Why Compassion Matters?

I suppose you have you heard that money is not always the driver in someone’s productivity but the environment in which you work that makes the difference?  Why is that? Research continues to show that when employees feel appreciated, they have trust in the leader and there is a team approach, production increases and people simply work smarter.

So what does a Company need to do to create an environment in which people thrive?

In many businesses there is one leader but in an effective organization each employee is considered a leader.  When an individual employee feels that they bring value and their opinion counts, their ability to perform and be more productive increases.  They have skin in the game.  The sense of belonging makes them feel responsible for the job they do and to do it well.  One way to build leadership skills is to make it comfortable for employees to share their voice and show that their opinions count.

The leader must exhibit compassion with all the employees. Studies have shown that when compassion is in the work place, the employees feel a sense of connectivity.  Compassion is the ability to feel empathy and an overall friendliness towards each other.  When there is genuine compassion within the organization, cooperation and loyalty increase and employees experience less stress.  One way to build a compassionate organization is to take the time to get to know your employees. Understand what makes them tick and a bit about their personal lives.  Being able to tie their personal life into their work life builds a connection and shows true caring on the part of the leader.

The team is allowed to show failure and it is ok to not have the right answer.  Giving employees a chance to explore and create requires freedom to try new things.  When you are worried about not being right,  you don’t allow yourself the ability to think outside the box.  Being open to failure and not feeling afraid of the consequence leads to success.  As Eileen Fisher advocates, it is about “not knowing” which makes it easier to learn from others.  Make it a point to have an open format to freely share ideas. It is an opportunity to explore new possibilities.

When you view your organization as people working together for a common goal, trust builds. Showing compassion and being able to freely express ideas whether they are good or bad does not make an organization soft but it builds a unit that believes in one another.

If you would like to explore new ways to build leadership skills amongst employees and have your teams work more effectively together, contact Upstream Solutions.

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