Empathy in the Office
According to Forbes, the secret to successful engagement in business revolves around three things: inclusion, empathy, and aspirational purpose.
Without empathy, the other two cannot succeed. That’s why we are focusing on this core value…what it means, why it’s important, and how other businesses have made it part of both their personnel and customer care philosophies.
Trading Places
One great way to instill empathy among staff members is to have employees switch positions for even just part of a day. Venture capitalist Ben Horowitz encouraged that at one of his companies where sales engineering and customer support were always fighting and misunderstanding one another.
His approach? He had the top managers of each team trade places. As reported in Harvard Business Review (HBR), “It worked. After just one week, the leaders were able to gain a deeper understanding of each other’s challenges and resolve the issues that had caused the spats.”
HBR’s advice? “Instructing members of different teams to temporarily swap places can fuel a new level of empathy and…productive organizational change.”
Ask Questions
Empathy isn’t a training issue just in Fortune 500 companies. This ability certainly applies to the optical space as well. Lisa Frye, director of optical at InVision Ophthalmology in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, AL, understands that. Her advice? “Take a close look at how you operate. Ask questions like, ‘Are we being empathetic? Are we in too huge of a hurry to take the time to address needs and concerns?’”
Emotional Quotient
Being empathetic is also part of the bigger picture of what’s referred to as an individual’s emotional quotient or EQ. It’s a hot topic in business management circles. Why? Because, according to EQ expert Travis Bradberry, Ph.D., “It’s the other kind of smart and is responsible for 58% of your job performance.”
Better yet, unlike IQ, EQ—and, as part of it, empathy—can be developed in yourself and nurtured in others. Basically, explains Dr. Bradberry, “it’s your ability to recognize and understand emotions, and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships.” It’s basically made up of core skills including empathy in two areas—personal (staying aware of and managing your emotions and behavior) and social (understanding other people and improving relationships).
Enhancing EQ
Fortunately, it can be improved. According to Fernley & Fernley, you can work on developing your EQ on your own by focusing on any of the areas, including empathy, that most contribute to enhancing your emotional quotient:
• OPTIMISM: the ability to anticipate the best possible outcome of events or actions;
• EMPATHY: understanding others’ points of view and decision-making processes;
• SELF-AWARENESS: knowledge of current emotional state, strengths, and weaknesses;
• IMPULSE CONTROL: the ability to mitigate an urge to act;
• REALITY TEST: an ability to see things as they are.
While they’re all important, Harvard University research suggests that staff members who are empathetic and help others at the office are more focused on the job than other employees.
Another plus? It works all the way up and down the management ladder. As determined by the Center for Creative Leadership, “Our research found that managers who practiced empathetic leadership toward direct reports were viewed as better performers by their bosses. Those managers who were rated as empathetic by subordinates were also rated as high-performing by their own boss.”
