Interesting question.  One possibility you might consider looking at is to look at the research linking other-focused compassion to self-compassion.  Roughly speaking this approach suggests that a core determinant of the lack of compassion for others stems from an excessively critical stance; this is reflected in attitudes to both the self and to others, thus developing the capacity to be kind to the self is thought to translate into kindness and compassion as directed towards others.  Be interesting to see how that plays out in an environment that is typically very goal focused . . . .

As per my practical organizational experience,  it is long term process but surely we can develop said abilities in managers. It requires constant reinforcement, awareness and it depends to what extend organization is taking those abilities seriously for potential assessment, development and growth of individual in organizational career path. Like we had in one of my earlier organization "People Development" as part of KPI for couple of years, putting people in different role and putting foot in each other's shoe, like shifting the role and team work can also help improve the emotional compassion and attitudes. From the early entry of employee in the organization, how HR and organization processes put forward importance for said competencies really matters to professionals and that also help them to develop these competencies based on the practical role modals you have in your organization who have reached to Senior Management Team from being at Middle Management team years ago. 

Also with regard to measurement of development of such competencies, it depends on how strong your behavior indicators are defined and what evaluation system you have in place. What is the mechanism for capturing the critical incidences in support or against the defined BIs.

For me it is all about role modelling. If you role model care and compassion in your everyday work then your colleagues should follow suite. If however you tell them one thing and then operate in a different way, they will very likely follow how you act rather than what you say. 

I fully agree with the  interventions suggested by dear Ashutosh and Kieran. Indeed, the "constant reinforcement, awareness" are so important. But also true is "to what extent organization is taking those abilities seriously for potential assessment, development and growth of individual in organizational career path." And dear Kieran's point about  role modelling in terms care, compassion and humility can indeed make formidable impact.

The point raised by dear Nathan is related  to kindness to self and compassion for others. He rightly suggests that "this is reflected in attitudes to both the self and to others, thus developing the capacity to be kind to the self is thought to translate into kindness and compassion as directed towards others." Great and very useful thread.

This is indeed important. We need to be able to cultivate mindfulness and heartfulness in higher management to ensure that development is balanced and sustainable. While these are ongoing factors that need to be incorporated from one's earliest years through immediate environments at home, and school, by means of role-modeling, sound example-setting, community-involvement volunteering projects etc, management schools can and in many cases do have specific modules on life-skills training. Better still, such skills should be embedded into all mainstream areas of education as well. There should also be a social and emotional learning component through all stages of our educational and professional training.

The Dalai Lama Centre for Peace and Education has just launched such a program after the Heart-Mind Summit in Vancouver where the Dalai Lama stressed on compassion as a necessity, not a choice, if our societies are to successfully survive.

Friends, there are a few things that need to be done.  First, we can use this definition of EMPATHY.

“Empathy means I demonstrate concern for & listen to reach understanding of others ideas & feelings.” – @scedmonds

Next, to develop empathy, we need to put time and effort into 'taking a personal interest in people. Showing people that you care, and having a genuine curiosity about their lives.” – @LollyDaskal   (I can add well-being of others.)

And then to measure development of empathy, we can make use of a suitable instrument  as this one below (or modify it, do the validity and reliability tests as is usually required in my kind of research).

'Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. (Davis, Mark H.)

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 44(1), Jan 1983, 113-126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113'

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/44/1/113/

The leadership category assesses how senior leaders guide the organization through vision and values, focus on results, workforce communication and engagement, effective governance, leadership performance evaluation, and legal and ethical  behavior. The program assesses both the effectiveness of the approaches used and the performance results, with emphasis on alignment and integration

http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=25&ved=0CDYQFjAEOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theceal.org%2Fcomponent%2Fk2%2Fitem%2Fdownload%2F91_c75771c6bcb7c66e65e14fb54a858576&ei=OaRQVP-EEPGu7AaE_4CABA&usg=AFQjCNFD4ctFmyx0AWxPlsq0ZvqynScYkg&sig2=y05It8ZwcuKNa3xqz8aBOg&bvm=bv.78597519,d.ZWU&cad=rja

I leave the answer of this question in the hands of colloquies that specialize in management science! 

