When it’s Good to Cry

Have you ever wanted to yell at a co-worker, but bit your tongue instead? Ever been so frustrated by a difficult customer that you needed to take a break to cool off? How would you react if one of your employees displayed insubordinate behavior during a meeting? The workplace is chock full of emotions, ranging from frustration to triumph, and everything in between. And fittingly so, the workplace is filled with employees who are only human!

Emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the ability of individuals, and your staff as a whole, to identify and manage their emotions. Elements of EI can include the expression of emotions, introspection or private thoughts, and non-verbal communications present on your staff. Employees’ emotional intelligence is getting its share of attention in the workplace, especially during recent high-stress times, when workers face corporate downsizing, added workloads, and personal financial concerns.

Training can be a key way to increase your staff’s emotional intelligence. There’s something special about immersive learning simulations, like the ones that can be created by SimWriter, that hones the emotional intelligence of learners. Simulation-based learning combines cutting-edge technology with the social aspect of human interaction to create interesting and engaging learning experiences. Learners are able to encounter situations that can cause strong emotions and confront those feelings in a virtual setting.

One valuable aspect of simulation-based learning is when learners have the opportunity to fail, what we call the “bad path.” Say your boss asks you a question, and you respond poorly. What if you make bad decisions over and over again? In real life, your boss would probably become angry with you. The same goes for social simulations. Bad decisions lead to bad consequences. Your boss yells at you, your co-worker gets upset and storms out of the room, your client gets perturbed and refuses to return your calls. The only limitations are the limitations of real life. If it’s feasible, immersive learning simulations make it happen. That’s really what “immersive” means; learners are submerged in every aspect of their decisions. They not only experience the technical side or procedure for how to formulate and deliver correct responses, but also how to deal with the emotional consequences of their actions, all in a safe, virtual environment.

It’s important to pay attention to your employees’ emotional needs in a professional manner. By utilizing immersive learning simulations as part of your training strategy, you can teach and reinforce technical skills while simultaneously addressing emotional skills—it’s a two for one! And who can pass up a bargain these days?

To survive a depressed economy intact, refuse to consider training a luxury that is only valuable when business is good. Employee training and development is an investment that is critical to the success of your business—especially when you are asking more from fewer employees.