{"id":674,"date":"2016-08-30T19:02:27","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T18:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.workstars.com\/recognition-and-engagement-blog\/?p=674"},"modified":"2019-07-26T13:10:45","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T12:10:45","slug":"compassion-place-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.workstars.com\/recognition-and-engagement-blog\/2016\/08\/30\/compassion-place-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Should compassion have a place in work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019d generally think being compassionate is a good thing. But while most people seem to view it positively in their personal lives, opinions get a bit more blurry when you\u2019re talking about compassion in the workplace.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s compassion?<\/h3>\n

Roffey Park\u2019s been taking a look at the subject in its report about\u00a0compassion at work<\/a>. Compassion\u2019s not an easy thing to define but the report has a go; it\u2019s being moved by and feeling sorrow for another person\u2019s suffering or problems. That creates an authentic desire to help. More importantly, it leads to action that aims to alleviate the pain or problem felt by the other person.<\/p>\n

In the workplace this manifests itself when you discover that a colleague or employee has a problem. You feel empathy. You want to take action to help them. It might be one to one help or it might be that a few people offer assistance collectively.<\/p>\n

But is this something that always happens or in reality is there a lack of compassion in organisations?<\/p>\n

Does compassion exist in your business?<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s likely to be the case that it does to some extent. There can\u2019t be many people who\u2019d hear about someone else going through a difficult time and not feel any sympathy.<\/p>\n

And yet that last part of Roffey Park\u2019s definition \u2013 taking actual action to alleviate the problem \u2013 seems to be where it falls down. Not because people really don\u2019t care about others but because when you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed by pressure to perform productively and efficiently in your own job it reduces the odds of noticing another person\u2019s needs. And even if you do notice, you may be less inclined to do much about it.<\/p>\n

A business\u2019 culture can get in the way too. You might feel sympathy if you see someone going through a difficult time and getting emotional. But you might also be conscious about how others view it. Could some people regard it as weak behaviour that is has no place in work? And would that make you look like a soft touch if you\u2019re trying to help the employee?<\/p>\n

The Roffey Park view is that there\u2019s a strong business case for compassion in the workplace and that means overcoming such cultural issues if they exist. Some of the case it makes is based on evidence suggesting compassionate leadership improves employee engagement<\/a> and retention. Compassionate management means your employees will be comfortable talking about their problems. They\u2019ll flourish in a culture of support. You\u2019ll be helping to build close relationships and familiarity between peers.<\/p>\n

The report also reminds us there are some things you shouldn\u2019t really need to justify with a business case. Sometimes the fact that it\u2019s the decent thing to do makes it the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

So what do you think? Should there be more compassion at your workplace? And how compassionate would you say you are? If you\u2019d like to find out then you might want to try Roffey Park\u2019s Compassion at Work Index<\/a> (CWI). It\u2019s a statistically robust model which gives you a personalised report of your own perception of your levels of compassion at work. If the results come as an unwelcome surprise it also gives you some ideas about how you can develop a more compassionate style too\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019d generally think being compassionate is a good thing. But while most people seem to view it positively in their personal lives,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[21,20,42,17,26,48],"class_list":["post-674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-company-values","tag-culture","tag-relationships","tag-social","tag-trust","tag-wellbeing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShould compassion have a place in work? 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