HRMA of Western New England: Combining Empathy and Accountability

Many leaders struggle with empathy because they feel it can be enabling. When an employee makes an excuse for why they didn’t get something done – “I just have so much on my plate. I didn’t get to it.” – being empathetic can feel like accepting that excuse and allowing bad behavior to go unchecked.  During the pandemic, one of the most difficult challenges for leaders was how do I remain empathetic to the challenges of remote leadership, decreased motivation and engagement, and drops in productivity, while holding people accountable to the requirements of their job. The great news is that empathy and accountability are not mutually exclusive.

In this program, you will learn how to have difficult conversations that leave people feeling supported, heard, and validated while also developing collaborative solutions to get people back on track with the right habits and behaviors to meet your expectations. Learn to lead with empathy and default to curiosity to better understand what drives your team member’s behaviors and what motivates them to act.

• Listen empathically to signal respectful communication
• Clarify ideas, emotions, and needs non-judgmentally
• Discern the feelings behind the needs and wants of others.
• Build cooperation, collaboration, and teamwork with your employees using
• Empathy as a tool of influence

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