How Leaders Can Spread Empathy in Their Workplace
By showing empathy in the open and creating an empathic network in your workplace, leaders can create an atmosphere of empathy and care in the office. Empathy can easily fall out of sight amidst the economic uncertainty. Yet, empathy is the key to a happy and healthy workforce.
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In this Pacific Prime article, find out more about the tips for team leaders or managers to create an atmosphere of empathy in their workplace as well as how employers can tailor their benefit plans to reflect their empathy for employees.
The Importance of Empathy in the Workplace
In the time of economic uncertainty, it is easy for organizations to prioritize efficiency over empathy. However, empathy is the key to building a strong and productive team in your office. Without empathy, employees might feel neglected and unheard, leading to slumping morale and low team spirit.
In 2023, only 68% of HR professionals felt their organization was empathic. This was a huge drop compared to 90% in 2022. The drop is concerning as negative feelings at work could lead to higher stress which is the main cause of burnout and other stress-related illnesses.
Employees also perform worse in unempathetic workplaces. When feeling abandoned, employees can shy away from being engaged and invested in their works, meaning less creative inputs and innovation.
When prolonged, employees might opt to ‘quiet-quit’ or quit the job in general. During the Great Resignation, more than half of employees cited ‘lack of empathy’ as the reason for them to quit their job.
This is why even in the face of economic uncertainty, empathy is the foundation organizations cannot do without. By creating an empathetic atmosphere in the workplace, employers can boost morale as well as create a team of happy, healthy, and connected employees.
How Leaders Can Create Empathy in their Workplace
First and foremost, yes, empathy can be created as well as practiced and improved. Through visible examples, networks of empathy, and learning stories; leaders can cultivate a culture of empathy in their office. We expand more in the sections below.
Show Your Empathy, Out in the Open
It is hard to build your own empathy when you cannot see it in others. By showing your empathy out in the open, leaders can give their team members a visible example of how to create an atmosphere of empathy in the office.
Leaders can take opportunities such as team meetings or team announcements to show empathy. Before diving into the announcement, leaders can take time to acknowledge and validate the feelings and experience of their team members in the process.
Find Your Allies in Spreading Empathy
Again, empathy finds strength in numbers. You might notice other members of your team who are great at showing empathy and appreciate empathy in the workplace. They can be your allies in building a network of empathy to support other members at work.
This way, you can set precedents of the desirable behavior you are seeking from your team members, and team members can feel encouraged to mirror the empathic behavior of others in the workplace.
Demonstrate with Stories
Just in the same way team members can learn from visible examples, stories can help your team members to learn from your or other’s experience.
You can highlight what kind actions have been used to show empathy such as validating listeners’ emotions and feelings before proposing solutions. You can also underscore the positive results that come out of showing empathy.
Stories can give your team some ideas on what kind of actions they can take or potential results that might come out of empathic behavior.
Conclusion
Empathy is fundamental to create teams that are happy and connected. By exemplifying empathy with visible actions and stories, leaders can set precedents and for others to follow. With enough members, you can create a supportive network to reinforce an empathic atmosphere in the workplace as well.
Another way for employers to show employees their empathy is through an employee benefits package that truly reflects your employees’ needs.
The post-pandemic world comes with an array of employee benefits to better suit the diverse needs of employees. Rather than a one-size-fits-all employee benefits package, a flexible benefits plan empowers employees to choose benefits that matter to them, like Gen Z who favors flexibility at work, and not just for their schedule.
To navigate this new terrain of employee benefits, brokers like Pacific Prime can assist you to ensure that your organization and your employees receive the best benefits plan that suits both your organization’s objective and your employees’ needs.
Our service starts from the consultation process to determine your company’s needs, objects, and requirements. Following the consultation, we can assist you in comparing and brokering employee benefits packages that work best for your organization from world-class insurers.
Pacific Prime also offers plan management service to support claimings, accountancy, as well as policy communications throughout the lifetime of your policy.
Contact us today for a free and impartial review of your current benefits offering.
Coming to Pacific Prime, she is ready to utilize her experience for the new pursuit. With a strong passion for storytelling and writing, she hopes her words could help bring people closer to the best international health insurance plan that works for them. After all, as a writer, there is no greater honor than when one’s words can add clarity to the world of the readers.
Apart from writing, she is an avid planespotter. On the weekends, you can expect to find her loitering around the airport, gawking at all the aircrafts taking off and landing. When the weather does not permit planespotting, you can find her huddling on her cozy couch, watching ballet and figure skating as well.
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