How to develop and measure the attitude of care, compassion and empathy among future managers so as to promote employee engagement? This could turn out to be a pretty daunt task. The students choosing such a study that I know have complete other priorities. I wonder if we can really teach someone to 'be compassionate' . I know a lot of managers and empathy is not one of their characteristics. Have a really hard head in this. And let us not underestimate the effects of the various cultures, religion yes/or, backgrounds, and 'standard of living' . I would suggest we need to answer this question per culture.

To be compassionate means to be aware of and sympathetic to the concern of your subordinates. . Managers who do not have the ability to recognize the needs of their subordinates are at a great social disadvantage in terms of the way they communicate with others.

Empathetic people are able to really listen to and understand the suffering that other people experience and feel with them.

Compassionate and empathetic managers provide the people who work with them, with a suitable atmosphere, which can lead to more employee engagement..

Dear Esther, there is not much disagreement between us on the issue. No doubt,  developing these competencies are a daunting task. But especially in US it is believed that one can change, adapt to the exigencies of the situation, and acquire leadership competencies.  I believe that  we as teachers can give a direction to our future manager students  as to how to write down their vision and go about attaining it.  Look at Jack Welch. From a cost -cutting Butcher, he is known to have become eventually, a complete people's person.

Dear Debi, 

Probably this is one the most puzzling question that can be laid on RG. Not only because difficult to have good answer. It seems to me that those future managers can have some natural lack of sensitivity and compassion  and empathy deficits as not necessary features for goal oriented personalities and strategic actions planners. Also, the same people are crossing many stages of professional development to be at the power and these qualities (empathy, care or compassion)  they do not necessarily consider as desirable. My question is therefore whether is sense to implant the empathy to the desert ground? The key way of developing such features of character seems to be through wise upbringing in the families, since early childhood and not since college. Dear @Debi, there is however hope for adults in managing position called: wise empathetic mentor. I do not have now good idea for measuring the qualitative categories, but will think about the way of reporting them. 

Dear Debi,

It is easy to evaluate the well-being of any structure by knowing the end-product. A perfect product reflects a perfect management (that, for sure, cannot neglect the human dimension).

Do the managers result from a hard selection process (e.g. severe competition) or a soft-selection processes (e.g. culturally transmitted empathy)? How can managers softly selected reach the top when they would be outcompeted by hard-selected managers imposing decisions with force?

I have already defined Empathy and suggested how it can be developed and measured to maintain Employee Engagement.  (It's the same in education, students need to be engaged.)

Let me add briefly, that Empathy is a psychological quality that can be detected in our actions.  It's very likely that employees (especially Gen Y) who deserve kindness and understanding will disappear when they cannot detect empathy in their managers.  By the time a person has matured to be in a managerial position, s/he is likely to have developed it.  To enhance it is possible, but to start developing empathy at this point in a career is rather late.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Are_motivation_factors_for_Gen_Y_in_general_different_from_those_that_motivate_the_earlier_generation

My opinion comes from a medical doctor more than from a manager. Merriam-Webster describes compassion as having a public conscience with another person who is experiencing a hardship, and together they have a desire to alleviate it. The definition of empathy is much more detailed, but the point that stands out strongly, for me, is that it means to live vicariously the thoughts and feelings of another. Empathy, therefore, goes a step further, beyond compassion. Some people believe that you can not have empathy if you have not really experienced what another person is going through. There is no doubt that, having actually gone through and surviving something, it gives a person a great deal of empathy. That's why we support groups. This is why a cancer survivor, is able to offer a deeper level of compassion to a cancer patient, compared to those who never tried to live that situation.

Bad management "thrives" in many 3rd world countries. There are rare cases in which someone reaches a top managerial post by virtue of merits. Nevertheless, there has to be some remedial actions to rectify & I agree that this has to start by targeting "management students" & other students in related fields . In other words, there is a challenge in front of the scholars involved in university teaching to explain, very well, the basics of modern management. But you ought to win the minds & the hearts of the student to be more influential in directing them to the right path.

