“Compassion; a strong feeling of sympathy and sadness for the suffering of others and a wish to help them.” – Cambridge Dictionary

Since COVID, there has been a greater demand for kindness and understanding in the workplace. Changes to working patterns, team dynamics and people’s evolving personal circumstances in the wake of a pandemic have inspired people-focused ways of working.

For many professionals, taking this people-focused approach is key to remaining connected, inspiring productivity, and supporting the mental wellbeing of colleagues.

This can also mean helping them deal with any challenges they may face.

Whilst working out how to respond to a colleague in distress can be tricky for a lot of reasons, being compassionate is paramount.

Showing compassion means we offer a considered, deliberate response to an unfortunate situation. It is this conscious reaction that enables us to turn emotion into action.

A good place to start is by reflecting on how compassionate you are;

• Do I share care and concern towards people in my team?
• Do I understand the value of sharing problems with others?
• Do people in my team know that I will try to help them if they have a problem?
• Is there a strong connection between people in my team which makes the, feel joined, seen, felt, known and not alone?

We can all benefit from practicing being compassionate. Compassion is not a biologically based skill; we don’t just have compassion or don’t have it. Instead this is a trait that we can all develop. Some key attributes to consider:

Being sensitive to the well-being of others

This includes noticing any changes in someone’s behaviour, even when they are busy with work or preoccupied with deadlines, or even an environment where people may tend to hide their pain from others.

Not being judgemental

Accepting and validating a person’s experience is essential. Judging someone in difficulty, or worse still condemning them, is one of the obstacles that prevents us from understanding their situation and thereby being able to feel their pain.

Coping with difficult emotions

Hearing about someone’s difficulty often causes feelings of empathy, but being able to adjust your actions depending on the persons personal circumstances is important. Within the work place this often looks like providing constructive feedback, recognition and support when necessary and listening to what someone may need.

Actively working on being compassionate, as a leader and a colleague, promotes a culture of kindness, respect, and inclusion in the workplace. By understanding that everyone needs different type of support and showing willing to provide the support your employees and colleagues need in order to thrive in their roles, you encourage your co-workers to be themselves and to bring their whole selves to work.

If you are interested in finding out more about how Pro-Noctis can help you maximise your potential, see our full list of services.