The Leading Effectively staff at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) has written an excellent article titled “The Importance of Empathy in the Workplace”. The authors write that empathy is a vital leadership competency. They define empathetic leadership as “the ability to understand the needs of others, and being aware of their feelings and thoughts”.

Based on a research study that involved 6,731 managers in 38 countries, the authors found that “empathy in the workplace is positively related to job performance. Managers who practice empathetic leadership toward direct reports are viewed as better performers in their job by their bosses”. The CCL staff write that “demonstrating empathy in the workplace improves human interactions in general and can lead to more effective communication and positive outcomes”.

The article further defines empathy as “the ability to perceive and relate to the thoughts, emotions, or experiences of others. Those with high levels of empathy are skilled at understanding a situation from another person’s perspective and reacting with compassion. In the workplace, this simply means that your people are able to establish true, empathetic connections with one another that enhance relationships and performance”.

According to CCL’s research, there are four ways that leaders can show empathy in the workplace:

  1. Watch for signs of overwork in others – “Managers who are skilled at empathetic leadership are able to recognize signs of overwork in others before burnout becomes an issue that results in disengagement or turnover. This might mean taking a few extra minutes each week to check in with team members and gauge how they’re handling their current workload and helping them to recover from overwork”.

 

  1. Show sincere intertest in the needs, hopes and dreams of other people – “Part of leading with empathy involves working to understand the unique needs and goals of each team member and how to best match work assignments to contribute to both performance and employee satisfaction. Team members who see that their manager recognizes them in this way are more engaged and willing to go the extra mile”.

 

  1. Demonstrate a willingness to help an employee with personal problems – “Empathetic managers understand that their team members are dynamic individuals who are shouldering personal problems while having to maintain their professional responsibilities. They recognize that it’s part of their role to lead and support those team members when they need it most”.

 

  1. Show compassion when other people disclose a personal loss – We’ve all been through personal loss, so even if we can’t relate to the specific loss our team member experiences, we can act empathetically and let them know they’re supported

CCL’S Leading Effectively staff recommend four ways to encourage empathy in the workplace:

  1. Talk about empathy in the workplace to signal its value – “Let managers know that empathy matters. Many managers consider task-oriented skills such as monitoring and planning to be more important in controlling the performance of their team members. But research shows that understanding, caring, and developing others is just as important, if not more important, particularly in today’s workforce”.

 

  1. Teach listening skills – “When a manager is a good listener, people feel respected, and trust can grow. Managers should focus on listening to hear the meaning behind what others are saying by paying attention to not only the words being said, but also the feelings and values being shown, through nonverbal cues such as tone, pace of speech, facial expressions, and gestures”.

 

  1. Encourage genuine perspective taking – “Managers should consistently put themselves in the other person’s place. For managers, this includes taking into account the personal experience or perspective of their employees. It also can be applied to solving problems, managing conflicting, or driving innovation”.

 

  1. Cultivate compassion – “Support managers who care about how others feel, and consider the effects that business decisions have on employees, customers, and communities”.

 

CCL’s research into empathy in the workplace and its conclusions are critical for managers wanting to enhance their leadership skills. The article concludes “Empathetic leaders are assets to organizations, in part because they are able to effectively build and maintain relationships — a critical part of leading organizations anywhere in the world”.