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Companies are discovering that kind leadership does more than feel good; it significantly improves the bottom line. HR Grapevine asks the experts why empathy is now a strategic business advantage.
Our brains scan for threats
Culture and leadership coach Ceri Gott, formerly Chief Growth and Culture Officer at Hawksmoor, explains that emotional intelligence - a key facet of empathetic leadership - has often been dismissed as ‘soft and fluffy.’ This implies the ‘real’ work on ‘hard numbers’ happens elsewhere. However, she counters this notion: “But studies show that companies with more emotionally intelligent managers don't just create happier workplaces - they achieve higher customer satisfaction and make more money.”
How does it work? Gott explains, “Some of that is straightforward – happier teams have lower turnover which reduces recruitment and training costs. Other aspects are less obvious – being treated unkindly or even witnessing it has been shown to reduce productivity – our brains are designed to scan for threats and are easily diverted to ruminating over difficult people or behaviour. In short, people are more productive in kind environments. This is even more marked when people’s work involves collaboration (making the most of all ideas and information), managing people (when feelings matter a lot) and complex decision making (which our brains do not do as well under stress or duress).”
If there was ever anyone that knows how this transpires in reality it is Gott she spent over a decade as a government economist, including as a national expert on labour productivity, before becoming Chief Growth & Culture Officer at Hawksmoor, where she helped grow the business from three London restaurants to an international award-winning brand whilst achieving Top 100 Best Company to Work For status for 13 consecutive years and BCorp certification.
Our brains are designed to scan for threats and are easily diverted to ruminating over difficult people or behaviour. In short, people are more productive in kind environments
She now works as a coach, working with what she dubs as leaders who understand that leadership is an inside out job – understanding and managing yourself, is key to leading others she explains. Adding, “They have also learnt that everything we achieve, we achieve through or with other people – being able to motivate, inspire, retain, develop people is the key to professional as well as personal success. A CEO recently said to me – I wish I’d known 20 years ago when I started that business was 90% about people and just 10% about operations, it would have saved me a heck of a lot of time.”
