THE HIGH ROAD OF EMPATHY

Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of the another.  ~ Alfred Adler

Earlier this week, I was captivated by an article I read published on Entrepreneur.com, written
by, Contributor, William Bauer (When You Have a Truly Engaged Employee, Thank the Family).  The title alone explains it all!  I must say; there are not a lot of bosses that appreciate their employees the way the author speaks of his valuable employee in this article.  How admirable!

We all have had our fair share of bosses.  Some good. Some bad.  Some have lasted longer than others.  I recall speaking with someone that seemed to always have a change in the person who was in charge (3 management changes in one year just seems insane).

Leadership is so important in every aspect of your life.  Leaders that manage people must recognize the effort and good work ethic of those they are leading.  These same leaders should encourage and cultivate an environment for a team to grow.  The time has passed for good, hard-working, loyal employees to take and accept mistreatment after putting in hard work and labor every single day.  There are days where long hours and labor are contributed which results in much time from home in order to make sure projects and work tasks are completed. This hard work tends to go unnoticed and becomes expected because the end results are always par excellent.

Lack of acknowledgement can result in employee burnout.  I know a young lady who took the stance where she refused to return to an assignment without knowing what the future may hold.  She just knew that she wasn’t going to spend all her time working and performing her duties and others, while only receiving criticism and complaints for producing more than her fair share of the duties. 

Without appropriate recognition, employees will only go the extra mile or above and beyond for so long until they suffer burnout.   As a result, top employees/team members will look for a career change and in some instances, an employee might just quit.  

I have grown up with and live by the rule; you don’t leave a job, unless you have another job. There are individuals today that refuse to accept unfairness or unjust actions in the work place. They will step out of the box and go out on faith with the thought that there is always a better job ahead. Have you heard this or ever felt this way yourself?  I hear people say all the time; If God gave me this job, He will give me another job. I correlate this to the scripture, “Guide me into your truth and teach me. For you are the God who delivers me: on you I rely all day long.” Psalms 25:5 AMP.  That is definitely a leap of faith!

If a company or organization wants to retain good employees, the environment must take into consideration that the job isn’t the only priority in a person’s life. Life happens……Children are born; illness occurs with employees and family members; people are dealing with aging parents, and sometimes death of loved ones.  In any role, especially a leadership role; there has to be a level of empathy in order to run and promote a healthy work environment.  It’s not all about data, numbers, dollar values, and measurements.  

Think outside the box.  Create opportunities to get to know team members a little better.  

Employees are more likely to be loyal and make great contributions to their team and the workplace if they feel valued and appreciated.  

What does your team have in place for employee recognition for those who work diligently?  I like the concept of having a “Sunshine Committee,” to bring a little sunshine to a co-worker to help ease the pain when they need it most.  This can only be accomplished with an empathetic leader and team.  

We spend so much time in our workplace; apart from our families and because of this, it is important that leaders and team members take the life journey together.  To have empathy, leaves a path for long-term, loyal professional relationships and successful workplaces.  It is truly a core competency that a lot of people lack today.  Why not make it a habit to sharpen your level of empathy?  Please leave a comment below, send me a tweet on Twitter, or leave a comment on Facebook.

Simply Jackie

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