Over the last 20+ years, I have had the privilege of working for a corporation in various leadership roles. I’ve paid close attention to the direct relationship of the level of leadership support and trust (or lack thereof) to:
- the state of morale,
- employee performance
- and team dynamics.
When we keep suffering separate from the workplace, it is a great disservice not just to the people involved but also to the bottom line. Research has shown that when employees feel supported and have a high level of trust in a nurturing environment, they are less apt to be absent, are happier, and their performance is vital.
I have concluded without question that there is one common need pervasive in the workplace: compassion in our everyday practices. Not to imply that all employers don’t have concern for their employees, but what many workplaces are missing is the foundational infrastructure that enforces the way of genuine compassion. The dictionary definition of compassion is Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. When we think of a professional setting, the word “suffering” may seem too intense. We consider “suffering” should be reserved for world calamities or personal heartaches. But in truth:
Suffering occurs regularly in the workplace and is often accepted as a normal part of the work environment.
In Awakening Compassion at Work (Monica C. Worline and Jane E. Dutton), suffering in the workplace is described as a lack of appreciation, pressure of unreasonable deadlines, little understanding of work’s difficulties a supervisor, and feeling devalued continuously and disengaged. From my experience, it also includes ambiguity of job expectations, a constant sense of distrust in the “system,” and the feeling of being alone.
Suffering can also originate outside the workplace, including financial difficulties, family hardships, illnesses, and deaths. These also profoundly affect work performance and overall morale. Many employers remain silent or uncaring in the face of suffering, perhaps because they believe work life and home life should be kept separate or fear making a mistake in offering support or being taken advantage of. Maybe they may not be sure how to engage compassionately. After all, this is not something that is typically included in the performance review goals; the omission of this needs to change.
To fully incorporate and infuse compassion in the workplace, organizations must implement a fundamental blueprint as part of their infrastructure. This can include some of the following design principles:
- Create subgroups within a large organization where people can genuinely identify with each other and feel like they have value.
- Create routines (meetings, etc.) that bring people in regular contact with each other for help and support; this can include implementing a model (roles/responsibilities) that addresses employee emergencies, hardships, employee milestones etc.
- Redesign roles and responsibilities to elevate the blame for other’s well-being; invent new positions to address persistent sources of suffering at work
- Emphasize and put into practice informal as well as formal recognition
- Coach leaders to model the cultural values that support shared humanity and compassion; there must be a shared understanding of how empathy is practiced
- Make violations of the cultural assumptions costly to lesson behaviours that undermine compassion; include in performance reviews
- Celebrate acts of compassion and share stories regularly to reinforce the belief that people have the capacity and permission to practice compassion in the workplace.
Until a formal blueprint for compassion is formally incorporated into an organization, we can individually and personally embrace understanding in the workplace by incorporating the following:
- Commitment to paying attention; this can include things like tone of voice and body language; this means you commit to being aware
- Ask questions and listen to the answers; be present and don’t anticipate what you will hear back; ask AND listen with the desire to learn
- Empathize; feel what the other person is feeling; this is a conscious choice and a necessary bridge to taking action
- Act on what you’ve learned to alleviate the suffering; determine the action needed to address the suffering and follow-through
- Be genuine; create an uplifting environment that promotes a genuine interest in each employee.
I have found that employees will consistently go above and beyond when they experience a high level of compassion and trust from their leadership and organization. They want to give their all, and their intense loyalty and commitment is a natural result of a positive, compassionate, supportive work environment.
A thoughtful leadership approach embraces compassion that is not merely considerate or just a caring way to behave. It is critical to retaining valuable employees and building productive teams.
Most importantly, the practice of compassion in the workplace allows people:
- to shine,
- to grow,
- and to give their best.
A compassionate workplace puts employees first, and the return is more than the resulting success for the company. An undercurrent of cultural happiness is the inevitable by-product that will naturally permeate and spread from person to person.
The ultimate rewards are greater employee satisfaction, loyalty, kindness, with the desire to give your best.
