Empathy in the Workplace: Three Simple Ways to Avoid Burnout

Empathy is a hot topic in the workplace, and while it should be, there are problems with requiring workers to be more empathic. Study after study finds that workers who show empathy are rated as more effective, more approachable, and more professional than their less engaged colleagues. Empathic managers are consistently shown to develop better communication and stronger team cohesion, while empathic health care professionals have higher patient satisfaction scores. However, empathic burnout is rampant in many high-empathy occupations. For instance, health care, which demands constant empathy, is seeing high absenteeism, high turnover, widespread depression, and even suicides among doctors and nurses. Empathy in the workplace is essential, but it is work, and it needs to be taken seriously so that empathic burnout doesn't occur. In my research on empathy, I found that there isn't a lot of awareness of the serious burnout potential of empathy work. There also isn't a step-by-step understanding of the different aspects of empathy, the kinds of empathy demand workers face, or the ways that a healthy workplace culture can protect workers from overwhelm and burnout. In my work, I help people develop focused skills and a strong understanding of the different aspects of empathy so that their empathy can be effective, intentional, and most important, healthy and sustainable throughout their careers and their lives. Three Simple Ways to Avoid Empathic Burnout 1. Improve Your Emotional Vocabulary
Empathy is first and foremost an emotional skill, and one of the most important (and easy!) ways to develop better emotional skills is to simply increase your emotional vocabulary. If you have a larger and more nuanced emotional vocabulary, you can identify and respond more effectively to your own emotions and the emotions of others. Vocabulary matters, and workers who share a large emotional vocabulary will develop better empathic accuracy and stronger emotion regulation skills. 2. Create Repair Stations for Empathy Workers
Healthy empathy is the art of responding effectively to the emotions and needs of others. In many workplaces, empathy work may be focused on problems and conflicts, and this can be tiring. It is very helpful to create what sociologists call "repair stations," where people can talk in private about the often-difficult empathy work they do. This small shift can make a huge difference, and it can create an empathic environment within the workforce itself. 3. Support and Encourage Empathy Breaks
In high-empathy or high-conflict workplaces, some workers are performing intense empathy work all day long, with no breaks and little to no awareness that they are doing heavy empathic labor. Managers and colleagues can build short no-contact and no-expectation breaks into each day, where high-empathy workers can be alone, go for a walk, or simply zone out. Regular rest is a vital part of avoiding burnout. Empathy is an essential ability and a vital job skill. Luckily, there are ways to make sure that empathy is as healthy for each worker and each workplace as it is for the bottom line. Karla McLaren, MEd, taught "The Art of Empathy" at 1440 Multiversity in April of 2018.