Empathy at the workplace: a library research

Business Manager, 2021

In times when work boundaries have changed significantly and a large section of employees are working from home, organizations can incorporate and practice empathy in myriad ways. It could be offering flexibility to employees so that they can effectively manage work and home responsibilities, access to mental health support, opportunities to volunteer in their communities and incentive to grow and develop their skills as the economy changes. Employee Assistance Programs and other benefits offering short-term counselling or referrals can be another good way to operationalize empathy.

Journal of Leadership Studies, 2009

Journal of Business Ethics, 2012

Leadership has become a more popular term than management, even though it is understood that both phenomena represent important organizational behaviors. This paper focuses on empathy in leadership, and presents the findings of a study conducted among business students over the course of 3 years. Finding that empathy consistently ranked lowest in the ratings, the researchers set out to discover the driving motives behind this invariable trend, and conducted a second study to obtain opinions about possible underlying factors. The paper presents the findings of both studies, as well as literature reviews on the differences between management and leadership, a historical overview of leadership, a reflection of 21st century leadership, the ongoing debate on the effects of corporate psychopaths on ethical performance, and scholars' perception on empathy in corporate leadership. The findings indicate the need for a paradigm shift in corporations as well as business schools in regards to leaders' required skills, and suggest a proactive approach from business faculty to change the current paradigm.

Leadership has become a more popular term than management, even though it is understood that both phenomena represent important organizational behaviors. This paper focuses on empathy in leadership, and presents the findings of a study conducted among business students over the course of 3 years. Finding that empathy consistently ranked lowest in the ratings, the researchers set out to discover the driving motives behind this invariable trend, and conducted a second study to obtain opinions about possible underlying factors. The paper presents the findings of both studies, as well as literature reviews on the differences between management and leadership, a historical overview of leadership, a reflection of 21st century leadership, the ongoing debate on the effects of corporate psychopaths on ethical performance, and scholars' perception on empathy in corporate leadership. The findings indicate the need for a paradigm shift in corporations as well as business schools in regards to leaders' required skills, and suggest a proactive approach from business faculty to change the current paradigm.

Empathy and trust are among the key factors in building a stronger relationship between two parties or more. Today, more and more organizations are recognizing the importance of the relationship between empathy and trust in order to serve their employees better. Empathy and trust are pivotal in helping the organizations become better workplace environments. This is because the current business world is characterized by rapid globalization, which has led to an increase in the growth and prominence of multinational organizations. This trend towards globalization has increased the challenges faced by business organizations, which have to manage their employees across cultures, time zones, and organizational structures. Accordingly, the reality of a global market calls for business organizations to increase empathy skills and instill trust among employees in order to have strong organizational structure and to enhance business survival and continuity.

2020

Empathy is the perception we have of a person in relation to what they think, feel or do considering the emotions, needs and problems in order to understand what is happening that originates their reactions, what they think and what they feel. Empathy helps strengthen ties with the family primarily, friends and society as a whole. This study was born with the need to understand people, their thoughts and actions putting "in the shoes of others" to better understand them. The aim of this paper is to show that Empathy is a necessary skill to understand and create new synchronic relationships with the world around us understanding the motivations, limitations and realities of people. For the realization of this article, books and publications on empathy were reviewed and it was concluded that empathy is necessary in any area of life to understand and communicate better.

Think Pieces: A Journal of the Joint Faculty Institute of Graduate Studies, University College London , 2014

This introduction to the collection offers an initial discussion of the concept of empathy, and its uses in both academic and popular discourse. I aim here to interrogate a general trend, currently observable particularly with reference to educational and corporate settings, in which ‘empathy’ has become somewhat of a buzz-word, an essential component that enhances the ‘human’ quality of the ways in which a company operates, or a curriculum is administered in a classroom. In the literature produced about, or sometimes by these sectors, there is frequent advocacy for the activation of empathy in professional and teacher-student relationships, while concrete definitions of empathy are rarely provided, and often taken for granted. On the other hand, in academic discourse, disciplinary approaches and objectives render it essential for definitions of empathy not only to be thoroughly expounded but also adequately justified in a specific disciplinary (or a specific cross-disciplinary) context. This discussion aims to offer a brief survey of some ways in which the conceptual tension between definitions and practical applications (or activations) of empathy have been, and can continue to be explored. This survey in turn will introduce the featured papers in this collection, initially delivered at a 2013 workshop on ‘Empathy’ at the UCL Joint Faculty Institute of Graduate Studies, contributions which will offer perspectives on socio-cultural, philosophical, artistic, and psychological constructs of empathy, both in its definition and potential activation.

1985

Despite the almost complete lack of research addressing a theoretical understanding of empathy or ways to increase human empathy, empathy is a central component of effective human communication. Seen as a key social science phenomenon, it is viewed, along with power, as an inextricable component of human dynamics, and, in its relationship with altruism, possibly plays a causal role. A problem with research on empathy has been a lack of conceptual clarity. Three Ways to improve empathetic listening are to avoid judgment, give the speaker time to speak without interruption, and focus on the speaker. Many of the helping professions have attempted training programs aimed at increasing the empathetic communication skills of practitioners in these fields. However, being told to listen empathetically is not the same as being taught to listen with empathy; and in crit:que of the empathy skills programs that are conducted within the helping professions, a significantly raised test score does not mean that empathy has been attained. Although empathetic communication is a complex subject matter, skills associated with empathy and active listening have been perceived as being more important than skills associated with critical or deliberative listening. (EL)

Journal of Organizational Psychology, 2013

Empathy is the ability "to sense the other's private world as if it were your own but never losing the 'as if' quality" . We suggest that this ability has been overlooked as a potentially useful construct for management. We review the literature to provide a conceptual definition of empathy and to develop an understanding of the effect empathy might have on managerial practice. We develop a framework for the application of empathy to management, suggesting methods to develop the empathic abilities of managers in ways that will produce positive organization outcomes. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Dialogue and Discourse, 2019

Empathy is often thought of as being tantamount to altruism. However, this only touches upon its meaning. To be clear, there are numerous definitions of the empathy construct (i.e., empathy as emotional contagion, as the projection of one’s own thoughts and feelings, and as a fundamental aspect of social development). But most clinical and counseling psychologists have identified a core set of three distinct skills required in the truly empathic person: 1. the ability to share experience, 2. the cognitive ability to intuit, or mentalize (and perhaps understand) what another person is feeling, and 3. a “socially beneficial” intention to respond compassionately to that person’s distress.