Use Empathy to Improve Your Team
The best places to work are the ones where employees feel empowered, enthusiastic and engaged. Employees with purpose have a sense of connection to the organization and the team. Employees who learn and enjoy the work are enthusiastic. This creates an environment where they can collaborate positively and deliver the results to the best of their abilities.
Although we all have some shared responsibility for helping to create such a workplace, it is especially important that managers understand their specific role in this process. It is the managers who are best placed to make it happen. To do this, leadership and managers must start to be empathetic.
What is Empathy? Empathy is the ability to relate and to connect with another person. When you have empathy, you attempt to see what another sees and feel what they feel. I have worked with different organizations and managers in my career spanning more than a decade.
I remember only those managers and leaders who valued me.
They boosted my confidence by listening empathetically to me. Their behavior made me feel safe and secure in the work environment.This in turn inspired me to bring my best self to work. I won many awards for innovative ideas. They sparked the leader in me and the “never give up” attitude.
If a manager has empathy, employees will be more likely to:
- understand the motivations and pressures on the team
- be able to better communicate;
- know what benefits are most important;
- understand non-performance or stubborn attitudes;
- build trust with the employee.
When there is trust, an employee will believe you when you say they can do it, and push them beyond their capabilities. They will be more likely to give honest feedback or admit their mistakes. They will work harder and care more about the company or team, because of the personal connection they feel. They will be happier too, because they know their manager cares and listens.
And profits will grow.And there is also another benefit as well. Because I had these few caring managers who were strong and positive influences on me, as I grew up the career ladder I tried to be like them. I put effort into coaching and mentoring my own team. I gave encouragement and learned to know who they are as individuals. We became a closer knit group. Our performance increased. We were recognized for quality work and initiative. Our problem solving was a group effort. The work environment was more fun. Team members shared ideas for improvements and discussed issues openly.
Feedback was not used as a weapon but as a tool for growth, given in the spirit of helpfulness by teammates who cared.
The Proof
Many of us are skeptical without the data. Many studies have been conducted to assess the impact of Empathy:
● Sales
● Efficiency of operations
None of this research is new — it has been published for years. We know that leadership in every company needs more empathy. Even if you don’t care about being empathetic, consider this statistic:
Comparing the company’s financial performance against the employee’s judgement of the CEOs character, the researchers found that CEOs with a strong character trait of compassion outperformed their poorly ranked peers by nearly 500%. (source)
Compassion is empathy + the desire to help another.
Build Your Empathy Skills
There is research to show that women have the potential to be naturally more empathetic (see here). Some people are more empathetic due to personality. Still others just seem empathetic because of their face or voice.
But if that is not your special skill, do not worry. Everyone can become more empathetic towards others, and there are many articles online giving advice on how to do so. I myself recommend the below tips:
1. Smile at people quite often. This will help others perceive you as open and friendly.
2. Truly listen. Do not just wait for your next turn to speak. You must pay attention to both verbal and non-verbal communication.
3. Be fully present. Refrain from checking emails or taking phone calls while talking to someone. Not only are you not fully present, but this also sends them a signal that you do not feel they are valuable as a person, that they haven’t earned your full attention. This makes it hard to build a connection.
4. Discuss and address concerns shared with you immediately.
5. Bring positive energy to your interactions. If it helps you, think of how unhappy you previously were elsewhere, or think of others much less fortunate. Remind yourself that you are a role model to others who will remember how you treat them for many years afterward.
6. Encourage others. When they speak up in meetings, giving a simple attentive nod can boost people’s confidence.
7. Give genuine recognition and praise and making it memorable with phrases like: “You are an asset to this team because…”
8. Address people by their names. Say hello.
9. Ask questions about their hobbies, their challenges, their families, their aspirations. Remember what they said.
10. Measure your progress. It will be difficult to know if you’ve improved if you don’t measure. I recommend to do a 360-degree-feedback questionnaire before you begin this improvement plan, then do another questionnaire in 6 months. Here are some example questions:
- My manager is approachable — if I see a problem I will tell them.
- My manager cares for me as an individual.
- My manager has a positive outlook for our team and our company.
- My manager is trustworthy.
- My manager discusses my career with me.
- I feel happy with my current manager.
The results might be unpleasant for the first — but it is better to know how big the mountain is before we start to climb it. Also, when we try to improve these things, even if we improve only a little, it shows employees that you care and make effort.
I am hopeful that we will soon be working with more empathetic leaders and feel more empowered, enthusiastic and engaged to create happier workplaces.
