Speaker 1: Thank you. As we've seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, a stark increase in mental health issues and how they're impacting employees in the workplace. According to the World Health Organization, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by 25% alone in the first year of the pandemic. That's to the tune of millions of people. We couple this with what's being coined the great resignation, where people are leaving jobs during the pandemic that they're dissatisfied in. And that dissatisfaction often stemmed from before the pandemic. And that's to the tune of 47 million Americans in 2021 alone, according to the Harvard Business Review. So when we look at this, what does it tell us? It tells us that we have a crisis in the workplace, that we have employees who are not happy where they are. And really, it comes down to mental health. So for decades, scholars of business and leadership have researched different methods of employee wellness and culture and motivation. But we still have a long way to go. We clearly, based on these numbers, haven't figured it out. So maybe it's time to start looking at emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a term that was coined back in 1995 by Dr. Daniel Goleman in his seminal work on emotional intelligence. So it dates back quite a ways. But I would argue that it goes back even further. Charles Darwin posited that the need for emotional expression is integral to one's physical survival. We've known this, but yet we don't really encourage emotional expression in the workplace. So we typically ask questions like, how is an employee going to be more valuable? What makes them happy? How are they going to be an asset to the company? Maybe those are the wrong questions. Maybe the right question is, how do we foster their mental health? And it starts with emotional intelligence. So we've seen that professors, industry leaders, corporate trainers, are starting to teach these concepts. Someone who's emotionally intelligent demonstrates proficiency in self-awareness, self-motivation, and self-regulation on the personal competency side. Professionally, they can show skills such as intuition, empathy, and social responsibility. These are all skills that have been linked in numerous research studies to create a more productive atmosphere, a happier atmosphere, and more cohesive teams. But yet, EI has not been prioritized. We're starting to see that shift. And as emotional intelligence becomes prioritized, when we look at the workforce of 2030, they will become more socially capable, more appreciative of mental health issues. Prior to EI, we used to think that intelligent quotient, or IQ, was the driving factor behind organizational success and personal career success, when in fact, it is emotional intelligence that will drive that. So emotional intelligence helps us be more adjusted in the workplace mentally. So how do we promote mental health in the workplace? Well, we have employee wellness programs. Many institutions and organizations, regardless of size, have wellness programs that help employees to feel better. But those programs have traditionally only focused on physical wellness. Why only the focus on the physical? Well, physical health is arguably easier to see, measure, and correct. And it's also one where people are more comfortable disclosing a physical limitation rather than a mental health issue. There's still a stigma that if we have a mental health problem like anxiety or depression, then we can't do our jobs. And that's a stigma that we're starting to chip away at. We're seeing more companies offer things like mental health days, more companies offering mental health counseling services. So as these continue, the acceptance of the need for mental health will rise as well. A simple thing that top management can do to prioritize mental well-being is self-care. Self-care in the workplace is starting to become an interesting field of study, and it's taking a lot of different forms. Self-care can be something as small as enjoying a favorite food or beverage. It could be taking a leisurely walk outdoors on your lunch break, which according to the Mayo Clinic, boosts endorphins, leading to more positive emotions. The problem is a lot of these self-care and emotional intelligence concepts haven't been woven into the organizational culture of most businesses. Why is that? And who's responsible for it? Well, I'm going to blame top management, okay? Some of you might be thinking easy target. But organizational culture starts at the top and then permeates through an organization. I want you to consider when was the last time you saw a person in a high-level management position openly talk about mental health? When was the last time they talked about taking a mental health day or engaging in self-care? Most of you are probably thinking half-pass, never, okay? That's the change that we need to see. When top management can set the expectation that mental health is valid, how you feel is valid, and it's a priority, then employees will start to open up. And this also creates a unique opportunity where management could better bond with employees when they're open about their mental health. When you can find those commonalities and you increase empathy, you'll lower your employee turnover and you'll end up with more productive people. People who are better adjusted mentally, physically, and emotionally are going to be better teammates and colleagues and want to stay with an organization. So it benefits everyone. So why haven't we done this? Well, when you look at the interplay of business, government, and society, there's a lot of structures that encourage companies to promote physical wellness. They get health insurance reductions when they have things like smoking cessation programs, when they have workout equipment on site. All of that gets them reductions in their health insurance, but yet mental health counseling resources don't usually do the same thing. So we need to look at some of these institutions and societal structures as tools to help promote more innovative behavior with emotional intelligence. So why talk about this now? Why is it so important that we change our framework on organizational and personal career success? It's the COVID-19 pandemic. And I know we're all tired of talking about the pandemic, but it has long lasting effects and it's shown us things that have existed for a very long time, such as these mental health struggles. When we create a more emotionally intelligent workforce, we will end up with happier employees, businesses striving to levels that they can't even imagine were possible. But we have to start asking the right questions. It's not, how is someone going to be the best asset to my company? It's how can I nurture them? How can we get them to be more mentally well? So when we think about how health promotion activities can couple with emotional intelligence and self-care, mental wellness, we need to start getting creative in how we set up those programs in our businesses. And all of us as scholars, as leaders, as the change makers, it's up to us to create the workplace of the future that we want to see. We all have the ability to contribute to it in some way, shape, or form. So what I challenge all of you to do is to explore these questions of mental health, of emotional intelligence, of self-care, and reframe the narrative. Self-care is not selfish. Self-care is allowing you to be a better version of who you are. It's staying true to your personal why in what you do. It's allowing you to be more resilient, which will ultimately make you better in all of these other areas. So as you go back to your jobs, your college studies, I challenge all of you to explore bravely and boldly how we can promote mental health and create the workplace of the future that we want to see. Thank you.