How Empathy Drives Business Growth

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Top Takeaways:

• We need to create a culture that people want to work in. Happy employees will focus on engaging more with customers.
• Employee retention and client retention can drive business growth. You can’t get to client delight unless your employees are delighted. If you want to provide a great customer experience, it starts with a great employee experience.
• If employees feel like what they contribute to the organization is not recognized in terms of compensation and benefits, they feel like the organization is not empathetic. They think that their leaders are not listening to them.
• How the workforce views the value surrounding benefits is evolving. Five years ago, employees considered a good medical program the most important benefit (“I have a good medical program that meets my needs. I have a good dental program”). Employees may now put more value on flexibility (“I have flexibility around my work hours and where I work”).
• Jon Shanahan also shares the top “always” factors that ensure employee retention.
  • Employees always need to know that they will receive their paycheck. Compensation and benefits always have to happen because if they don’t, that is a significant disruption for employees.
  • Employees must know they will always have leaders they can turn to and have honest conversations with.
  • Employees must always have peers that support the same culture.
  • The culture of opportunity. If employees don’t believe they always have opportunities within the company, they will stay with you for a while, but when a new opportunity comes along, they will leave.
• 57% of CEOs believe the most significant benefit of an empathetic workplace is faster business growth. Jon shares more stats from the 2022 State of Workplace Empathy Study. Tune in!

Quotes:

“Empathy is your ability to place yourself in someone else’s shoes, understand where they’re coming from, and create a space to listen to understand.”

“If our employees believe that we’re listening and empathetic, this will translate to how they treat customers, and the organization will be rewarded with retention on both sides.”

“Don’t be afraid to be an empathetic leader. Show your weaknesses, be vulnerable, and listen to your employees.”

About:

Jon Shanahan co-founded Businessolver, Inc. in 1998. He wanted to create a benefits administration solution that combined the best in technology and service with a fierce focus on the end-user. Before founding Businessolver, Jon was vice president of consulting services at Holmes Murphy & Associates, a leading national insurance agency.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.

This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:

1. Why is empathy so important in the workplace?
2. How can leaders show compassion to their employees?
3. How does empathy drive business growth?
4. What is employee retention, and why is it important?
5. What is the “Getting to Always Program”?