Leadership & Empathy: essential for retention and engagement
By: Tom Prest
“If you’re asking how to create a more empathetic workplace, you’re already way ahead of everybody else.” – Daniel Lubetzky, Founder of KIND
March 2020 marked the beginning of a new normal for everyone in the United States. At the time, we faced uncertainty, fears, and concerns for the future- “pivot” became the word that gave us hope. And while everyone worked hard to adjust, we all faced social isolation and disconnectedness. These new challenges greatly impacted mental well-being, with 42% of people experiencing a decline in their emotional health[1]. To address these challenges, leaders must place greater emphasis on demonstrating empathy, compassion, and connectivity. Engaging with the workforce in this way will increase profitability, work quality, and productivity while fostering retention.
Understanding empathy and why it matters
Empathy is making the time and space to genuinely care for and be interested in understanding what matters to another person. Empathy is hearing and acknowledging the joy, struggle, challenge, or pain behind words.
Leaders who demonstrate empathy are essential to helping employees navigate and manage the emotions and changes impacting their work and personal lives. Everyone’s experience is different; however, some consistent themes have emerged, such as:
- Ambiguity about life at work, school, and home
- Heightened stress levels in virtually every area of life
- Feeling a lack of stability in the world
In commonalities such as these, we can connect to each other as human beings. The people we work with need to know that they matter and that someone “gets” them. They desire and need to know that they are understood and safe. It is hard for people to cope if they don’t feel heard. Empathy creates a safe place – where people feel valued and a place where well-being is cultivated. There is plenty of research indicating that when that happens, people:
- Perform better by working harder and smarter
- Engage and commit to their organization
- Focus more effectively
Learn how to cultivate empathy
Empathy means that the leader takes action to understand the other person’s reality by:
- Checking in with their employee and asking questions to get a clearer picture of what matters.
- Verbalizing what is understood to be the challenge and confirming that with the individual.
- Investing time and resources in developing your managers to create a culture of empathy.
These efforts can dramatically impact how employees view your organization. The impact on employee engagement can be significant, thus increasing the attraction and retention of your employees. Reducing turnover costs can be a significant benefit to your organization.
To illustrate, after the pandemic, one CEO wanted to abruptly end virtual work by bringing his workforce back to the office full-time. However, before making the executive decision, he reached out to key team members to hear their thoughts. They told him clearly that this would be a bad decision and would negatively affect the staff’s childcare arrangements, commutes, productivity, and morale. The feedback he received was invaluable, and he listened and empathized. Remote work saved the company during the pandemic, and employees still felt it was effective. Instead, he collaborated with these team members and devised a plan to meet the company’s needs. They felt the best path forward was to require employees to come to the office only for required meetings. Listening, empathizing, and acting made the staff appreciate the company more and respect his leadership, thus increasing engagement.
Other examples of demonstrating empathy include:
- Making a point to remember each employee’s name
- Smiling when greeting staff
- Listening attentively to others when they are talking without interrupting them
- Being curious about their lives and interests
In Conclusion
Research and company results show that empathy ranks among the top competencies leaders need to succeed today. Empathy enhances positive relationships and the organization’s culture, and it has a new level of importance in terms of leadership competency, now and in the future.
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Warren Whitney’s HR team works with business leaders to strategically evaluate your best path forward. Our work includes strategic direction, in-depth compensation & benefits analysis, organizational structure & planning, as well as performance management. If you have any questions or seek further clarification, please call us at 804.282.9566 or email Stephanie Ford at sford@warrenwhitney.com. We do not charge for the initial call. We want to learn more about your business needs.
MAKING POTENTIAL HAPPEN
[1] Evidenced by a global study by Qualtrics
Data Directions Inc.