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Hi all,
On Remembrance Day we honour those who gave their lives to serve our country. Before I dive into the importance of empathic leadership – a skill I think so much of the world could use more of – consider reading this reflective Remembrance Day essay from one of our Globe readers.
Ok, let’s get into it.
A few weeks back we looked at data from a new report from IT services company Hewlett-Packard (HP), which showed Gen Z has the healthiest relationship with work, and examined the role personalization plays in workplace happiness.
Another section of the report explored the role of empathetic leadership, and how that also affects workers’ ability to have a personalized experience and a healthier relationship with work.
Anneliese Olson, president of imaging, printing and solutions at HP, says that empathetic leadership starts with acknowledging that different workers have different needs and approaches that work for them.
“Empathy is the way that you have a dialogue,” Ms. Olson says, who was previously the senior vice-president and managing director for North America at HP, leading the go-to-market strategy for the company. “Whether you’re coaching somebody in their role, having a conversation about a difficult topic or an employee needs to raise concerns about work or things that may be going on in their personal life.”
Data shows empathy matters
The report shows 72 per cent of knowledge workers agree that senior leaderships’ ability to show empathy positively impacts their well-being.
Additionally, 71 per cent say it positively impacts their professional growth, and 72 per cent say it positively impacts their desire to stay with a company.
Ms. Olson says that when leaders demonstrate the skill of empathy, through actions like mindful communication and self awareness, employees feel more engaged, more included and are learning more. These all factor into increased productivity and retention.
A survey from global non-profit Catalyst also found that empathy is an important driver of innovation, engagement and inclusion.
So, there’s no doubt that empathy is important, but all of that said, business leaders need help.
The HP data shows that while 90 per cent of leaders know that empathy is beneficial to employee growth, retention and well-being, only 44 per cent feel confident in their “human skills,” which are defined as skills like mindfulness, self awareness, communication, creative-thinking, resilience, empathy and emotional intelligence.
This lack of human skills can greatly impact employees’ experiences.
“If people can’t bring their whole selves to work, they’re not going to be growing as much and the company is not going to be getting the best out of their talent,” Ms. Olson says.
Solutions for building empathy
Jamil Zaki, a professor of psychology at Stanford University and author of The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World, offered suggestions on building empathy on the McKinsey Talks Talent podcast.
Mr. Zaki says that first it’s important for people to understand that empathy is a skill they can work on.
Infusing empathy into a culture isn’t necessarily based on big changes, but is built through habitual practices. He gives leaders prompts to help bring empathy into regular conversations by encouraging them to ask more or better questions.
He says companies should also consider how they reward people. Often, people are rewarded based on individual performance, but they should also be acknowledged and rewarded for modelling empathetic behaviour.
Ms. Olson agrees: “Business leaders have accountability. From the CEO of the company all the way down, the approach to empathy and your employee and workplace experience will need to be an important conversion,” she says.
Fast fact
Creatives in their post-ChatGPT era
21 per cent
That’s how much posting for gigs that were prone to AI automation declined just eight months after the introduction of ChatGPT in November, 2022. This article looks at how generative AI is affecting freelance artists and writers – and how they can try to adapt.
Career guidance
Feeling underpaid?
One worker suspects they’re being paid less than their peers in similar positions in their industry. They’re wondering how to figure out if their wage is competitive.
Experts say they can start by doing research on popular sites like Glassdoor or LinkedIn, but the best way to find out if they’re being paid equitably at a specific company is to talk to trusted coworkers about their salary if they are comfortable sharing. It’s legal to talk about salary in Canada, even if there are employee guidelines that say you shouldn’t. If they find out there is a pay gap, the best way to approach the conversation with a manager is with curiosity and not anger or resentment.
Quoted
Time poverty
“Essentially, when met with the competing responsibilities of supporting a child, inadequate access to child care infrastructure, inflexible company leave policies and the unspoken stigma around unpaid care work, women – who are significantly more likely than men to be caregivers – experience ‘time poverty.’ This is true no matter where in the world a woman lives, and I believe it is the key to solving our current child care crisis,” writes Blessing Adesiyan in a Fortune article.
Ms. Adesiyan explores the global child care crisis and explains how employers can do their part in closing the care gap and creating cultures where these topics are embraced and caregivers are supported.
On our radar
Tariff trouble
With Trump’s election win comes the threat of tariffs that will affect the Canadian economy. According to an analysis by the Business Development Bank of Canada, his promise of 10-per-cent tariffs on imports into the U.S. would subtract $7-billion from Canadian GDP in the year of implementation, and translate to a loss of around 20,000 jobs. In the long term, this imposition on tariffs could cause a significant drop in Canadian business investment.