Employee's Perception and Empathy

Employee’s perception about organization and mangers depends on largely on communicational effectiveness. Jerry Pounds opines that employees gauge how they are regarded by management in many ways, but the words that manager’s use and the way they are delivered are critical to their perceptions of respect or disrespect.

He feels that Managers (and all employees) are driven by the organizational culture which is in turn created by the values and priorities of leadership. If leaders do not prioritize respectful treatment (by making employment, promotions, raises, and bonuses contingent upon such treatment), then there is no impetus for managers to change their behavior.

In other words, with out real commitment from the top, all the behavioral change initiatives and training classes in the world will fail to deliver results.

What's more, the huge distinction between emotional training and behavioral training needs to be integrated into the language of managers, gurus, and consultants. Emotional training is hardwired from the first few years of life and changing an adult's conditioned emotional responses is not possible in an organizational setting. Even the largest company is not equipped to deliver psychological therapy to its employees and managers.

But when organizational consequences are aligned to favor the acquisition of empathic behavior, managers will see the value for personal development in the soft skills – the behaviors that communicate respect to employees.