There are many leadership characteristics that human resource professionals and managers work on to ensure a happy workplace. However, there is one common characteristic that is motivating employees across the globe to stay for long and perform well when working in an organization.
Empathy!
The key findings of Center for Creative Leadership analyses conducted with 6,731 managers from 38 countries to understand the influence of empathy on a manager’s job performance stated:
- Empathy is positively related to job performance.
- Empathy is more important to job performance in some cultures than others.¹
The findings concluded that managers who showcase empathy towards their team are viewed as better performers in their job by their boss.
But, I hope you don’t mix up sympathy for empathy!
- Sympathy is a feeling generated when pity for another individual as expressed by the individual.
- Empathy is a feeling generated by actually portraying oneself in the other individual’s situation.
How can you ensure empathy in your organization?
Employees who are valued and listened to are showcased empathy and they are less likely to leave the organization. And, encouraging empathetic behavior within your organization can lead to new heights.
Below are some ways how to be more empathetic:
Embrace open communication with employees
Allowing employees to express what they feel without any burden of losing a job, will ensure their suggestions are heard.
Don’t allow their daily routine to become monotonous
Framing strict timings to perform their daily tasks can increase stress, and anxiety, which in turn leads to low productivity. Allowing your employees the flexibility to perform their daily tasks at their convenience, whilst ensuring they complete their required job hours can make them better day after day.
Allow remote work flexibility
In case of better productivity, personal loss, and emergencies, allowing remote working flexibility will fill the gap. For example, writers and web developers would perform better at their convenience rather than being made to work in a noisy environment.
What are the advantages of showcasing empathy in the workplace?
- Eliminates fear of speech and stage fright
- It reduces the communication gap
- Boost employee career growth
- Improve employee dedication toward work
- Enhances manager and employee transparency
Closing note
Introducing empathy in your employee retention strategy won’t happen overnight and will require consistency and patience.
However, once embraced in your organization and ethos, it will act as second nature and will make the world of difference to your employees.
Reference
¹https://cclinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/empathyintheworkplace.pdf
.org/wp-content/
uploads/2020/
03/empathyinthe
workplace.pdf