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Empathy is the ability to understand and relate to the experiences and the emotional feelings of other people. Practicing empathy allows you to understand the point of view of another person, thus increasing your ability to connect with individuals.
In the workplace, empathetic leadership is the ability of a leader, like a manager, to understand other individuals’ opinions, emotions, and needs.
Every person has their point of view, cultural beliefs, and understanding. So, leaders should comprehend their subordinates’ points of view and express empathy toward them.
Here are some specific reasons why empathy is important in the workplace.
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Improves Customer Service
The employees in a workplace will increase their customer service quality, as they are expected to express empathy, thus anticipating the customers’ needs.
For instance, when a customer is frustrated by services offered by the business and contacts customer care service, you can let the customer tell you what they feel and need before responding. That will show that you value their concern.
Improves Communication
Practicing empathy can improve how you communicate with people, as you tend to adapt to share with different people you interact with in the workplace. Adjusting tone of voice and body languages concerning the conversation, such as a presentation to your managers and team leaders, is improved by practicing empathy in your workplace.
Boosts Creative Thinking
When practicing empathy at your workplace, you tend to become more creative, as you will constantly be coming up with innovative solutions to suit the needs of your clients or coworkers.
At the workplace, you will often get asked to consider your audience’s perspective and the needs of your targeted customers. If you use empathy, it might help you and your team to have the client’s perspective, then come up with the best strategy that would suit you if you were to be in that situation.
Understanding the audience’s point of view towards the services or products can help you to understand and identify the opportunities and challenges you have not encountered before and be more creative with new solutions.
Increases Investment and Sales Opportunities
Practicing workplace empathy can help you understand the needs and motivations of your customers, shareholders, and investors. Different investors have different reasons to venture into a business; therefore, you can practice empathy in researching the background and similarities you may share with your potential investor.
The same research tactics can be applied when securing a company contract or upgrading former agreements with your current customers. It would help if you researched what they want, their challenges, and the solutions you are willing to provide.
Improves Working Relationships
You can have the potential to be a better collaborator and team member when you use empathy in your workplace. Understanding your coworkers’ perspectives and backgrounds is essential to promote trust and build support.
To better empathize with your team, you may consider participating in emotional intelligence training. Such training can increase your sensitivity to others and help you better recognize and manage your own emotions in the workplace.
Impacts Job Interviews
When you have a job interview regarding a promotion at your workplace or with a prospective employer, the interviewers will be looking for a person suited to perform the necessary task of the job effectively. You can listen to the interviewers as they discuss the type of person they require to fill the job position and their expectations of the candidate.
Using empathy can help convince them that you are the right person for the job, as you can understand the point of view of their potential employee.
Conclusion
Empathy is essential to be used in the workplace, mainly by leaders, as they will be able to understand the point of view of their subordinates and be more open to solutions.
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