The Empathetic Workplace

5 Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma On the Job

Katharine Manning

• Publisher: HarperCollins Leadership
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781400220038
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management

This critical resource gives managers, HR, and anyone who may come into contact with someone in trauma—including workplace violence, harassment, assault, illness, addiction, fraud, bankruptcy, and more—the tools they need to be prepared for what lies ahead.

This book is crucial for every manager or HR representative who shouldn’t just prepare to one day be faced with a report of a traumatic experience at work, but plan on it. This five-step method will help managers make survivors feel supported and understood. The Empathetic Workplace guides supervisors of any level through an understanding of how stories of trauma impact the brain of both the survivor and the listener, as well as the tools to handle the interaction appropriately, to help the listener, the organization, and most importantly, the survivor. 

The easy-to-follow LASER method outlined in these pages includes the following elements that all managers should know and understand:

• Listen-Controlling your own reaction, managing your body language, asking open-ended questions, hearing what is not being said, and winding down the speaker when the conversation becomes unproductive are essential elements in being a good listener.
• Acknowledge-Once someone shares a difficult personal story with you, it is important to acknowledge that gift. 
• Share-You can help the speaker regain some measure of control by sharing information with him or her about what happened or what happens next, your personal or organizational values, and what you don’t yet know but hope to learn.
• Empower-You can help the traumatized person by providing him or her with resources that are available to them through the company or outside groups. 
• Return-The final step is to ensure that the traumatized person has a way to come back later when he or she cannot remember all that you said, thinks of more questions, or wishes for updates. 

The LASER technique can benefit all who are responsible for others, from top-tier managers at Fortune 500 companies to Residence Advisors in college dormitories.

Index

absenteeism, 3, 10

abuse

child, 78

financial, 9

serial, 12–13

sexual harassment or assault, 8, 110–12

substance, resource for, 158

Academy Awards, 142–43

Acknowledge step, 16, 83–85

avoiding judgment, 108–12

distancing assumptions, 113–14

reasons for, 87–89

resisting urge to fix it, 115–16

silence, 91–93

thanking the person, 95–96

what not to say, 97–100

what to say instead, 103–5

acknowledgment, listening for, 34

active listening, 16, 45–54

asking open-ended questions in, 49–51

body language in, 51–53

clarification in, 49

encouragement in, 46–47

eye contact in, 47

looping in, 48–49

mirroring in, 47–48

Adichie, Chimimanda, 193

African Americans, discrimination against, 8

amends, making, 142

Angelou, Maya, 195

apologies, 139–44

that accept responsibility, 140–44

that do not accept responsibility, 103–4, 139, 140

Aquilina, Rosemarie, 36

Ardern, Jacinda, 132

assaults, 8, 9

organizational impact of claims of, 10

sexual, 8, 110–12, 158

victims of, 149

assumptions, 113–14

avoiding judgment, 108–12

Beck, Martha, 117

bias

consequences of, 8

encouraging talk about, 192

just world, 107–11

policies around, 192

blaming victims. see victim blaming

body language

in active listening, 51–53

in exiting conversations, 174

boundaries, healthy, 183, 187

brain

environment mapping by, 39–40

and secret keeping, 34–35

and trauma, 15, 21–26

during uncomfortable conversations, 57

Brandeis, Louis D., 199

burnout, signs of, 188–89

Cambridge Analytica, 143

Campbell’s Soup, 11–12

Capps, Ron, 35

CEOs, apologies from, 143–44

change, 37, 199

check-ins, following interaction, 179–81

child abuse and negle...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Step One: Listen
• Step Two: Acknowledge
• Step Three: Share
• Step Four: Empower
• Step Five: Return
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author