In the world of today, there must be no place for arrogant dictatorial management. The office of the top manager ought not to be the gathering point of spies & hypocrites who seek moving up by harming others. The top manager has to be fair for all, open for all, and kind for all. Leading an organization by a system of fear & mistrust is a sure recipe for a disastrous downfall.

Well, I am not in management science, but I dare to state that it is too late to develop an attitude of care, compassion and empathy among future managers so as to promote employee engagement. The globalization of commerce has dehumanized economic activity at a level that has no precedent in history and it shows up everywhere, at school, at the office of a medical doctor, the grocery store, you name it.

A manager nowadays is just a conducting wire to implement policies and procedures that come down from somewhere. Managers live in a state of fear of losing their positions if they don't "make the numbers." They will not show any empathy or compassion to an employee they perceive as a potential source of trouble. They won't even hire him! We are living in a sort of global 4th Reich and there is no much we can do about it, but wait to see the outcome.

You can lead a horse to water but cannot force it to drink.... I have long learnt that if your students are not really interested and the question does not come from them... they will not listen and much less learn.... 

To prepare a good manager with the aim of promoting employee engagement the manager must know, among others, the following elements, and should be ready to apply them in its work. According to expert opinions, a manager’s primary challenge is to solve problems creatively, and management should view as “the art of getting things done through the efforts of other people. The principles of management, then, are the means by which you actually manage, that is, get things done through others—individually, in groups, or in organizations. Formally defined, the principles of management are the activities that “plan, organize, and control the operations of the basic elements of [people], materials, machines, methods, money and markets, providing direction and coordination, and giving leadership to human efforts, so as to achieve the sought objectives of the enterprise.

Managers are required in all the activities of organizations: budgeting, designing, selling, creating, financing, accounting, and artistic presentation; the larger the organization, the more managers are needed. Everyone employed in an organization is affected by management principles, processes, policies, and practices as they are either a manager or a subordinate to a manager, and usually they are both.

In both the traditional and contemporary views of management, there remains the need for different types of managers. Top managers are responsible for developing the organization’s strategy and being a steward for its vision and mission. A second set of managers includes functional, team, and general managers. Functional managers are responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of an area, such as accounting or marketing. Supervisory or team managers are responsible for coordinating a subgroup of a particular function or a team composed of members from different parts of the organization. Sometimes you will hear distinctions made between line and staff managers.

A line manager leads a function that contributes directly to the products or services the organization creates. A staff manager, in contrast, leads a function that creates indirect inputs. A project manager has the responsibility for the planning, execution, and closing of any project. Project managers are often found in construction, architecture, consulting, computer networking, telecommunications, or software development. A general manager is someone who is responsible for managing a clearly identifiable revenue-producing unit, such as a store, business unit, or product line. General managers typically must make decisions across different functions and have rewards tied to the performance of the entire unit (i.e., store, business unit, product line, etc.). General managers take direction from their top executives. They must first understand the executives’ overall plan for the company. Then they set specific goals for their own departments to fit in with the plan.

Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management

• Specialization/Division of Labor – By specializing in a limited set of activities, workers become more efficient and increase their output.

• Authority/Responsibility
– Managers must have the authority to issue commands, but with that authority comes the responsibility to ensure that the work gets done.

• Discipline
– Workers must obey orders if the business is to run smoothly. But good discipline is the result of effective leadership: workers must understand the rules and management should use penalties judiciously if workers violate the rules.

• Unity of Command
– An employee should receive orders only from one boss to avoid conflicting instructions.

• Unity of Direction
– Each unit or group has only one boss and follows one plan so that work is coordinated.

• Subordination of Individual Interest
– The interests of one person should never take precedence over what is best for the company as a whole.

• Remuneration
– Workers must be fairly paid for their services.

• Centralization
– Centralization refers to decision making: specifically, whether decisions are centralized (made by management) or decentralized (made by employees). Fayol believed that whether a company should centralize or decentralize its decision making depended on the company’s situation and the quality of its workers.

• Line of Authority
– The line of authority moves from top management down to the lowest ranks. This hierarchy is necessary for unity of command, but communication can also occur laterally if the bosses are kept aware of it. The line should not be overextended or have too many levels.

