Workplace relationships can make or break an organisation. There are many workplaces where teams love to work together; and employees stick on with such organisation for years. While there are others, where employees tend to leave within one to two years due to a total disconnect.

It has been seen repeatedly that, as a consequence,  the organisations with strong teams and low attrition are also the more successful ones in terms of profitability, growth and diversification; while many of the other type continue to languish with mediocre performance  or eventually close down.

What is that one critical factor in the leadership and team work that makes the difference?

At the core of any successful relationship—whether professional or personal—is a genuine need for connection; one to one and as a group. This connection allows individuals to feel understood, valued and safe; fostering an environment where collaboration and productivity can thrive.

This connection happens when there is one very visible trait seen and experienced by the concerned individuals – Empathy.

Empathy at the workplace is a key aspect in team building

Empathy is the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings, perspectives and behaviours. It involves seeing and appreciating the whole person, not just their actions or words.

It is not about fixing problems but about offering genuine support—creating a space where individuals can express themselves freely without the pressure of solving their emotional challenges.

 However, in today’s fast-paced, competitive work culture, the drive to personally succeed often eclipses the need for meaningful relationships. This emphasis on individual achievement and relentless hustle, can erode our ability to maintain strong, healthy connections with colleagues; leading to a loss of empathy.

How lack of Empathy impacts an organisation

Lack of empathy manifests in various ways.

• Employees, be they leaders or team members,  prioritise personal ambition and success in the targets given to them.

• This is accentuated further by team leaders, who get obsessed with the tasks on hand and the goal to be achieved at any cost; since they in turn are answerable to their superiors. This often leads to one sided conversations, with little regard for the views of others.

• It also shows up in terms of adamant attitudes, rude and short tempered outbursts, disrespect to people around etc.  

The team members respond to this in different ways –

• Some become submissive and suspend all their other priorities, to focus upon the task on hand. This leads to stress, other pressures, conflicts with others, at work and in personal life, reducing productivity.

• Others get critical, rebellious or argumentative, thus losing focus on the work.

As a result, leaders and their team members, both experience burnout, mental health struggles, strained relationships and a decrease in overall productivity.

Eventually, the superior pressurises more to either deliver or leave; or the employees themselves start looking for quick exits from the organisation.

The biggest loser is the organisation – in terms of its productivity and profitability.

To reverse these negative trends, fostering empathy within teams is essential.

Key Elements of Empathy

Empathy is not about showing sympathy and letting go of the goals on hand or pardoning despite visible signs of impending failure. It is about bringing balance to the relationship, by building the connection between leader and team members, as well as peers within the team.

A simple example from daily life in a sales team

A team member is new to the company and has a sales target assigned. After 3 months, he continues to fall significantly short of the sales target.

The team leader has two ways to handle the situation –

1. To show anger and dissatisfaction in a team meeting and telling the sales exec to either improve immediately or leave. “I am giving you just one more month!” The exec feels humiliated, withdraws and gets anxious.
2. To show empathy by saying “what’s happening? Are you finding it difficult? Let’s sit down separately and go through what you experienced so far.”

What would be the effect on the sales exec if the second option is used?

What do you think the superior should choose to do?

Some key attributes that help build and show empathy are –

1. Listening: Active listening is a cornerstone of empathy. Attentive listening involves more than just hearing words—it requires being fully present and attuned to nonverbal cues. It helps the other person feel valued and listened to.
2. Perspective-Taking: Empathy requires stepping outside of our own experiences and considering the perspective of others, even if we don’t personally relate to their situation. It helps getting a wider view of the situation on hand, thus enabling objective decision making and actions.
3. Holding Curiosity – exploring why something happened helps bring out questions and issues which otherwise stay suppressed. It helps the team member speak logically without fear of being admonished.
4. Attunement: Demonstrating that you care and are fully present in a conversation fosters a sense of importance and validation for the other person, increasing the likelihood of a positive, productive exchange.
5. Non-judgment: Empathy involves suspending judgment and being open-minded, understanding that different people have different experiences and viewpoints.

Empathy’s Role in Strengthening Relationships

The net result of the experience of an empathetic conversation between team members is the strengthening of the connect between them in the following ways –

1. Restoring Trust: Empathy can help rebuild relationships that may have been strained by a lack of trust, offering a path to repair and reconciliation.
2. Facilitating Communication: By fostering an empathetic environment, communication becomes more open and constructive, allowing for more transparent and effective dialogue.
3. Enhancing Connection: Empathy deepens connections between individuals, promoting a sense of intimacy and mutual understanding.
4. Reducing Anxiety: A commitment to empathetic interactions makes it easier for individuals to engage with others without fear of judgment or misunderstanding, reducing anxiety and encouraging openness.

Empathy: A Quiet Strength

In a world that often praises speed, efficiency, and self-promotion, empathy thus offers an alternative—a quiet strength that fosters connection, compassion and deeper human understanding.

To summarise, Empathy reconnects us –

• To others, through meaningful relationships
• To our teams, through trust and collaboration
• To ourselves, through self-awareness and emotional presence

Empathy is, therefore, not just some soft skill! it’s a core leadership competency. And more than that, it’s a deeply human one.

Are you keen to explore your own behaviour and experiences with respect to Empathy – receiving it as well as showing it to yourself and others?

Here’s a short self learning video by Deepa Kumar, Psychotherapist, on this subject, that helps look within and make changes.

Click the below link to know more.

Empathy at the Work Place

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