Studies show that compassion in the workplace has numerous benefits, among them are employee retention, decreased stress and improved health. Any endeavor to create change starts with setting a clear intention. Setting the intention to bring compassion into the workplace and setting the tone for a compassionate environment (cheerful greetings, thoughtful acts) is the first step. The second is helping people become aware of how they respond to stress and threat in social and work situations. The Strengths Deployment Inventory is a powerful tool that we use to help people understand the motives and values that drive their own and others behavior, which in turn increases compassion. This understanding combined with interactive training, enables individuals to lead with clarity and empathy, build stronger teams, and more effectively navigate conflict.
Another method for developing compassion in the workplace is the Compassion Development Dyads (CDD) program created by Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. CDD is a hybrid of compassion training and technology. Two people “meet” online via Skype for an hour a week for eight weeks to have structured discussions on topics gleaned from the science of personal and social well-being—topics like mindfulness, emotional literacy, and the importance of having a growth mindset. The curriculum, based in large part on the work of researcher Paul Gilbert, the psychologist who pioneered compassion-focused therapy, helps people to become aware of how they typically respond to stress and threat in social and work situations, and then trains them to respond in more appropriate ways using tools like self-soothing, empathic listening, and compassion.