Findings of the survey which analysed over 1,000 mid-senior level IT professionals in the age group 30-45 years said that women participants were found to fall in the 'High Alert' area with respect to self appraisal.
"Women in the IT area were found deficient in self awareness. They need to build better up their emotional quotient and develop self awareness so that they can be more confident and better about themselves and thus excel in whatever they do," says Neeta Mohla, director, InspireOne a leading people and leadership development firm, which conducted the survey.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) describes an ability, capacity, skill or a self-perceived ability, to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups.
The results indicate that self appraisal for women in IT is a 'High Alert' area as 38 per cent of them fall in the 'Alarm' category. Another 38 per cent of women in IT fall in the category of 'Concern' which adds up to 76 per cent of them being in 'High Alert' area. While only 11 per cent and 13 per cent women in IT fall in the category of 'Acceptable' and 'Strength' respectively adding up to only 24 per cent of them being in 'Adequate' area.
For the study, InspireOne, deployed the Personal Emotional Quotient Meter (PEQM), an online tool to accurately assess and develop Emotional Intelligence.
The tool developed by Claus Moller and Reuven Bar-On internationally known experts and pioneers in the field of emotional intelligence. Dr Bar On has been involved in defining, measuring and applying various aspects of this construct since 1980.
Self appraisal is a very critical factor in building high performance teams. People enjoy being in the company of those who have a high degree of self appraisal. People who have a low level of Self Appraisal are seen within the organization as "Nay-Sayers" and "spoilers" and others do not like to be around them and may like to avoid them.
In leadership roles, people low on Self Appraisal may tend to worry and feel uncertain about the future and lack the ability to drive results.
"Management's thinking about how employees should be engaged in organizations has matured markedly. However, when thrust into a change environment, staff often feels
overwhelmed by the change processes going on around them, rather than having control over them or a sense of inclusion in shaping the change," says the survey findings. Mohla says most employees are faced with this type of situation a number of times during their careers.
"Perhaps their roles will be fundamentally affected, maybe its just a change in reporting lines or modifications to the policies, systems or values they are required to adopt.
While company practices and support are improving, much of the responsibility for dealing with change of all types still rests with each individual," she says.