But compassion isn’t inherent to everyone or every workplace. Some companies do a better job than others because they take steps to prioritize it. If you want to create a more compassionate culture at your workplace, here are a few ways to get started.

1. Encourage Coworkers to Support One Another

At work, you’re likely interacting with many different people each day. Those on your team, potentially customers or clients, and other stakeholders to name a few. And it’s easy to get too focused on work, trying to be as productive as possible. When that happens, though, it’s also easy to overlook when coworkers need your support.

That’s why companies should encourage coworkers to have an all-in approach to caring for one another. If someone is going through a tough time — personally or professionally — rally behind them. Encourage your team to create a meal train, sign a thoughtful card, or explore get well soon gift ideas to brighten their day. These group efforts reinforce a culture of support and encouragement, bringing the team together.

When it comes to these efforts, anything is better than nothing, so find ways to infuse care into daily practices. Kind messages, genuine thank yous, and smiling in the office can all make a difference. While getting results and driving business is important, so is having compassion for others you work with. Finding a balance between the two creates a culture people want to be a part of. And that can be a great motivator to work harder for each other.

2. Guide Leadership

The leaders within your team guide the tone of your workplace. If they’re empathetic and compassionate toward the rest of the team, that becomes the standard. If they’re not, the same logic applies. So, investing in creating compassionate leaders is a crucial step to having an overall compassionate workplace culture.

This can be accomplished in a few ways. You can have sensitivity training in leadership summits or share online resources covering empathy. You could also incorporate culture into your company’s overall goals. Explicitly write out the aspirations you have for the company’s culture and how people feel at work. Hold your leaders to a high standard of compassion, empathy, and kindness as part of their performance reviews.

It’s also important to hire leaders who naturally possess compassionate traits. Thoughtfulness, selflessness, and overall support for others are all traits to look for when hiring. Instruct hiring teams to factor these characteristics into their practices, and you’ll be one step closer to the culture you want.

3. Don’t Be Strictly Business

Your workplace is filled with employees aiming to do their part contributing to the success of the business. They each have a defined role and responsibilities they own. But if you only speak about tasks and deadlines, you’re missing opportunities for compassion. That’s why checking in with coworkers about how they’re doing in general is key.

A great approach to this practice is having regular one-on-one meetings. Ask about how they’re doing before diving into questions or issues with work items. This is most effective if you ask genuinely and with your full attention given. This approach allows the employee to highlight anything that may be troubling them, knowing you truly care.

If getting them to open up proves challenging, focus on speaking about you. Highlight your dedication to being there for your team members instead. Remind them that they can share as much as they’re comfortable with if something is going on. This at least plants the seed that you care about them as people versus simply as employees. And that exudes compassion.

4. Weave Compassion into Benefits

Some people prefer to be in the driver’s seat when they’re experiencing challenging times. They can privately deal with their business without venting to or sharing with others. Doing so is much easier when working at a company with benefits that keep compassion top of mind.

When it’s time to review what your company offers, prioritize advocating for resources that help employees in several ways. Mental health app subscriptions, coverage for therapy, and stress management tools and strategies can all be beneficial. That’s because they normalize the need for employees to seek out help instead of trying to bury their troubles. Even if you’re not in a position to drive benefits directly, be vocal about how important these offerings are. A small idea can grow into something much bigger and better; you just have to start it.

Don’t stop with simply offering these benefits, though. Talk about them and share stories of their impact with your team. Advocate for employees to put these resources to use and keep an open door policy for if they need more help. In doing so, you’re creating a culture that lets people come to work as their whole selves. So, it doesn’t matter if they’re thriving or going through it — you and your company care just the same.

A Closer, More Compassionate Company

A commitment to compassion at work takes effort and planning. You have to be dedicated to feeding a culture that you’re proud of. Otherwise, it’ll fall to the wayside, leaving room for bad, less positive experiences to rise to the top. Despite the work, your investment doesn’t go unnoticed by your team. And that can help make the hours spent working that much more enjoyable.

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Addressing issues immediately

The first thing you need to understand is the fact that conflict grows exponentially when left ignored. This gives each party in a conflict time to start coming up with arguments that justify their claims, regardless if they’re valid or not. When things get heated, people sometimes interpret mere disagreement as a direct assault on them. By addressing these issues right away, you can nip this problem in the bud and carry on to more important issues. The more time goes by without resolution, the more each party will get to overthink this (probably) simple scenario, which will make conflict resolution that much harder. Instead, you need to learn how to find value in disagreement.

Let everyone tell their story

The worst thing in conflict arbitration lies in believing that one side is wrong while the other side is right. Sure, there’ll be some scenarios in which someone is more in the right, yet, determining the objective truth is not really the main objective here. What you need to do is find a way to determine the best solution and ensure that no one feels left out. This means that your team gets to speak in terms and that everyone gets to tell their story, without interruptions. Sometimes, all those people in your employ want is to be heard or, at least, to feel like they’ve been taken seriously. Needless to say, this is the very least you can do.

Look for professional assistance

Professional mediation is both a science and an art form. It requires great people skills, in-depth understanding of interpersonal relationships and interpretation of data regarding office conflict. Self-empowerment, recognition and better understanding between your staff members are just some of many positive sides of professional mediation. Therefore, it’s usually for the best to hire, or at least consult, experts from Segal Mediation Groupand inquire about various aspects of the mediation process. Regardless if we’re talking about private sessions or joint mediation, the truth is that you need some guidance and finding a reliable source is incredibly important.

Start actively listening

As a person in a position of power, you’ll set an example for your staff. So, if you alone are unable or unwilling to listen, really listen, to what your staff has today, how do you expect them to treat each other any differently? Still, it doesn’t end here, due to the fact that there are some exercises you could enforce, that would improve communication between your team members. This is not only crucial for the exchange of information but also for building trust within the team and improving personal relationships. The best thing is the fact that learning how to actively listen improves virtually any interaction of your employees, regardless if we’re talking about their relationships with their co-workers or their interactions with clients.

The art of compromise

Finally, you need to understand that even though come business cultures embrace the “there’s no right or wrong” policy, there are times when someone is just wrong. This is in a scenario that involves factual findings. If not, it’s all about finding that compromise. Now, this may sound somewhat harsh but you know that the compromise is a fair one when all parties are equally dissatisfied with it. If one side is visibly favoured by the end solution, this will only be a breeding ground for more conflict in the future, which is something that you need to try to avoid at all costs.

In conclusion

In the end, you need to understand that conflict resolution isn’t something that you can apply a one-size-fits-all solution to. Instead, you need to acquire mental tools and techniques that will help you whatever comes your way. We’re talking about identifying the problem, finding solutions and closing the agreement. Once you learn how to do this without offending anyone in the process your job here will be done.

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