Empathy in the Workplace

Understanding customers—their likes, dislikes, concerns, and sources of joy—is paramount for marketing success but is often elusive. This type of customer centricity requires that marketers pay attention not just to what customers say, but also to their emotions across the customer experience journey.

 

Marketing organizations that rely solely on demographics, life stages, or purchase channels miss an opportunity to build deeper connections with customers.

Empathy is more than just a feeling; it’s a professional asset.

According to recent studies conducted by Development Dimensions International, empathy is today’s top leadership attribute.

“Being able to listen and respond with empathy is overwhelmingly the one interaction skill that outshines all other skills,” says Richard S. Wellins, DDI senior vice president.

Dianne Crampton at Gonzaga University concurs: “Empathy is a universal team value that promotes high commitment and cooperation in the workplace. Becoming aware of the importance of their leaders developing empathy, companies are responding with sending their leaders to empathy training.”

 

The role of empathy at work

When people put aside their differences and their biases, they are better able to work together towards a common goal. Thom Markham, PhD founder and CEO of PBL Global and best-selling author, explained the relationship between empathy and employee performance outcomes. Learning success, he said, is often tied to measurable behavioral changes.

For example, teachers in traditional education evaluate students based on ability to follow the rules and perform well on tests. However, empathy takes learning to a much deeper level, and is observable by the way in which individuals are able to self-reflect and then see others with greater clarity. 

"The workplace is the perfect environment in which to practice empathy,” 

Here are five Reasons that empathy is becoming the number one leadership skill:

• Increased Employee Retention
• Increase in Staff Engagement
• Increased Collaboration Between Team Members
• Increase in Job Satisfaction and Decrease in Absenteeism
  Increase in Bringing Up New Ideas and Creativity
   

Increased empathy of management in any organization results in many benefits to the well-being, commitment and desire for staff to give their best. This is a win-win situation for all concerned as the final outcome is an increase in efficiency, productivity and success of an organization. As rising numbers of studies come to this conclusion, businesses will increasingly come to realize that greater leader empathy is not some feel good, soft skill, but rather an essential tool that their leaders will need to keep their organization competitive and successful.

 Harvey Deutschendorf 

Via Edwin Rutsch

Despite this, many brands consistently put the emphasis on logical reasoning in their communications – concentrating on ‘this dress is cheaper that one’ – rather than selling the way that a dress can make you feel, which is so much more powerful.

But selling a feeling is difficult.

To do so you’ve got to understand the thoughts, needs, aspirations and emotions of the buyer. You’ve got be empathetic.

Whilst the capacity to empathise is often considered the preserve of humans, that doesn’t have to be the case.

Last year McDermott noted, customers wanted clarity on the roadmaps and a more integrated SAP to the S4/HANA nucleus with the line of business and the network assets that SAP owns. 

“We’re making sure when we keep a promise we deliver a promise and we’re really good for it,” he said. “That’s what empathy is about. Because we can say whatever we want, but if the customer doesn’t feel it, if they don’t see it, it doesn’t matter.”

Using Empathy Effectively

To start using empathy more effectively, consider the following:

Put aside your viewpoint, and try to see things from the other person's point of view.
When you do this, you'll realize that other people most likely aren't being evil, unkind, stubborn, or unreasonable – they're probably just reacting to the situation with the knowledge they have.

Validate the other person's perspective.
Once you "see" why others believe what they believe, acknowledge it. Remember: acknowledgement does not always equal agreement. You can accept that people have different opinions from your own, and that they may have good reason to hold those opinions.

Examine your attitude.
Are you more concerned with getting your way, winning, or being right? Or, is your priority to find a solution, build relationships, and accept others? Without an open mind and attitude, you probably won't have enough room for empathy.

Leadbetter describes 'systems and empathy' as the two categories of ingredients that combine to make brilliant cities:

Systems for process, methods, reliability, scale, efficiencies and uniting disparate components with a common purpose.
Empathy as in affinity, human connection, insight, and rapport - in order to understand, come together, find common ground, share and exchange.

A lack of systems leads to chaos, and a lack of empathy leads to incompatibility, discord, coldness. Perkin's simple chart (below) visualises this dynamic.

It’s All About Empathy
Sinek says researching his latest book has even changed the way he conducts his own life and business. “The lesson I’m learning is that I’m useless by myself. My success hinges entirely on the people I work with—the people who enlist themselves to join me in my vision. And it’s my responsibility to see that they’re working at their best capacity.”

