Lack of empathy is a major cause of communication breakdown at the workplace and in other social settings. And fractured communication can lead to simmering feuds, which may eventually erupt in all-out conflicts. Not the kind of energy you want to entertain at work!
Fortunately, you can conduct rigorous empathy training at work to equip your employees with the skills they require to navigate common misunderstandings.
This article will explore the top five techniques for empathy training in the workplace. But first, let’s familiarize ourselves with empathy training.
What Is Empathy Training?
Empathy training essentially refers to programs aimed at equipping learners with empathy skills.
Empathy is the ability to understand and respond appropriately to other people’s feelings. It’s commonly confused with emotional intelligence, although the two are distinct life skills.
Empathy training takes place in four critical steps, namely;
- Listening to other people attentively
- Recognizing and understanding their feelings
- Connecting emotionally
- Responding appropriately
As hinted, empathy training in the workplace can help minimize conflicts. It allows employees to move beyond their own emotions and consider their colleagues’ feelings before responding to situations. Taking other people’s perspectives enables us to judge them by their intentions rather than actions.
Empathy training can also promote efficient communication in the workplace. Learning this crucial life skill is particularly important for customer support and public relations employees. It lets them listen attentively and respond better to the feelings of their colleagues, customers, and other company stakeholders.
Further, multiple studies have established a strong correlation between empathy training and servant leadership. Empathetic bosses tend to have better emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills. Executives’ ability to understand their juniors’ emotional disposition can be critical when solving workplace problems.
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Tips for Empathy Training At Work
1. Recognize the Signs of Low Empathy
Granted, not every employee who has never undergone empathy training will exhibit low empathy. However, most do, and the symptoms are quite easy to detect.
Being overly critical is one of the tell-tale signs of low empathy at work. This is especially common among supervisors and company executives. When certain employees appear more inclined to criticize than appreciate their colleagues, it’s probably time to schedule empathy training.
Most people with low empathy also have poor listening skills. They tend to overreact rather than lend a genuine listening ear, potentially escalating a volatile situation.
Other symptoms of low empathy at work include responding inappropriately and being inconsiderate of other people’s emotional needs.
2. Incorporate Empathy Into Your Company’s Culture
One of the most effective tips for empathy training in the office is to incorporate the skill into your company’s culture.
Most company cultures emphasize five critical aspects: open communication, productive collaboration, shared goals, commitment to employee development, and corporate social responsibility. Empathy espouses open communication, making it a fundamental tenet of company values.
Be sure to educate all new employees on the importance of cultivating empathy at work. Stress the significance of this life skill right from the interview stage.
If possible, empathy is one of the key requirements when placing job openings. It saves you the time and financial resources you’d invest in scheduling empathy training for every new employee.
3. Develop a Culture of Feedback
Feedback is a key success component in the corporate landscape. By encouraging feedback, your company can leverage its strengths and address its weaknesses to outpace the competition.
However, feedback shouldn’t always follow a company – customer channel. Encouraging feedback among employees is equally important.
Disgruntled staffers can openly report grievances without fearing victimization by cultivating a culture of feedback in the office. Empathetic executives would then listen attentively to each complaint before prescribing timely and effective solutions.
Feedback can happen publicly through open forums or secretly via suggestion boxes, whatever works best for your company.
4. Encourage Role Playing
Role-playing is an effective technique for imparting good behavior among children in home settings. This method can also be useful when conducting empathy training in the office.
Role-playing involves swapping duties. It allows employees to perform different duties and familiarize themselves with the challenges involved.
Role-playing is perspective-taking at a more practical level.
Assume that your store clerks always complain about the procurement officers for being slow in processing requisitions. In that case, you can have the clerks work in the procurement office for a week to gain insider experience of the department’s operations.
5. Set Up a Robust Stress Management Plan
There’s a nexus between high-stress levels and low empathy. One study found that acute stress can affect cognitive empathy, which is recognizing other people’s emotions.
Therefore, a robust empathy training program should have a stress management plan as one of the core elements.
There are several stress management strategies to explore at the workplace, including guided mindfulness meditations and taking a walk. Depending on your industry, you could consider more holistic interventions like spa baths and massage therapies.
The goal is to create an environment where employees can detox from various workplace stressors and optimize their productivity.
Wrap Up
Empathy training at the workplace should be an ongoing exercise rather than a one-time event. As you strive to equip new recruits with proper empathy skills, remember to schedule refresher courses for your existing staffers.
