Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Even a casual glance at today’s headlines tells a troubling story. From recent increases in worker resignations across all fields to a noticeable uptick in interpersonal conflicts at workplaces or in airline flights, as well as the ever-increasing political divide, it seems clear that there’s just not empathy in the world.

Empathy is a crucial trait in business workspaces, given the close and cooperative nature of the environment. When you work with people consistently for extended periods of time, your ability to empathize with them directly impacts their performance and yours.

Fortunately, empathy isn’t one of those traits you either have or don’t have. You can develop and grow it over time with a bit of attention and focused effort. By demonstrating and practicing empathy, you begin to actually feel what others feel as well as understand those emotions on an intellectual level.

Related: Remote Work Anxiety is Real. Here's How to Help Employees Who Have It.

Empathy is the ability to identify, understand and personally share the emotions and thoughts of another person. It’s not the same as sympathy, where you might feel concern or pity for another. Rather, it requires a shared point of view and a fuller understanding of a person’s specific emotional response.

Psychologists have identified three different types of empathy:

Although each form of empathy can help you become a better business owner and entrepreneur, compassionate empathy in particular helps you relate more deeply to your team members and employees.

Related: What are Pulse Surveys, and How They Can Help Your Company?

Employees are increasingly feeling stressed out, undervalued and unappreciated. That might in part be contributing to the great resignation movement. Empathy from the top levels of the company helps alleviate those issues so employees will be less likely to resign and more likely to perform better on the job.

Empathy is a crucial interpersonal skill that helps you better lead your team, improve employee engagement and grow worker loyalty to your company. It also helps you make better decisions that take into consideration all relevant factors, including those that impact the people working for you. Finally, empathy may also help you assess another person’s emotional response to a work-related issue more objectively and manage the situation more effectively and appropriately.

Related: How to Create a Meeting Agenda That'll Make Employees Actually Want to Attend

If empathy isn’t something that flows naturally for you, try practicing it. Just like playing a musical instrument or any other skill, empathy can be developed through a routine series of practical steps.

To practice empathy, try these steps, suggested by Andrea Brandt in a 2018 article for Psychology Today:

Spend some time each week engaging in this exercise and you’ll find your natural sense of empathy begins to develop. Soon, it will flow more readily and won’t require your focused effort.

Much of the work we can do to demonstrate and practice empathy in any context, but especially in the workplace, has to do with the words we choose to express ourselves.

The mere act of asking an open-ended question is a nice way to make others feel heard and valued, especially when it’s a supervisor or leader who’s asking. Thoughtful questions tell your team members that you’re engaged in the discussion, that you’re listening, and that you’re interested in resolving issues fairly.

You can let others know you’re trying to see things from their perspective with the words you choose. Expressing empathy helps you show your intention and effort to understand others more fully. Specific phrases you can use to convey more individualized empathy include:

Related: Nervous About Meeting Employees in Person for the First Time? Try These 5 Tips

In addition to changing your vocabulary, asking open-ended questions, expressing gratitude and concern, and occasionally practicing empathy exercises, try the following tips:

Related: 3 Ways to Set Up Personal and Business Success During Immense Change

A little empathy can go a long way towards creating a more positive, productive and cohesive workplace. Practice active listening, ask the right questions and practice empathetic reasoning to help strengthen your ability to understand fully what others are feeling and thinking. The benefits include greater productivity and a happier workforce.

Related: Hire Your Next Remote Team Member from One of These 20 U.S. Tech Hubs

Source: Entrepreneur

Powered by NewsAPI.org