Company leaders and supervisors don’t always know how to handle employees’ emotions at work. It’s worth learning. A recent series of studies from members of Stanford Graduate School of Business and Harvard Business School reveals that employees trust their supervisors more when they acknowledge their emotions — especially when they appear upset. Responding to employees’ emotions can build a stronger workplace and support a culture of compassion.

“People react better when they have someone that cares about them, who they trust,” says Stephanie Gatlin, PHR, senior HRBP at Helix. Responding to employees with empathy and compassion empowers managers and HR to support employees, and ultimately improve performance and productivity.

Of course, there’s a fine line between cultivating compassion and invading privacy. It’s crucial that HR set parameters and provide examples of how to interact with compassion — within appropriate boundaries. That requires building compassion into your workflows and processes, which in turn allows HR to generate good habits and behaviors that drive compassion and empathy in the workplace.

“Compassion and empathy play a very strong role in the modern workplace,” says Spencer Vance, PHR, HRBP at doTERRA International, LLC. Employees have more options for employment than ever before. Cultivating a healthy culture of compassion in your workplace provides a vital differentiating factor.

Here are some steps your HR team can take to foster compassion in the workplace.

Build, Share, Practice

Compassion in the workplace can take several forms. At the one-on-one level, it typically manifests in behaviors and reactions. How a manager reacts when an employee returns from leave, for example, can demonstrate compassion. Asking about their stressors as they reacclimate sets an empathetic tone, says Yvette Finley, PHR, HR generalist at the Center for Health Care Services: “You can show that you care about them as a person as opposed to the role they play at your organization.”

The key is creating a process. Compassion can follow a pattern of building trust, sharing information and practicing empathy. The first step is developing a trusting relationship, usually by building a bank of positive interactions. That history empowers the employee to confide information in their manager.

“Information is an important piece because, without proper context, the proper decision usually isn’t made,” Vance says. “Good information precedes good decisions.” If an employee is exhibiting performance issues, for example, the information they share can enable an employer to understand why.

The person receiving the information must have some measure of empathy. That allows information to flow both ways. If the manager can empathize with the employee’s situation, they can respond with compassion and redirect the employee to the appropriate resources.

It’s not always as simple as directing an employee to the company EAP, though. In some cases, managers and HR might have to collaborate to find solutions to assist the employee in completing their work.

Implement Soft Skills Training for Company Leaders

Emotional intelligence, communication and other soft skills are some of the most important and broadly applicable skill sets on the market, Vance says. As work continues to evolve, those are increasingly the skills we need to cultivate in our leaders and managers.

Skills that HR should train leaders in include:

• Communication, active listening and the ability to offer candid feedback. Trust is built through positive interactions, and these capabilities make positive interactions possible.
• Empathy, or the ability to understand what someone else is going through. Empathy drives compassion in the workplace.
• Ownership and accountability. Managers must be able to acknowledge their role in both successes and failures. They should frequently recognize their team members’ individual contributions.
• Self-awareness. Managers have to be self-aware enough to know that they can (and should) grow their soft skills, says Jen Jacques-DeFranco, PHR, HR consultant at the Employers Council. For example, self-awareness empowers managers to recognize when they need to change the way they deliver feedback.
• Curiosity, or the ability to stop and seek answers. “When we’re in a state of frustration,” Jacques-Defranco asks, “what questions can we ask to get more information?”

These essential skills pave the way for integrating compassion in the workplace.

Soft skills are hard to teach, but it’s possible to acquire them. Start by training managers on the concepts behind each soft skill. Provide examples that managers are likely to encounter as well as ideal behaviors and responses. Help them identify where they can use soft skills in their daily work.

The best way to teach soft skills is in the flow of work. “We learn most and we learn best when we see a direct application of the knowledge,” Vance says. Real interactions between employees and managers assist them in mastering soft skills much more effectively than seminars or classroom training alone. For instance, to help a manager learn active listening, monitor a conversation between a manager and an employee and offer feedback.

“When we have a situation that the manager cares about and is relevant to them,” Vance explains, “they’re going to not only have greater motivation to learn but also retain the information better.”

Reassess Policies and Processes

Many companies are taking advantage of widespread disruption to make adjustments in the workplace. You don’t have to confine them to matters directly affected by environmental changes. Use disruption as an opportunity to take a deeper look.

Do current policies and processes still serve employee needs? What’s working? What are the challenges? Reassess your policies and processes to determine whether they make sense for your current employee population, Jacques-Defranco says.

HR professionals continue to implement a lot of changes in the workplace. HR should be working with management and leadership to ask how these new policies are impacting other people. “Always consider how that policy affects others,” Gatlin says.

On a larger scale, compassion in the workplace manifests itself as employee advocacy and decisions that support the employee population. To foster compassion in the workplace, HR has to become a strategic advocate for the workforce. And to do that, the workforce needs to be clearly heard. The people that policies impact the most should have a say in the review process.

To do that, survey the workforce before making any decisions. You have to really understand your employee population, Gatlin says, to gain a sense of how process changes will impact their ability to achieve their work.

As you work towards changes in policies and processes, be compassionate about the change fatigue we’re all experiencing. We can’t do business as usual when so much is in flux. Use change management tactics to bring about change gradually, with as little disruption to workflows as possible.

Put People First

Employees are demanding more flexibility in how, when and where they work. The future workplace might require more customized solutions than one-size-fits-all policies.

It’s vital to build room into scheduling and processes to give employees flexibility or space when they need it. “It’s not a ‘no,’ just a ‘not right now’,” Finley says. “That leaves room for compassion.”

Implement what Jaqcues-Defranco refers to as “I notice” meetings. These are performance conversations that come from a place of caring and compassion. If a manager notices an employee is unusually quiet during a meeting or appears upset after a presentation, ask them about it. This can open conversations that lead to healthy solutions.

Consider implementing a process similar to the accommodation process, but with a larger scope. Asking employees how they work best builds the foundation for a compassionate workplace. Choice and flexibility give employees the power to determine how they can bring their best selves to work.

Fostering empathy and compassion helps employees and managers across the organization relate to each other better. “That relatability equals more collaboration, awareness and success,” Gatlin says.

Model the Behaviors You Want

HR should lead by example. Your HR department can pilot and model both behaviors and processes that foster compassion in the workplace. Invite managers to observe a mock performance conversation, for example, or to see your team at work.

Show your actions to help managers learn the specific behaviors that drive compassion in the workplace. Invite them to model those behaviors within their teams and to other departments, too. “How you manage one situation spreads,” Gatlin says.

When hiring and promoting, implement assessments that measure empathy and compassion, Finley suggests. Help hiring managers learn to consider and prioritize those traits over hard skills or degree requirements alone.

Leaders and managers also need to model the behaviors they want to see. Taking time off to prevent burnout is essential to preserving employee mental health. But if managers don’t take time off themselves, employees may believe they can’t use the benefit without repercussions.

Putting people first doesn’t mean that operations take a backseat, Finley says. But it becomes a more balanced relationship. When workforce well-being is front and center, employees are empowered to deliver their best performances and drive the business forward.