Empathy in the Workplace: Showing Workers You Care is the Secret to Engagement

Employees who feel valued at work are motivated to do their best. The (APA) American Psychological Association gave us this survey information almost ten years ago. A whopping 88% of the employees they surveyed who reported feeling valued, also reported feeling engaged.

Compassion.

Kindness.

Empathy.

These are the management buzzwords of today — the newest employee engagement salve. But the bottom line is: If you want workers to give their best, show them you care about them as people.

Admittedly, not all managers and leaders are good at this.

And there’s mounting evidence that if you don’t possess the “empathy” gene, you’re going to struggle with this one. Feeling what someone else feels is not always easy. Instead, we feel sympathy. (Nice, but not the same thing.) We feel pity. (Not at all the same thing.) We feel compassion. (Getting closer.)

 

We’re better at giving recognition

Think about your own organization. When someone hits a goal or milestone, how do you find out? Maybe your organization announces these things in meetings or through internal communication. Maybe there are ceremonies or trips. Many organizations work hard to acknowledge, celebrate and reward achievement. And these recognition efforts are important. Great work should be recognized. But, there’s more to it.

Authors Rudy Karsan and Kevin Kruse point out the struggle facing organizations (and individual managers) in making workers feel truly valued. “As a whole, organizations are especially weak in creating an environment where employees truly feel valued.”

 

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When we let people know that we’re glad they’re part of our teams, they feel valued. How can managers and leaders do that?

Here are some suggestions for showing workers they are valued:

1. Be intentional with everyday conversations. This from themuse.com suggests “that a big part of feeling valued occurs when employees are aware that they add something to the company that no one else can.” As you assign projects, reiterate why you’re choosing them and/or why you’re giving them more challenging work.
2. Create opportunities for new experiences. This from forbes.com suggests that you pay attention when employees show interest in aspects of the business outside their jobs. Give them opportunities to step outside their usual roles. Let them explore budding interests. Challenge them. Invest in them. Help them grow.
3. Let employees make important decisions. This from businessnewsdaily.com suggests that showing employees that you trust their opinions and expertise goes a long way toward showing employees you value them.
4. Give genuine compliments. Whether for the whole team or for the individual, compliments show that you’re paying attention. These can be verbal, emails or notes and should be specific.
5. Make sure corrective feedback is delivered with care. This one from talentculture.com encourages managers to engage in dialog when discussing weak areas or outcomes. Instead of saying, “you should have …” try talking about the outcome you’re looking for and asking questions that encourage the employee to suggest corrective measures you can both agree on.
6. Be a champion for your employees’ good work. Tell others about the work the individuals on your team are doing. Compliment your employees (using their names) to your boss or the CEO. If someone in a higher position or even another department takes notice of someone on your team, it tells employees that they are being noticed and discussed at a higher level.
7. Build relationships with individuals. Most employees enjoy speaking with their boss on a personal level. Take the time to get to know each individual — their interests, challenges and lives. In addition to giving your employees the relationship with their boss they want, this also opens the door if there’s a problem or concern on either side.
8. Show respect. Take time to listen to (and understand) an employee’s concerns or ideas. If at first you don’t agree, ask questions until you completely understand his or her view. 

 

You don’t need to be an empathy guru to show employees you value them as people. But to boost worker engagement, you do need to be self-aware and sensitive to how you’re interacting with each person on your team as an individual — how you’re showing them they matter.

 

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