• Order
– Orderliness refers both to the environment and materials as well as to the policies and rules. People and materials should be in the right place at the right time.

• Equity
– Fairness (equity), dignity, and respect should pervade the organization. Bosses must treat employees well, with a “combination of kindliness and justice.”

• Stability of Tenure
– Organizations do best when tenure is high (i.e., turnover is low). People need time to learn their jobs, and stability promotes loyalty. High employee turnover is inefficient.

• Initiative
– Allowing everyone in the organization the right to create plans and carry them out will make them more enthusiastic and will encourage them to work harder.

• Esprit de Corps
– Harmony and team spirit across the organization builds morale and unity

There is a group of values that the managers should encourage to be respected by its staff. These values are:

• Integrity: We always try to do the right thing. We are honest and straightforward with each other. We operate within the letter and the spirit of the law. We uphold the values and principles of P&G in every action and decision. We are data-based and intellectually honest in advocating proposals, including recognizing risks.

• Passion for Winning: We are determined to be the best at doing what matters most. We have a healthy dissatisfaction with the status quo.
We have a compelling desire to improve and to win in the marketplace.

• Leadership: We are all leaders in our area of responsibility, with a deep commitment to delivering leadership results. We have a clear vision of where we are going.
We focus our resources to achieve leadership objectives and strategies.
We develop the capability to deliver our strategies and eliminate organizational barriers.

• Trust: We respect our P&G colleagues, customers and consumers, and treat them as we want to be treated.
 We have confidence in each other’s capabilities and intentions.
We believe that people work best when there is a foundation of trust.

• Ownership: We accept personal accountability to meet our business needs, improve our systems, and help others improve their effectiveness.
We all act like owners, treating the Company’s assets as our own and behaving with the Company’s long-term success in mind.

Another important element to be transmitted to future managers is ethics. Ethical behavior among managers is even more important in organizations because leaders set the moral tone of the organization and serve as role models. Ethical leaders build trust in organizations. If employees see leaders behaving unethically, chances are the employees may be less inclined to behave ethically themselves. Companies may have printed codes of ethics, but the key standard is whether leaders uphold those values and standards. Decisions that managers make are an indicator of their ethics. If the company says it cares about the safety of employees, but then does not buy enough protective gear for them, it is not behaving in line with its code. Likewise, if managers exhibit unsafe behavior or look the other way when employees act unsafely, their behavior is not aligned with their stated code.

Without integrity, there can be no trust. Leadership is based on trust. Ethics drive effectiveness because employees know they can do the right thing decisively and with confidence. Ethical behavior earns the trust of customers and suppliers as well. It earns the public’s good will. Ethical managers and ethical businesses tend to be more trusted and better treated. They suffer less resentment, inefficiency, litigation, and government interference. If top management cut corners, however, or if they make shady decisions, then no matter how good the code of ethics sounds, people will emulate the questionable behavior, not the code.

As a manager, you can make it clear to employees that you expect them to conduct business in an ethical manner by offering seminars on ethics, having an ethics hotline via which employees can anonymously raise issues, and having an ombudsman office or an ethics committee to investigate issues.

Integrating Ethics into Managerial Decision Making

Ethics implies making a choice between decision-making rules. Dilemmas occur when the choices are incompatible and when one course of action seems to better serve your self-interest, but appears to violate a moral principle. One way to tackle ethical dilemmas is to follow an ethical decision-making process, like the one described below.

Steps in an Ethical Decision-Making Process:

• Assess the situation: What are you being asked to do? Is it illegal? Is it unethical? Who might be harmed?

• Identify the stakeholders and consider the situation from their point of view. For example, consider the point of view of the company’s employees, top management, stockholders, customers, suppliers, and community.

• Consider the alternatives you have available to you and how they affect the stakeholders: Consequences, Duties, Rights, and Principles. Implications for Personal Integrity and Character

• How does the action make you feel about yourself? How would you feel if your actions were reported tomorrow in the Wall Street Journal (or your daily newspaper)? How would you explain your actions to your mother or to your 10-year-old child?

