Why will empathy make a difference in the workplace?

Empathy in the workplace has always been needed, and this won’t change. Some may feel there are organisations that have been successful without it. Think though, about how much more successful they could have been if they had empathy.

“Empathy is a small change that can produce great results in the world of sales.”

Recent times have revealed an even greater need, as lives were shaken up and priorities shifted. In fact, this has probably exposed where empathy was missing and highlighted situations where there was a lack of strong emotional connection among team members.  

Generally, a workplace is seen as a place for teamwork. For successful, strong working relationships, it is incredibly important to be able to relate to colleagues. Failure on this at best leads to the odd disagreement, but at worst leads to conflict, resentment and dissatisfaction. None of which constitutes a healthy, happy working environment. And this is why, as we move forwards, so many industries and sectors are facing challenges like the Great Resignation. 

There is now clear evidence of what empathy can deliver in the workplace including increased performance in: 

The list goes on and is difficult to ignore, particularly when these examples appear across the board, regardless of the nature of the business, the sector they operate within or what they do.  

The link with performance was also recently reinforced for us when working with a customer who launched our virtual learning Em-Path online programme across their teams. A large amount of the appeal for them was that the learning experience is just two hours long and takes participants through a journey of knowledge building scenarios embracing a variety of diverse, unique learning styles. This e-learning course is appealing and readily available for everyone - regardless of their position or role within the business. Equally, it’s proving to be an amazing way of ensuring that empathy is totally embraced within the business.  

"The excellent Em-Path course was shared across our management team. As a result, we now recognise that empathy can be embedded in our organisation through simply providing opportunities to understand how our staff are feeling as opposed to being 'solution focused' - a problem halved is easier to deal with." 

Ian Richardson 
CEO, Community Voluntary Services (CVS) for Broxbourne and East Herts 

Practically, the team have been able to instantly put the skills they learned into practice. Early on in their empathy journey, the shift in attitude is already improving mental wellbeing, team spirit and looking towards rising sales. Longer term is a focus on everyone using it regularly, so it becomes instinctive and creates durability across all the teams. 

Em-Path Online is an e-learning tool helping people and organisations create a more empathic culture. For only £59+VAT you can learn how to be more empathic too - https://www.themotivationagency-online.com/course/empath