Practice
Build practices to sustain behaviors. “Diversity initiatives, to be successful, require there be an action plan in place allowing the human resources department or leadership to monitor the progress of the initiative and to project in building a culture of empathy. Organizations have discovered that it is not merely enough to hire employees who are from minority groups to lead the diversity initiatives. In order to achieve sustaining results in workplace belonging it is important to truly embrace the culture of the minorities in your work force, to allow employees their cultural differences, and to actively source ways in which those differences can be used for the development of the organization. Cultivating empathy and equity within the organization and expanding empathy when talking to people outside the circle. People tend to be comfortable with others like them.” Practice means “challenging prejudice and discovering commonalities. Leaders need to foster empathy in the workplace by modeling it in their own behavior by practicing empathic listening when interacting with their employees. This involves seeking to understand their employee’s feelings and perspective. When leaders model empathetic behavior, they set the tone for the work environment.