• Make a decision. This might involve going to your boss or to a neutral third party (such as an ombudsman or ethics committee). Know your values and your limits. If the company does nothing to rectify the situation, do you want to continue working for the company?

• Monitor outcomes. How did the decision to work out? How did it turn out for all concerned? If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently?

If you see unethical behavior in others, confronting it early is better. Early on, you have more of an opportunity to talk with the person in a fact-finding (rather than an accusatory) way. The discussion may nip the problem in the bud and prevent it from escalating. Keeping silent because you want to avoid offending the person may lead to much greater problems later on.

Another important element that all managers should know in order to promote employee engagement is the leader’s own behaviors. This will signal to individuals what is acceptable behavior and what is unacceptable. In an organization in which high-level managers make the effort to involve others in decision making and seek opinions of others, a team-oriented culture is more likely to evolve. By acting as role models, leaders send signals to the organization about the norms and values that are expected to guide the actions of its employees.

Leaders also shape culture by their reactions to the actions of others around them. For example, do they praise a job well done or do they praise a favored employee regardless of what was accomplished? How do they react when someone admits to making an honest mistake? What are their priorities? In meetings, what types of questions do they ask? Do they want to know what caused accidents so that they can be prevented, or do they seem more concerned about how much money was lost because of an accident? Do they seem outraged when an employee is disrespectful to a coworker, or does their reaction depend on whether they like the harasser? Through their day-to-day actions, leaders shape and maintain an organization’s culture.

Finally, managers should promote a reward systems withitn the organization and the kinds of behaviors and outcomes it chooses to reward and punish. One relevant element of the reward system is whether the organization rewards behaviors or results. Some companies have reward systems that emphasize intangible elements of performance as well as more easily observable metrics. In these companies, supervisors and peers may evaluate an employee’s performance by assessing the person’s behaviors as well as the results. In such companies, we may expect a culture that is relatively people- or team-oriented, and employees act as part of a family.

Thanks @ Jorge Morales Pedraza, for providing parallel relevant info: 'Some companies have reward systems that emphasize intangible elements of performance as well as more easily observable metrics. In these companies, supervisors and peers may evaluate an employee’s performance by assessing the person’s behaviors as well as the results. In such companies, we may expect a culture that is relatively people- or team-oriented, and employees act as part of a family.'

Thanks dear Dr Nizar for: 'In the world of today, there must be no place for arrogant dictatorial management. The office of the top manager ought not to be the gathering point of spies & hypocrites who seek moving up by harming others. The top manager has to be fair for all, open for all, and kind for all. Leading an organization by a system of fear & mistrust is a sure recipe for a disastrous downfall.'

We hope to see and experience MORE Good Management carried out by people who reach top management posts, based on GENUINE MERITS.

Character

http://iveybusinessjournal.com/topics/leadership/the-character-of-leadership#.VFHHq2cdTaQ

All this is fine, but can empathy really be trained or is it just a characteristic of the person expressing empathy? I would not like to be in front of people that continuously fake/simulate empathy (e.g. calculated empathy instead of 'spontaneous' empathy), would you? It must come from the 'heart' to be truly efficient, or not? Does this imply that some persons are just more talented than others in the framework?

Your Welcome Miranda. Many thanks for your comment about my contribution to the deate,

I have to agree with Marcel and yes I do think that some people are more talented than others in this respect. 

I agree with Marcel and Esther. 

As always, dear Monica makes a very thoughtful post arguing that " such skills should be embedded into all mainstream areas of education as well. There should also be a social and emotional learning component through all stages of our educational and professional training." Being an education specialist Monica's expert view carries a still higher value. Yes Monica, I agree all humans need to imbibe these competencies as education seeks to make the person concerned a still better human.

Does this education starts with the parents or the teachers?

Yes Marcel, without doubt, these values need to be imbibed at home. Parents role can be the most effective in this regard. But can teachers reinforce them or inculcate them if the parents have not done done their duty, is the question. Secondly, we are talking of these values in connection with boss-employee relations. In that sphere  the general tendency of the bosses is to exercise command and control as the method of supervising the work of subordinates, rather than understanding their point of view in a humble and caring way.

