How empathy in the workplace boosts employee wellbeing and productivity

Workplaces are changing rapidly to meet new challenges and new ways of working. Nyenrode Business University explains how empathetic leadership styles are becoming the new norm, and why that’s a good thing.

No matter what workplace you join, you will always hear the tales of almost mythical previous employees, who stalked the corridors and left a trail of fear in their wake. Whether these people-eating managers ever did really exist or not, it’s undoubtedly true that management styles are having to evolve to meet new expectations from their staff.

While it can be a struggle for some to adapt to new ways of working, it’s worth making the effort as this progressive approach reaps real rewards.

Why employee wellbeing is taking centre-stage

Taking an empathetic approach to your team leadership means considering and prioritising your staff’s wellbeing. Gone are the days of believing that pushing people harder will yield bigger or better results. It is important to find out from your staff directly what they feel would improve their work and lead to performance improvements. Here are some reasons that improving employee wellbeing is important:

Preventing burnout

Around 20 percent of workers in the Netherlands experience burnout every year. That has resulted in over 11 million working days lost to burnout leave in a single year! Clearly, making sure staff are happy and not feeling the pressure brings gains simply by ensuring they are able to be present when needed.

Increasing productivity

When the Harvard Business Review released its Empathy Index, showcasing the top empathetically led companies, they showed that the companies in the top 10 spots outperformed the bottom 10 in productivity, earnings and growth by at least 50 percent.

People who are not feeling exhausted, who have the latitude in their lives to think freely and creatively, and who feel their work is appreciated, are more likely to enjoy working hard, as well as bring new ideas to the table that might improve how your company operates.

Retaining staff

Every day your employees stay at your company, they are getting better and better at knowing what your business and your customers need. They are getting better at their jobs, and building important relationships with your suppliers, contractors, clients and vendors.

Every time you lose a team member, you are losing valuable expertise, and will have to invest time and money into not only hiring a replacement, but also into ensuring they are fully-trained.

Empathetic leadership has been shown to be highly valued by employees, and helps to create a sense of loyalty to a company. A colleague who is happy at work and feels listened to and valued is far less likely to leave than one who feels unhappy, over-worked and ignored.

Why it’s important to develop empathetic leadership skills

For many of the next generation of leaders and managers, empathetic leadership styles will be second nature to them, simply the way they have always been trained to behave. But for those who are already out in the business, it can take some adapting to, especially if you are already established in your field.

It might be tempting to think that you have succeeded so far, so you don’t need to change. However, this is a false logic. As empathetic leadership becomes more commonplace, you will start to look increasingly old-fashioned, and an unappealing manager to work for.

According to Businesssolver, 90 percent of Gen Z employees would prefer to work at a company they perceive as empathetic. As the younger generations enter the workplace, this move to prioritising employees’ wellbeing will only speed up. Places that do not keep up will find it increasingly difficult to hire.

This need to update and refresh leadership style can be even more important for expats in the Netherlands. Many expats are drawn to the Netherlands by its vibrant and innovative tech and IT scene, and this is a sector where empathetic leadership is prized especially highly. Staying ahead of the trend is vital in this industry, with its typically young, highly skilled and forward-thinking workforce.

Not only that, but internationals tend to work in international environments, with many different cultures and attitudes to work, meetings, dress codes and punctuality. Developing an empathetic style in this setting can be challenging, but extremely worthwhile.

Important skills to develop for empathetic leadership

Now that you are convinced of the need for empathetic leadership, are you sure you know what empathy really is? Being empathetic is to:

• Value those around you
• Take their viewpoint into consideration (without having to be asked to)
• Recognise different working styles
• Accommodate different needs.

Here are a few of the top skills you will need to start practising empathetic leadership.

Listening

As in really listening. It’s not enough to hold regular meetings for people to discuss issues, air their grievances or make suggestions if they don’t think anyone is really listening to what they’re saying.

Make sure you are fully engaged and that you always follow up on discussions, even if just to explain why something may not be possible. If someone has an unusual request, don’t dismiss it out of hand, really listen to why they feel it is important and give it full consideration.

Flexibility

Managing people is not easy for many reasons, but a key one is that everyone is different. It is no longer expected that a whole company should change how they work to fit in with a prescriptive manager, but rather the manager needs to be flexible with their approach to people.

Whether that means having standing meetings for some teams and coffee chats for others or understanding that some people work best at home while others thrive in a busy office, showing you can be flexible for your staff will bring a lot of goodwill.

Understanding

One of the most important features of empathic leadership is seeing your employees as whole people. Individuals perform better when they can bring their whole, authentic selves to work, rather than donning a “work persona”.

This might mean having to get used to some of the eccentricities that everyone has, being flexible (there’s that word again) about your dress codes or office hours, but the value it brings to your workforce is immeasurable.

Being understanding when your employee has childcare issues or is feeling under the weather is crucial to building trust in the workplace, so people feel safe being themselves.

Happy staff are good for business

While it's obviously nice simply to be nice, there is no escaping the fact that bringing empathy into the workplace makes for not only happy employees but also a thriving business. Even if you already consider yourself a generous and kind manager, taking some time to work on your listening skills or thinking about areas in which you may be able to be more flexible can bring huge rewards for both you and your teams.

If you are ready to develop your leadership skills and become an empathic leader, why not take the Leadership Essentials course from Nyenrode Business University. Learn how to shift your mindset and become tomorrow’s leader in just two three-day sessions.