‘Happiness’ Guru to Speak at UK Emotional Intelligence Conference
Dr Richard Stevens of the UK's ‘Make Slough Happy’ project is returning to the UK town to deliver a keynote speech on ‘The Importance of Happiness’ at a national conference being held there on the application of emotional intelligence in the workplace.
Gloucestershire, UK (PRWEB) August 12, 2006
Happiness has recently leapt up the UK political agenda, with both Tony Blair and David Cameron giving the subject significant airtime – particularly in light of the results of a recent survey that suggested we are not as happy as a nation as we were in the 1950s. The country of Bhutan in contrast has been commended for its progress in measuring and enhancing its ‘Gross National Happiness’ by Meiko Nishimizu, the former vice president of the World Bank.
Happiness at work is also a subject that has enjoyed much debate in recent years under the label of ‘Human Capital’. Dr Stevens, who is Chair of Social Psychology with the UK's Open University, explains “The real and sustained effectiveness of organisations depends crucially on the wellbeing of their members. The happiness of employees is not just a bonus but the crucial oil that can turn a good organisation into great one.”
His keynote at a UK national conference on applied emotional intelligence will discuss how happiness and wellbeing are core to effective work and personal life. He will briefly review the psychology of happiness and the factors which enhance or impede our sense of wellbeing, and will also cover his experience as the psychologist on the BBC team which 'made Slough happy', discussing the techniques they used and the principles underlying them. Dr Stevens explains, “These methods have been found to work powerfully not only in everyday but in working life. They can be used to great effect in organisations. They ensure that employees utilize their strengths and potential and also improve creativity and relationships at work.”
The conference ‘Applied Emotional Intelligence – Maximising Your Organisation’s Potential’ is being hosted by the Centre for Applied Emotional Intelligence on Wednesday 20th September 2006 at the Marriott Hotel, Windsor/Slough, UK. The aim of the conference is to demonstrate how to implement emotional intelligence based development programmes within organisations to create sustainable success and increased performance in both the private and public sectors.
A series of interactive workshops will share insights from clients as well as practitioners on how to build emotional intelligence into existing leadership and change programmes. Clients involved in the day are South West NHS Strategic Health Authority, the Skandia Group, South Somerset Homes, and Portland and Weymouth Housing.
Every delegate has the opportunity to complete the ‘ie’ questionnaire (an individual emotional intelligence diagnostic tool) completely free and without obligation (worth in excess of £100) prior to the conference, with group feedback sessions on the day. The day also includes informative seminars on a range of emotional intelligence developments, and an emotional intelligence training and resource exhibition.
The cost of attending the conference is £295 + VAT per person. Details can be obtained by visiting the conference website at http://www. emotionalintelligence. co. uk/conference (http://www. emotionalintelligence. co. uk/conference) where bookings can be made online, or by contacting Hannah Ward at the CAEI Conference office on +44 (0)1242 282907.
Keynote speakers at the conference:
Dr Richard Stevens, Chair of Social Psychology at the Open University, UK
Graham Coxell, Business & Commercial Development Director, Capita, UK
Tim Sparrow, Chair of the Centre for Applied Emotional Intelligence, UK
Clients who are taking part in the Conference:
South West NHS Strategic Health Authority, UK
Skandia Group UK
South Somerset Homes and Weymouth and Portland Housing, UK
About the Centre for Applied Emotional Intelligence:
The Centre for Applied Emotional Intelligence is a training organisation promoting practitioner excellence and the attitudinal approach to the development of emotional intelligence (EI). Tim Sparrow, the Centre’s founding director is co-author of the ‘ie’, ‘te’ and ‘oe’ emotional intelligence diagnostic tools, and creator of the 9 month practitioner Certificate in Applied Emotional Intelligence, the only in-depth programme of its kind in the world. The management team includes directors of JCA (Occupational Psychologists) Limited (co-authors with Tim Sparrow of the Effectiveness Questionnaires™), and Activate Training, pioneers in the development of EI-based experiential learning in the UK.
Centre for Applied Emotional Intelligence, Spa House, 17 Royal Crescent, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 3DA, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1242 282907
Web: http://www. emotionalintelligence. co. uk (http://www. emotionalintelligence. co. uk)
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