Marcel, trust begets trust. The boss has to show it first. If that is so, it can have amazing impact on the subordinate provided it is done with a sense of transparency and genuineness. All empowerment begins by initiation of trust-building by the more powerful side. The party at the receiving end (employee in our case) then feels pleased to reciprocate. And, a lasting relationship of trust can be forged. Research in strategic people management has revealed that those following the empowerment model are far more successful than those following the instrumentalist command model. 

Dear all, Beata and Barbara, I wish to say that transformational leadership development, which, among others, involves developing attitude of empathy, care and compassion is a big industry today. It is also believed that most people lack it and some only have it as a way of life. The reality is that there are hundreds and thousands of managers, who  lack it. They never become leaders so as to competently  manage the emotions of their employees. Rather they use their authority in supervising them. In case, parents have not developed the requisite values in the children, which is the best method of doing it, then can teachers play a role while training the future-managers in universities. Barbara has made a very useful point by citing the Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) through the giraffe language.

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=21&sid=e8bfb1c4-8e58-4548-92bb-356aad9d29fb%40sessionmgr4005&hid=4201&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=pbh&AN=24602673

Simon Sinek:

What makes a great leader? Management theorist Simon Sinek suggests, it’s someone who makes their employees feel secure, who draws staffers into a circle of trust. But creating trust and safety — especially in an uneven economy — means taking on big responsibility.

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safe

Definitely, Louis you are so very right in quoting Simon Sinek on leadership competencies. A leader who can not provide care, concern, empathy to her/his team members can not become a leader ever. Those who focus mainly on results and not behaviours and people can be short-termist managers only. Such organizations can never do great in the long run.

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=26eb2586-d8d6-42de-a73e-0451a7f64e7d%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4204&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=93729146

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=13&sid=26eb2586-d8d6-42de-a73e-0451a7f64e7d%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4204&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=95848707

People are remaining in the workforce longer than they used to, yet there is a growing shortage of skilled talent. The aging and declining workforce is a global phenomenon taking place in all industries and across traditional boundaries. In addition, the rise of a new breed of self-employed “free agents” is injecting a volatile element into the mix which is forcing employers to reassess the way they select, deploy and interact with staff. People are living longer and working longer. Advances in medical technology have improved health care and lowered mortality rates. As a result, people over age 50 constitute a larger part of the overall population, and a larger part of the global workforce. With the overall workforce aging, birth rates in mature markets dropping, labor pools in developed nations shrinking, the numbers of skilled workers dropping, and the demand for skilled workers accelerating along with technology evolutions —the global workforce could soon be in a world of trouble.

Specific industries such as IT and healthcare are beginning to be significantly impacted by the dwindling availability of skilled labor. Workers with valuable skills are in demand and often leave their jobs to accept more lucrative offers, leaving behind vacancies that may be impossible to fill. A World Health Organization study of six African countries revealed that most health workers plan to migrate for higher salaries.

Generation Y, also dubbed Generation Next or Echo Boomers, is now entering the workforce at a rapid pace, and there are about 70 million of them. Most demographers suggest that this generation was born between 1982 and the turn of the millennium. Nearly a third are currently attending a college or university, and their parents, family, religion, and generosity are of central importance. They display a high tolerance toward other cultures and lifestyles, and they volunteer in their communities more than prior generations did. Gen Yers join organizations and causes not because they have to, but because they want to—because they want to contribute to something significant. They are moral and committed, and they value personal achievement. Differences in work ethics and values will continue to escalate as the age spectrum in our workforce becomes more pronounced. As a result, organizations will be forced to rethink, revamp, and adapt their recruiting, retention, and training strategies.

The rise of the free agency phenomenon has also had benefits for those enterprises that use contract or temporary labor. Free agency allows employers to react more quickly to the dynamics of business by being able to expand and contract their workforce according to changing needs. Employers can adopt a just-in-time workforce strategy to save money and streamline processes by maintaining a staff of core personnel responsible for day-to-day operations. When project needs increase or special skill sets are needed, the firm can quickly bring in contractors with the specific skill sets needed. Instead of spending time creating new staff positions and sourcing job candidates, managers can ramp up or scale down according to workflow.

http://www.kellyservices.co.nz/NZ/Business-Services/Business-Resource-Center/Talent-Management/The-Leadership-Deficit/#.VFMSyWcdTaQ

Perhaps empathy is more efficient when you know the people better, e.g. aspects of their personality profiles and how they respond/feel in different circumstances. What are the consequences of increased dynamics in the composition of employee populations for the efficiency of management based on empathy?

