Practicing Empathy

Empathy can be facilitated in organization through behaviors, norms, policies and benefits. Leaders can foster empathy in organization by not merely naming it as an important organization value or by conducting training programs around it but by modelling it in their behaviour. Leaders can demonstrate empathy in small actions like practicing empathetic listening when interacting with employees, avoiding interruptions, or effective communication and follow-ups. Doing this, they will not only send a message that they genuinely care about their employees’ professional and personal development but set the tone for other managers.