Building a Supportive, Resilient Workplace Through Empathy

You’d think being nice and being empathetic are one and the same. Think again. Niceness creates a passive, polite atmosphere where people are encouraged not to rock the boat. Empathy, on the other hand, stresses a deeper connection, a feeling of psychological safety and understanding.

Which environment will be more creative, innovative, and successful? An empathetic one, of course. But as you can imagine, creating an empathetic environment takes much more than a single training on the topic. In fact, deciding where to begin can be a struggle because it can require a full-on culture shift—and everyone needs to be on board. 

It’s worth the effort, however, because without empathy, employee distrust can fester, leading to disengagement and turnover, both of which have steep costs for companies. According to the 2023 Ernst & Young Empathy in Business Study, 52% of U.S. workers believed their employer’s efforts at empathy were dishonest—up from 46% in a mid-2021 survey. Employer indifference appeared to be a factor in the pandemic’s post-lockdown labor shortages; 54% in E&Y’s 2021 report said they had left a job because their boss wasn’t empathetic to their work struggles, and 49% left because they felt their boss wasn’t empathetic to their personal challenges.

What Is Empathy?

In 2021, at Ferrara, we made empathy one of our five core values—these values are the promises we make to one another. They shape our culture, bond us through a shared purpose, and help us to connect.

We defined empathy as more than exercising our ability to see the world from someone else’s perspective and share in their feelings. We emphasize listening carefully, educating ourselves, and acting compassionately.

Practicing Empathy

We ask that people seek out and embrace other points of view and then take appropriate action. Sometimes, those actions might be small, like remembering that someone’s family member is ill and asking after them. Other times, actions are bigger, like joining a business resource group (BRG) and becoming an active member. 

Empathy in the workforce requires time, emotional intelligence, vulnerability, and openness to others’ points of view. It’s vital that a company provide the structure for empathy to thrive. 

5 Strategies to Step Up Workplace Empathy

Your organization can cultivate empathy in employee development and as part of a shared values system across business functions. Here are five tactics to easily pull that off: 

1. Add empathy as a core value. Adopting empathy as a defining principle demonstrates your company’s commitment to it. The statement shows employees—and the public—that empathy should guide business actions and permeate company culture. It can also deepen a company’s dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by demonstrating how DEI grows empathy. However, before designating empathy as a core value, make sure you’ve planned specifically how to deliver on that promise. 
2. Build empathy into organizational routines. The number of meetings on our calendars has skyrocketed since the pandemic. In a 2022 report, Microsoft determined that time spent in meetings increased by 252% and that back-to-back meetings are a significant source of stress for people. In the spirit of wellness and empathy, Ferrara regularly sends calendar blocks to all employees to allow time for a “meeting audit.” During meeting audits, everyone reviews their upcoming meetings and determines whether they’re truly necessary and whether all attendees are required. To further reduce stress, we designated Friday afternoons as meeting-free to allow time for creativity, catch up on work, and prepare for the upcoming week. We’ve also recommended that everyone keep meeting times between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. and reset meeting length to allow for short breaks between meetings.
3. Review your policies from multiple perspectives. Think beyond the obvious. Make sure you’re accommodating all of your employees in your policies, especially in your people policies. For example, are domestic partners eligible for health benefits coverage? Is your parental leave limited only to the parent giving birth—do you provide the same parental leave to adoptive parents? Do you cover fertility and family-forming benefits, including surrogacy?
4. Create support groups and other safe spaces. Set aside time for employees to process traumatic events in the news and work through related emotions. Consider hiring a mental health professional to facilitate small group sessions, during which employees can come together as a community and work through difficult topics. They can help guide conversations as a first step toward stress reduction.
5. Inspire empathy in everyday ways. You can also practice empathy by starting and ending meetings on time, briefly asking how everyone is doing before starting meetings, refraining from interrupting colleagues when they speak, and creating space for everyone to fully share their ideas. Managers should encourage employees to take paid time off and use other wellness benefits the company provides. Managers must also watch for signs of burnout. If employees are overworked or otherwise unduly stressed, ease their load and lend your support.

Empathy Gives Businesses a Competitive Edge

Employees who feel seen, heard, and valued at work are more likely to be engaged and productive. A 2021 Catalyst survey of almost 900 employees found that 76% of people with highly empathetic senior leaders reported often or always being engaged compared with only 32% of those with less empathetic senior leaders. Similarly, 67% of those with highly empathetic managers said they were often or always engaged compared with 24% of workers with less empathetic managers. 

Ernst & Young’s 2023 empathy survey shows that most workers believe mutual empathy between business leaders and employees results in greater efficiency, creativity, idea-sharing, job satisfaction, and company revenue.

And it doesn’t just have the power to boost bottom lines. It also gives businesses a competitive edge in recruiting talent during a labor shortage. Jobseekers are paying attention to company culture—they’re looking for businesses that demonstrate an authentic commitment to empathy.

Every Company Can Increase Empathy

Whether a company is just exploring empathetic practices or is already on the path to creating an empathetic culture, there’s always room for improvement. Empathy is like a muscle. With sustained effort, both businesses and individuals can show more understanding and care. And they can feel good about the positive change empathy brings at work, in their personal lives, and in their communities.

Natasha Miller Williams, a TEDx speaker and DEI thought leader, is Ferrara‘s vice president and head of DEI. Find her on LinkedIn.