Not just a manager but all employees of an organization need to show empathy and attitudes to live in mutual relationship. Otherwise, the organizational life turns into a "jungle", or in a world without rules, each seeking only their personal advantage. Thus, the extreme lack of empathy is the world of Thomas Hobbes, who said that the man is a wolf to man. Several companies that were in apparently good condition (products, customers and profitability) soon found themselves in the ruin, because the organizational climate was terrible.

Dear all, Roberto, as dear Kamal has very rightly observed, such efforts need to be provided in the university syllabi itself so that not just managers but all employees learn to behave with a sense of care, empathy and compassion. This can be so done in many if not all disciplines. Today, with the increasing materialism in life, people in general are trying to be impatient to grab the opportunities and in the process their personal interest dominates their actions. Another point is that in any organization, it is the duty of the managers to ensure that the climate is informed by the atmosphere of care. Employees in general are on the receiving end, and can have reasonable expectations that managers manage well and set examples for others to follow. 

The Institute of Heartmath has developed an efficient method to test your own ability to feel care, compassion, admiration, gratitude (...). It tests what you feel and not what you believe you feel. It's a "lie detector" for feelings, using a small sensor and a program.

The bad news is that most of the people fail this test (and, of course, many are very surprised).

The good news is that the program may help any interested person to pass the test - that is, to really experiment feelings of care, compassion (...).

An authentic feeling generates cardiac coherence, which is a pleasant and good state for health ("high heart-rhythm coherence – sine wavelike rhythmic pattern; increased heart-brain synchronization and improved cognitive function; increased parasympathetic activity; increased entrainment and synchronization among physiological systems; efficient and harmonious functioning of the cardiovascular, nervous, hormonal and immune systems").

***

For present and future managers and employees, I believe that it is an effective and funny method. It also demonstrates that it is healthier to have care and to be compassionate, than to pretend to be so.

The only way to develop empathy is to really care for others.  The only way to become physically in shape is to do exercices, i.e use the body.  You cannot learned to be empathic by knowledge.  We are built to be empathic but we diminishing it by competing with each other instead of cooperating, engage in violent video games, look at violent films, focus on marks and money and hope to get at the top of the social hiearchy and control other.  And some even hope to accomplish by being empathic!!!!

Dear Mr Saini,

You might be interested in the PhD thesis of Barrett Brown (2011). See also

Brown, B. C. (2011). "An empirical study of sustainability leaders who hold postconventional consciousness". In Ashridge International Research Conference on the Sustainability Challenge: Organisational Change and Transformational Vision. Ashridge Business University.

He empirically found competencies for leaders for sustainability. Fifteen leadership competencies and developmental stage distinctions for three dimensions of leadership were identified. These include the kind of attitude you are referring to. Leaders with such capacities are better able to deal with complex decision-making. I expect their leadership would also have a positive effect on employee engagement, although that would also depend on the employees themselves.

These leadership capacities may be developed or enhanced in people with normal mental health. Cooperation is found in evolutionary biology to be innate to many species, including humans (see The Origins of Virtue by M. Ridley, 1997 or this article:

Ridley, M., & Wolf, S. (1998). The origins of virtue: Human instinct and the evolution of cooperation. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science, 33(1), 82-83.). 

So far a positive way to approach this question.

Another approach is from the opposite side: unfortunately empathy is missing in people that are diagnosed as sociopaths or psychopaths. They lack a conscience and there is no cure for this. Top managers and policy makers in high positions were found to have significantly more symptoms of psychopathy and narcissism than the average population, but I'm afraid I can't find the reference to this research or even the newspaper article about this that I had cut out. Power can corrupt people too. On narcissism see:

Rijsenbilt, J. A. (2011). "CEO narcissism: Measurement and Impact" (No. EPS-2011-238-STR). Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM).

