Employee Empathy in Trying Times
Reports of violent racism, mass shootings, discrimination, environmental disasters, war, and other social issues can raise fear, anger, and stress among employees and impact how they show up for work. In moments of national and global upheaval, it is crucial for employers to acknowledge the situation, extend empathy to employees, and take actions that are aligned with organizational values.
As employers, the actions you take in the aftermath of atrocities can demonstrate your commitment to employee well-being and allow you to translate Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) values into meaningful policies and initiatives. Conversely, failing to acknowledge the impact of atrocities or take meaningful action can lead to employee disengagement, burnout, attrition, and lack of faith in the sincerity of your JEDI commitments.
While you cannot predict the nature of the next calamity, you can develop systems and best practices for how your organization will respond to current and future social crises. Here are seven recommendations for how to respond to atrocities in ways that support employees and further your organization’s commitments to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Start with Leadership
After atrocities occur, strive to offer a prompt response that is balanced with thoughtful messaging, clear resources, and meaningful action items. Before communicating with employees, share the response strategy with your leadership team and make space for leaders to discuss with one another. Starting with leadership allows diverse perspectives to surface, prepares leaders to guide employees empathetically, and supports the rollout of a united response.
Prioritize Empathy
Workers are human first and it is natural for employees to be upset, stressed, angry, or fearful about horrific events in the world. In these moments, employees may struggle to focus on work and be productive, their mental health may suffer, and they may struggle to manage the demands of life and work. An organization that cares about inclusion and employee well-being cannot continue business as usual when employees are not okay. Meeting employees with empathy is the first step in supporting workers to navigate national and global crises.
Whether through town hall meetings, email communications, or messages from leadership, let employees know that you recognize the potential impact of tragic events and are committed to creating a culture of empathy. Offer reminders about employee assistance programs, available mental health resources and benefits, provide flexibility when possible, or create spaces for collective processing, dialogue, feedback, and employee learning. While it is not possible to anticipate all employee needs, showing empathy conveys that you understand the gravity of the crisis and are willing to prioritize employee well-being and humanity over productivity and contributions.
Seek and Incorporate Feedback
Seek input from employees about their needs and incorporate their feedback into the organization’s approach to the tragedy. Doing so indicates that you are listening to employees and value inclusion. Expect to send multiple messages to employees as you adapt to the evolving circumstances and adjust your approach to incorporate employee feedback.
Depending on the situation, employees from marginalized groups may be more impacted. Be sure to recognize the psychological and emotional exhaustion that marginalized employees may feel and demonstrate awareness of the hardships marginalized communities experience directly and indirectly. Seek feedback from employee resource groups and employees who are most impacted by the situation.
Empathy is Not Agreement
Remember that being empathetic does not require that you agree with employee perspectives or have answers to complex social issues. Empathy is about checking in, actively listening, and being present to employee needs. Though difficult, it is necessary to extend empathy broadly even when employees hold diverse perspectives about current events.
Responding with empathy raises the likelihood that employees experience more engagement, feel heard, valued, and respected, and are more able to balance the pressures of life and work. Your words of empathy will ring hollow if organizational policies do not genuinely support employees. Ensure your communication is clear and employees do not receive mixed messages about whether or not they can take care of themselves.
Respond Selectively
While employees may feel impacted by various atrocities, it is not advisable to issue company-wide responses to every tragedy. Responding too frequently could dilute the impact of your response and add to employee fatigue.
Rather than organization-wide responses, you can offer special listening sessions for impacted employees, leverage employee resource groups (ERGs) and affinity network groups to facilitate conversations, and engage supervisors and managers in extending empathy to teams. Managers are in a unique position to hold space and support employees, but many lack the necessary skills. You can offer regular training programs to equip and empower managers to support direct reports in turbulent times.
Avoid Performative Statements
It is commonplace for organizations to release statements and social media messages in response to national and global tragedies. Indeed, employees often expect a public response from their employer, and going silent after an atrocity can be interpreted as insensitivity. A well-crafted JEDI statement communicates your organization’s position on the atrocity and shares specific equity actions you propose to take. Too often, statements put forward vague platitudes about justice and offer either unrealistic or inadequate commitments. Shallow statements do more harm as they call into question the sincerity of your organization’s JEDI commitments and can leave employees feeling disappointed or betrayed by their institution.
When issuing statements, be as specific as possible about the situation. Thoughtful communication centers justice, human rights, and dignity. It names impacted groups, centers marginalized communities, and proposes concrete commitments. You might commit to making organizational transformations, supporting humanitarian organizations, or making financial contributions to impacted communities.
Make Commitments and Follow Through
When introducing new policies and initiatives in statements, follow through with financial resources and include justice initiatives as line items in budgets. Do not overcommit or present your organization as further along in your JEDI journey than you are. Statements should build on the JEDI work your organization is already doing and resonate with previously articulated JEDI vision and values. It is better to make small commitments that you can backup and be accountable for, than grand commitments that fall flat.
Taking a courageous public stance for justice after an atrocity can send a powerful message about your organization’s values and boost employee engagement and morale. It can combat feelings of hopelessness among employees, support recruitment and retention of employees from marginalized groups, and build a sense of belonging across a diverse workforce.