Empathy—the ability to recognize and share other people’s feelings—is the most important instrument in a leader’s toolbox, Sinek believes. It can be expressed in the simple words, “Is everything OK?”

It’s what effective leaders ask an employee, instead of commanding “Clean out your desk” when he or she starts slacking off. It’s what you ask a client when a once-harmonious relationship gets rocky. “I really believe in quiet confrontation,” Sinek says. “If you had a good working relationship with someone and it’s suddenly gone sour, I believe in saying something like, ‘When we started we were both so excited, and it’s become really difficult now. Are you OK? What’s changed?’

 

Empathy—the ability to read and understand other’s emotions, needs, and thoughts—is one of the core competencies of emotional intelligence and a critical leadership skill. It is what allows us to influence, inspire, and help people achieve their dreams and goals. Empathy enables us to connect with others in a real and meaningful way, which in turn makes us happier—and more effective—at work.

 

Many people mistakenly believe that empathy—like other emotional intelligence competencies—is something you’re born with or not. But it’s not that simple. 

 

Marion Barraud for HBR

New research suggests that nice guys don't always finish last.

 

Empathy is not just for tech firms

What inspired you to start writing and talking about empathy recently?

What I’ve found is as I talk to senior executives – I have a good story I think we could maybe get to it a little bit later on – but a typical conversation for me might involve, “Hey. This digital world and content marketing, and creating content for customers – we think we get it. Now we need to figure out how to do it.”

Often, I find someone in a position of power (with their arms folded) asking challenging questions like, “Well, how’s this going to help us sell more stuff?” I co-authored a book called The Content Formula, to specifically address this sort of results-based question, which was, how do you show ROI from this approach? In the book, I talk about how you can show a better return on investment with marketing that focuses on delivering content people want.

Putting yourself in someone else's shoes can leave you vulnerable to bias.

But there’s actually something of a debate on about this. While the likes of Barack Obama speak of an ‘empathy deficit’ that needs to be resolved, and ITV chairman Peter Bazalgette writes of its virtues in his book The Empathy Instinct: How to Create a More Civil Society, others are not convinced.

Yale psychologist Paul Bloom, for instance, calls empathy a terrible moral guide in his book Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion. For him:

‘Empathy is biased, pushing us in the direction of parochialism and racism. It is short-sighted, motivating actions that might make things better in the short term but lead to tragic results in the future. It is innumerate, favouring the one over the many. It can spark violence; our empathy for those close to us is a powerful force for war and atrocity towards others. It is corrosive of personal relationships; it exhausts the spirit and can diminish the force of kindness and love.’

 

by Adam Gale

WHY EMPATHY?

It’s a challenging time for U.S. businesses. On top of an incredible amount of political, economic, and societal change, employers continue to struggle to effectively engage employees.

According to the 2017 Workplace Empathy Monitor, empathy – understanding employees’ feelings and needs to drive a better workplace experience – is the key to not only driving employee engagement, but also retention and productivity.

While employees, HR pros, and CEOs all agree say empathy is undervalued and must improve among U.S. businesses, a persistent – and  growing – “empathy gap” exists between CEOs and employees. That gap creates challenges in employee engagement, and ultimately affects the bottom line.

Employees talk about two different types of empathy at work — corporate empathy and employee empathy. Corporate empathy is how the company shows compassion for outside initiatives such as social causes, volunteer programs and environmental conservation. Most companies are aware that having a social cause is important to employees.  

I say, pick a volunteer position, a mentorship, a charity or a cause that you feel passionate about and give it as much time as you can. Even if it’s 3 hours a week, that’s 156 hours of your help by the end of the year! – Lisa McCann, The Engine is Red.
But what about the employees’ everyday experiences at work?  While employees appreciate and expect corporate causes, they also desire a spirit of empathy inside the work environment from the top down.

 

This means that the leaders of the organization need to manage and lead through a lens of empathy, where the employee’s well-being and concerns are taken into account during the decision-making process.

Managers who listen to their employees, consider their concerns and adopt a caring attitude see increased morale, productivity and retention. (Partner content)

What is emotional intelligence and what is its role in leadership? Being emotionally intelligent means being self-aware, leading yourself, being empathetic and managing relationships accordingly.

If you think of the worst and best bosses you’ve ever had, it had nothing to do with their title or degree, but everything to do with the kind of person they were – for example, whether they were emotionally intelligent or not. People want to work for a person who is.

In partnership with the Korn Ferry institute, I developed a 360-degree test that assessed leaders on 12 emotional intelligence competencies, such as empathy, teamwork and having a positive outlook.

 

Hajra Rahim