In today’s workplace, it’s no secret that things are pretty stressful. Businesses are dealing with high inflation, steep costs of living, and opinions clashing across generations. Add in lingering Covid-related anxieties, the approaching holiday season, and global and political conflicts and you’ve got a perfect storm. Leaders are stuck in the middle, trying to manage teams while juggling these daily challenges. It’s hard to find the balance between empathy and professionalism — but few things are more important.
Using empathy with employees is always important, but it gets tricky when there’s also a business to run. Navigating this tough terrain calls for leaders to find a balance between business needs and taking care of their people. Issues that require leaders to balance and combine empathy and professionalism arise in the workplace in a variety of ways. Here are three real-world examples we’ve seen where managers’ and employees’ expectations differ:
Inapropos Dress Code
A manager of a client-facing team advocated for a casual workplace atmosphere and encouraged his employees to prioritize their mental health. However, one employee, obviously still in the work-from-home dress code mindset, opted for the comfort of pajamas. While this choice aligned with the employee’s interpretation of self-care, it demonstrated a difference in opinion with her manager about the boundaries of professionalism.
The clash highlights the nuanced challenges that arise when fostering an environment that values mental health while navigating the subjective terrain of what is considered appropriate in a client-facing setting. In this situation, a leader can maintain empathy while clarifying their visions of what “casual” actually means.
Tragedy PTO
An employee who was a vital contributor to a major company project faced the sudden and devastating loss of her brother by suicide. The emotional toll rendered her understandably unable to fulfill her work obligations. For weeks, she routinely called out sick which resulted in a strain on her coworkers and slowed the progress of an crucial project.
Due to financial constraints, there were no other staff who could pick up her responsibilities. In such heart-wrenching circumstances, the manager is confronted with an unenviable task of striking the right balance between empathy for the employee’s grief and the professional imperatives of the ongoing project. This is a scenario with no correct answer, but requires expertly navigating the subtle emotions along with the imminent needs of the business.
Noble Ignoramus
A relatively new employee to a company had some personal ethical concerns about an incoming series of new sales contracts. Lacking guidance on proper channels for addressing such matters, he opted to jump on Slack and directly message the CEO. He made some inappropriate remarks on both the company’s ethics and called out the CEO’s conduct directly.
This employee had never worked in an office setting before and no one at his job had taught him the proper protocols or the hierarchy for raising concerns that were above his pay grade. Needless to say, the CEO was livid, and everyone paid the price for the actions of one ignorant individual. This situation could likely be solved with some tactful, well-placed empathy, combined with outlining some clear expectations for what sales contracts entail and the appropriate chain of command when it comes to addressing concerns (i.e. professionalism).
How do you balance empathy and professionalism in the workplace?
These three examples illustrate nuanced situations that require leaders to have empathy and compassion for their employees when finding practical solutions. It may seem like the easy solution in some of these cases is to reprimand or dismiss the employee, but empathy is paramount to preventing this from happening again and again. Organizations and leaders need to find ways to hold space for compassion and understanding of their employees, while still clearly communicating expectations and standards to avoid future mishaps.
Conflicts are bound to happen in the workplace, and it’s just good business to expect them and be ready for them. But rather than trying to prevent every issue, focus on having systems and a culture that can handle problems swiftly and calmly with empathy and professionalism. Here are a few easy tricks:
- When things get messy, take a step back. Ask questions to get to the real problem. Slowing down helps in understanding issues better and sets the stage for a more empathetic resolution.
- Listen to your employees in ways that work for them. If your staff feel like their concerns aren’t heard, give them some 1-on-1 time, even if it’s just a few minutes. It goes a long way in making them feel valued. Create private spaces for discussions and acknowledge that not all problems can be fixed right away. Even if there’s not an immediate solution, providing a supportive atmosphere goes a long way.
- It’s natural that people in your workplace will have different opinions – both in and out of work – but remember that everyone is there for the same reason. Disagreements happen, but it can help to focus on the common values. Rallying your team around the collective goals of the project or company can help keep everyone aligned and working collectively towards success.
- Lastly, leaders need to take care of themselves too. As they say on airplanes, “put your own mask on first, then help those around you.” A manager who’s burnt out only makes things worse. Prioritize self-care to tackle workplace challenges with a clear and empathetic mind.
You should always feel like you can sit down and talk to any of your employees about issues that arise at work. But, this can be one of the most challenging aspects of managing a successful team. If you feel like you can’t sit down and have a productive conversation with someone on your team, it’s definitely time to bring in a professional, before it’s too late.
Flynn Barrett Consulting is here to help you listen with empathy so we can solve those painful problems together. Curious? Let’s have a chat today.
