An Empathetic Workforce Doesn’t Just Feel Good. It Works Well.

“As companies seek to identify, hire and train the next generation of leaders for the digital age, they are faced with a host of transformative changes that are no longer just on the horizon,” says George Brooks, EY Americas Leader, People Advisory Services.

Instead, he says, “these changes have already moved in, bringing with them a profound impact on where, how, and why people work, innovate, engage, and produce.” Companies are finding that employees both want and expect the same seamless digital experience at work that they get at home. They’re looking for purpose as a critical work experience. They’re expecting automation not to replace their jobs but to free them up for creative thinking and social interaction.

“Business models are changing,” says Brooks, “they’re more team-based and less hierarchical. And that teaming is what’s driving innovation.” However, he cautions, many of the constructs with which companies look at employee needs “are still out of the 1980s.”

“Business models are changing. They’re more team-based and less hierarchical. And that teaming is what’s driving innovation.”

Key to teaming, talent engagement, and, in fact, the business agenda today, says Brooks, is empathy—especially in an era that is increasingly automated. But empathy, Brooks suggests, is missing in many Millennials. The irony in this, Brooks notes, is that Millennials can be seen as excelling at what could be called “macro-empathy” at the same time that they’re weak at “micro-empathy.” So, while these new workers may have trouble moving past what Brooks calls “the me society,” they’re increasingly insistent that the companies for which they work be purpose-driven, “merging their corporate agenda with a broader social mandate.”

Citing a number of studies that have demonstrated a rapid decline in empathy traits in college students, Brooks suggests that a key for companies is to build on Millennials’ strong macro-empathy traits by developing their micro-empathy instincts, through both coaching and the implementation of learning techniques. This, he says, would end up strengthening the part of the brain that has been stymied and would enable Millennials to become more engaged, productive team members, with technology used to free up creative thinking and social interaction, rather than impede it. The point, says Brooks, is to “increase individual mindfulness and change mindsets to better respond to external stimuli.”

For CEOs, he adds, the workplace today—not just in the future—is “at a critical juncture.” With such forces as “techno-stress, digital dementia, and lack of empathy” having taken their toll, the challenge is to reverse the trends, harness both empathy and technology, and move forward into a more innovative tomorrow, today.


MORE LIKE THIS

  • Get the CEO Briefing

    Sign up today to get weekly access to the latest issues affecting CEOs in every industry
  • upcoming events

    Roundtable

    Strategic Planning Workshop

    1:00 - 5:00 pm

    Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process

    Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:

    1. Lack of systematic approach (70%)
    2. Laundry lists without prioritization (68%)
    3. Decisions based on personalities rather than facts and information (65%)

     

    Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns.  They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning.  Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process.  This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented.  If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form.  The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.

    New York, NY: ​​​Chief Executive's Corporate Citizenship Awards 2017

    Women in Leadership Seminar and Peer Discussion

    2:00 - 5:00 pm

    Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations. 

    Limited space available.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $495 will be added to your total.

    Golf Outing

    10:30 - 5:00 pm
    General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
    Sponsored by UBS

    General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.

    The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.

    To sign up, select this option in your registration form. Additional fee of $295 will be added to your total.