When you have middle managers who aren’t adept at resolving conflict, it can result in higher staff turnover and an inability to retain your best new hires.
Teaching Your Leaders to Show Empathy
As a senior manager, you have to teach those middle managers how to start resolving conflict in your office. Luckily, this doesn’t have to be as tricky as it might seem.
One of the top reasons star performers leave an organisation is management. If you’re losing great new hires, examine your middle management to see if they possess one key trait: empathy.
A middle manager with zero empathy can drive away talent so fast you won’t know what hit your organisation. However, displaying empathy has many positive effects. It builds trust, reduces tension, and encourages communication.
Empathetic leaders create a workplace culture where employees feel valued
This not only boosts morale but also enhances productivity and fosters innovation.
If you have middle managers who lack empathy as a soft skill, don’t feel you need to give up just yet. Empathy is a skill that can be learned and cultivated over time with the proper guidance and resources.
Your middle managers need to learn the three critical stages of empathy:
Identifying someone’s emotions: Understanding others’ emotions is crucial in resolving conflicts and fostering a positive work environment.
Middle managers must recognise when team members feel frustrated, anxious, or happy
This requires active listening, observation, and sensitivity to nonverbal cues.
Understanding others’ perspectives: Empathetic leaders put themselves in others’ shoes, understanding their viewpoints, concerns, and motivations. This enables them to make more informed decisions and respond effectively to various situations.
Encouraging middle managers to engage in perspective-taking exercises, such as role-playing or scenario-based discussions, can help broaden their understanding of diverse perspectives within the team.
Reacting to others emotionally appropriately
Once middle managers have identified emotions and understood perspectives, they must respond to acknowledge and validate those feelings. This might involve offering support, providing solutions, or simply listening attentively.
Practical communication skills are essential here, as empathetic leaders must convey empathy through their words and actions.
Teaching these three skills may seem daunting, but it’s entirely achievable with a structured approach and ongoing support from senior management. Training sessions, workshops, and resources tailored to middle managers’ can assist in teaching Your Leaders to Show Empathy
Remember, empathy isn’t just about understanding others—it’s also about understanding yourself
Encourage middle managers to reflect on their experiences, biases, and emotions, as self-awareness is fundamental to empathetic leadership.
By prioritising empathy in your organisation, you’ll create a more supportive and harmonious workplace where employees feel valued and understood. This will not only improve employee satisfaction and retention but also strengthen your organisation’s overall performance and reputation in the long run.
If you need help, please download this week’s free chapter from my Amazon best-selling book, ENGAGE. Click here to access valuable insights and strategies for cultivating empathy and enhancing leadership effectiveness.
Even with empathy training, conflicts arising from differences in opinions among team members are inevitable in any organization. To ensure their influence, you must equip your leaders with conflict-resolution skills. Here’s what they need to know about resolving conflicts.
It can be a lot to teach these three skills, but it can be done. If you need a little help, I encourage you to check out this week’s free chapter download from my Amazon best selling book, ENGAGE, click here.
How well have you developed empathy with others or yourself? Read here on developing empathy.