership is based on organised coordination and monitoring, with a culture emphasising efficiency and predictability. The values include consistency and uniformity.

(Source: https://popinnow.com/four-types-organizational-culture/ )

• The organisation is top-heavy, and there are concerns that this may not suit the strategic objectives for growth and the opening of a second campus in Sydney.
• The Board of Directors is invested in the change process; however, intervention is needed to bring departmental managers and teams on board.
• It is recommended that an organisational culture more suitable for innovation, sustainability, agility, and progressive growth is developed and implemented.

Operational issues

The following operational issues have been identified internally:

• The increased number of complaints due to lack of cultural sensibility of trainers and client service personnel when dealing with students from the non-Australian background (15% increase in the last 6 months alone)
• All trainers are based in Melbourne; this impacts financial costs when moving trainers to other Australian capitals to conduct corporate training. Trainers who deliver corporate training receive a generous daily allowance when outside Melbourne ($250/day); all travel and accommodation expenses are paid for by MMI. This generous package impacts an average of 20% on the profit margin for each corporate course that is sold
• An increasing number of Melbourne's enrolments projected student population to rise from 205 to 450 by mid-2021. Current facilities are not sufficient to accommodate the increase in numbers (current facilities can accommodate max 350 students)
• Delays in achieving marketing objectives due to the composition of the team (2 part-timers and one contractor) that cannot sustain the increased amount of marketing tasks (corporate events to enhance networking and identify potential corporate clients have increased by 30% in the past 6 months)
• A new student management system has been developed in-house. The system was recommended by the Client Services and the Academic Managers for the seamless integration of the student management and the learning management system. However, the two managers failed to perform due diligence, and they did not consider that the new system does not interface with the finance management system. This will cause operational disruptions to the workflow as finance records (mainly revenues) will have to be manually inputted based on the new system's reports on enrolment.
• Covid19 has decreased sales by 20%, the company has managed to deliver existing courses and still maintain a reasonable margin of new enrolments online

Marketing

• MMI has not heavily invested in marketing activities, relying mainly on word of mouth.
• The company has a website:
• Old fashioned look, quite austere
• Not responsive
• In the mobile version, after you have clicked in a few pages, the navigation becomes daunting
• Heavy use of text
• Infrequent updates
• Social Media: there is a FB page that is rarely updated, the LinkedIn Page is not in use
• Print advertisement: Industry magazine
• Referrals: education agents are paid 15% commission for referring students
• Discounts: twice/year MMI offers 10% for new enrolments to attract more students
• Yearly marketing budget: $75,000
• The marketing team is small and not experienced in digital and social media marketing

Pricing

Workforce Overview

The following has been reported:

• Turnover rates are high in the academic department (30% yearly) due to some of the roles' contractual nature. Ongoing training staff is steady; however, there is a need to invest more in their professional development to keep industry currency when teaching.
• Need for a succession plan for management roles
• Gender unbalanced
• Recruitment is done externally, few opportunities for advancement are offered to existing staff
• A recent staff survey outlined the following:
• Lack of opportunities for advancement
• Top-heavy management
• Silo mentality
• Not enough room for innovation and improvement
• Lack of well-defined sustainability policy
• Diversity policy is very generic
• HR practices are mainly focused on administrative duties. The Board of Directors has identified the need to embrace HR practices as an essential strategic tool for business advancement.
• Training on HR practice is required for management
• Staff lament a lack of communication from the top
• Sense of working in silos

Remuneration (average) for each role is as followed:

• Board of Director – 25-50 k/year
• CEO – 250 k/year
• CFO – 180 k/year
• Managers – 120k/year
• Receptionist $ 52k/year
• Officers (including team members in the Marketing dept) $ 65k/year
• Team Leader $ 78k/year
• Trainer (ongoing) $ 85k/year
• Trainer (contractor): $ 80/hour. Trainers who deliver corporate training receive a generous daily allowance when outside Melbourne ($250/day), all travel and accommodation expenses are paid for by MMI.

Note:

• The above remuneration must be considered pro-rata for part-time staff.
• Superannuation is excluded and should be added at 10% to employee's ordinary earnings
• Superannuation is paid to contractors (business trainers)