Being able to empathize with your workers is the cornerstone of any good manager. Some people can empathize with no effort at all, while it may not come as easily to others. However, empathizing with people is something that anyone can achieve.
You may ask yourself why you want to feel a sense of empathy with your workers. Beyond the obvious reason, it will make you easier to get along with. Having a manager who is not sympathetic to their workers can be immensely demoralizing, leading to a high turnover rate or your workers not doing their job properly.
If you’re looking to improve your empathy, 3C Contact Services Inc., the top provider of outsourced call center solutions, has a few tips on how you can develop a better understanding with your agents:
1. Understand there is an emotional side to business:
As a business leader, you may be tempted to view the world in stark black and white terms. However, you need to realize that there is also a highly emotional side to business as well. An agent may feel passionate about a certain project or there may be a certain customer they hate to deal with because they are verbally abusive. Start to read between the lines and think of business in terms of shades of grey.
2. Understand there are emotions involved and how to recognize events that can cause anger, disappointment, sadness, and happiness:
You shouldn’t expect your agents to be completely emotionless when they go about their job. Play close attention to the events that occur throughout the day that can cause any number of emotions, both positive and negative. Find out what is causing negativity and strive to reduce these situations while encouraging anything that brings your agents happiness.
3. Appreciate you were once in their shoes, and will eventually be again, and how you felt before and how they are feeling now:
Remember that you were once an entry-level employee and you may well find yourself starting over again someday. It never hurts to take a look back and recall that nervous agent you were when you showed up for your first day of work. This will go a long way to helping you empathize with what your agents are going through when they’re just starting out on the job and what they have to deal with on a daily basis.
4. If you’re a manager of people, your decisions weigh greatly on these things:
Something else you must keep in mind is that the decisions you make will have an effect on your employees as well. 3C Contact Services suggests that you consider how any decisions you make will affect both the organization and your agents.
