Empathy is culture glue
When employees feel connected to each other and to the company that they work for, they are likely to be 4x more productive than if they're not. And for teams to achieve goals, productivity is very important.
Creating bonds is something that as humans we're continually on the lookout for, not just in work but in our personal lives too. It's only natural that we should want to develop these bonds with the people that we work with. Almost three quarters of employees share their hopes and dreams with their colleagues, and 83% say that developing a strong 'work family' makes them happier.
However, most organisations lack either the commitment or desire to ever get to the point where connections are meaningfully created in the first place. Team building events, where people get to know each other (and that is all!) have been all but lost. Organisations insist instead on productivity, efficiency, and the pursuit of excellence without investing time and effort into building emotional connection between people.
Without making the time to understand oneself and others around you, the chances of building these connections reduce to almost zero and accelerate the chances of a toxic culture. The way to avoid this, is to dramatically increase the amount of empathy that exists between team members.
The ability to ‘feel into another person’ is a skill that everyone can learn. When we take an active interest in others and learn how to listen to understand, rather than to listen to understand, everything changes.
Without empathy connections are lost, communication breaks down, trust erodes and collaboration becomes impossible. However when done well it becomes the glue that holds the team together and generates the relationships required to achieve.
How much empathy exists in your team?