On psychopathy see the PhD thesis of Martha Stout or this more accessible book:

Stout, M. (2005). "The sociopath next door: The ruthless versus the rest of us". Random House LLC.

She gives four examples. She also discusses research into the causes, for those interested in prevention, but it is unclear whether it can be prevented.

Professor Willem Verbeke  of Erasmus University Rotterdam said in an interview with a Dutch national newspaper that he expects a brain scan to become a standard part of the selection process of job applicants. People may not be as opposed to this as one would expect, because people are curious about knowledge about themselves, he said. He would welcome this testing because psychopaths in leadership roles can cause so much suffering. He mentions that psychopaths are often very intelligent, can see what is going on, have a big ego and high ambitions and are usually very charismatic. These capacities can help them to attain high positions. Colleagues can regard them as gurus and follow them blindly. See the scientific publication about this here:

Verbeke, W. J., Rietdijk, W. J., van den Berg, W. E., Dietvorst, R. C., Worm, L., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2011). "The making of the Machiavellian brain: A structural MRI analysis". Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 4(4), 205,               http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0025802.

and the newspaper article in Dutch here:

Oosting, A., "Hoogleraar Verbeke voorziet verplicht onderzoek - 'Hersenscan sollicitant is straks vanzelfsprekend'", Algemeen Dagblad (AD), 23 February 2009, p. 9.

(The title suggests that he foresees that the scan would become obligatory, but the text indicates that he said that a firm could not impose it; it would require mutual consent.) 

Both Verbeke and Stout say that there are more people with psychopathy than is generally assumed (due to the association with serial killers on tv probably) and that it would be good if people learn to recognise them in their every day social lives. I believe it would be good to do so, not to completely exclude them - they are people too after all - but just to make sure that they do not gain too much power over other people. Refusing them access to top management positions would be a good start.

About health care: I know former nurses who have very strong social skills including empathy. They had to leave their jobs in hospitals because their job was giving too much stress. The stress was apparently caused by the pressure of management to perform tasks fast and this left no room to engage with patients the way they felt they should. I also know someone who faces a major daily challenge balancing being a good mom and doing the reporting (communication) about patients properly in her own time because management has not allocated sufficient time for that task in her opinion. If all this happens on a large scale, then it is no surprise if we are left with care workers who have less trouble repressing their inclinations to really care about patients and those who don't care.

Personally I blame the fashionable practice of applying the 'rational' approach of business economics to managing public services for this, because in this process ethics are under pressure. Managers who can execute this most efficiently are likely to be the ones with less scruples. That is why they get the job. Turned around, however, as Robert pointed out, a business can't remain successful if its culture is too inhumane.

To change the pressure to keep cutting budgets and increase work loads, it may be necessary to change the money supply system. That would be a huge change and requires much political deliberation. Some experiments are already taking place with local trust based currencies.

But in the meantime creative managers of good will can do much good work. Perhaps the MRI scan and/or the sustainability competencies can help monitor progress in hiring or training managers with the necessary values that would hopefully include most of those that Krishnan listed above and I expect are included in the work of Elizabeth as well. The sensor that Ruxandra mentions sounds effective and may be a lot less expensive than the MRI scan.

Mr Saini, I am interested to know: how are you planning to proceed?

What Great Managers Do Differently

Top managers get to know each employee as an individual, tailoring their management style to people’s personal needs and preferences. Marcus Buckingham emphasized this point in The One Thing You Need to Know (Free Press, 2005):

“To excel as a manager you must never forget that each of your direct reports is unique and that your chief responsibility is not to eradicate this uniqueness, but rather to arrange roles, responsibilities, and expectations so that you can capitalize upon it.”

Empathy allows you to create an environment of open communication and more effective feedback. I believe it allows you to understand and explore problems employees may encounter, and how to help them resolve them. I believe a leader is one who has a genuine interest in his/her team members' lives, the challenges they face. This kind of leader makes an effort to understand their situations and what they are going through, in order to offer support and help when needed.

Compassion is the ability to inspire others through encouragement and empowerment. When you treat people with compassion they never forget