Essay Sample about Empathy in Business

“82 percent of employees view empathy as a crucial way to influence businesses” (Businesssolver). The present debate over empathy demonstrates that it is a critical of improving business communication, increase production, leadership as well as reduce stress. If one is going to lead a business and be successful, these certain skills involving empathy are going to be vital to develop.

Expressing empathy is vital for a business’s communication. Empathy helps one better understand the customers viewpoint, if a customer observes you as being empathetic, your sales will increase (Ross 1). A simple sales call can turn into an actual passionate conversation with the customer just by showing empathy. According to the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella states, “The value that I really learned to appreciate deeply and which I talk about a great deal is empathy” (Nadella). The saying “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes” can help one find it easier to relate to the customer. By putting yourself in someone else’s perspective, businesses can show empathy by distinguishing how the customer uses and feels about said product. For example, Ryanair’s success after implementing the “Always Getting Better” program is staggering. The airlines previous net worth of 950 million increased to 1.34 billion dollars in two years just by reducing the hidden fees in tickets and lesser baggage luggage fees (Ross). The program made workers more empathetic to the customers a long with the environment, hence leading to better sales. Increasing your sales will make your employees more excited to go to work and lead to better communication between them. From that productivity will increase because workers are happy to be there.

Productivity is what drives a business to higher levels. There is always a demand for more output in the workplace. Putting in the same but getting more out of it is a business’s main goal when thinking about productivity. While they are all important factors of productivity, many of leaders seize to realize the major role of empathy in productivity. There are so many little things that can cause distractions at work and limit productivity. Helen Riess tells Thrive, “One of the biggest mistakes that leaders can make is to assume that a lack of productivity or a lack of engagement is due to not caring about the work” (Reiss).  Rather the reality is that the workplace has a lack of empathy. This causes employees for a business to be bored and dread going to their job every day. According to Hannah Miller managed by Businessolver, “82 percent of people would leave their current job for a more empathetic work culture” (Miller). If a businessperson is overwhelmed or there is a lack of empathy in the office, it's easy to see why they could despise their job. To get rid of the limited productivity in a business companies need to find solutions instead of focusing on who to fire just because they show a lack in empathy. The company “Google” had realized this and focused on soft skills to better the company and only hire the best of the best, and the most empathetic of people. Google conducted a study in 2017 to see how their employees demonstrated certain "soft skills" and focused on improving them. They discovered that the more empathetic an employee was, the better ideas that were generated (Ross 1).  Google reported an improvement in productivity and less stress as a result of allowing employees to speak out about new ideas and getting them involved with the company.

Stress and productivity within a business go hand in hand with each other. Covid-19 has been a big factor in businesses across the world. It is easy to see how one can be stressed from it (Peek 2022). Productivity in a business can plummet because of the amount stress someone has. Taking a toll on the company’s revenue and putting your job at stake. The impact stress has in a workplace setting is detrimental. Corporate Wellness Magazine tells, “workers who are stressed at work are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors (Wellness). By workers partaking in certain unhealthy behaviors can increase the number of excuses they make about not being able to go to work. The book “The War For Kindness” has many examples of empathy and stress. In chapter 2 Jamil Zaki talks about how common burnout is in specific professions such as business. When someone is faced with a stressful situation, they tend to avoid it to cause further stress. Many people want to achieve their goals but aren’t willing to put in the work (Zaki 49). This is very discouraging because everyone has goals and wants to achieve them. But not everyone knows or is willing to jump out of there comfort zone to attain them. Therefore, business leaders who show more empathy towards their co-workers can reduce their stress and get them out of there comfort zone.

If a company wants to succeed it is crucial that they hire business leaders who can properly manage their team a long with show empathy towards their co-workers. According to When one is leading it is important to be empathetic towards your colleagues. 

Works Cited

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2021/05/17/new-research-shows-why-business-leaders-struggle-with-workplace-empathy/#:~:text=Employee%20empathy%20ratings%20of%20their,full%20nine%20percentage%20points%20higher.

https://leaders.com/articles/personal-growth/why-is-empathy-important/

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/322302

https://www.risescience.com/blog/improve-sales-empathy-sleep

https://thriveglobal.com/stories/ways-empathy-makes-us-more-productive-tips-strategies/

https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/stress/related/stress-statistics/#:~:text=About%2033%20percent%20of%20people,trouble%20sleeping%20because%20of%20stress

https://www.aesinternational.com/blog/health/how-empathy-creates-a-more-productive-workforce#:~:text=Empathy%20shows%20people%20they%20are,slashed%20salary%20for%20the%20same.

https://www.business.com/articles/stress-and-productivity-what-the-numbers-say/