The Empathic Employee

(And a tool you can use to reset yourself.)
The empathic employee feels everyone in the workplace and sometimes their moods or health are affected by it. Empathy, when directed and understood, is a super power and workplaces without at least one empathic or sensitive person are missing out on something special. Sometimes they’re the glue that holds it all together, and on days when staff are struggling, it’s often the empathic or sensitive staff member who knows ‘just what to say’ to get that person back into themselves and back on track to carry on with the work day.

Empaths just need to know where they end and where everyone else starts so they can conserve energy, and not become too embroiled in saving other staff members from themselves. They can be big over-givers which can become very depleting. 

People don’t necessarily recognise themselves as Empaths or sensitive people because they’re just busy doing life, so here’s a mini guide:
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1. Can be full of energy one minute and zapped out, flat as a pancake the next. Has definite high days and low days.
2. Is the office kind person, saviour or consoler. 
3. Always gives, always thinks of themselves last. ‘No you first.’ Every time. 
4. Sometimes struggles with focus and gets anxious over what you may feel is a small task. 
5. Rebuffs compliments and doesn’t see their value or really struggles with self esteem or related mood swings. 
6. If they could just see their value, you know it would help them immensely. 

When people recognise their empathy is of value and can be a bit of a superpower, they’re winning and everyone benefits. If you think you have an empathic person in your workplace who could benefit from knowing a few ways to conserve their energy or gather their thoughts, here’s a handy tip to re-centre - you can pop it on a noticeboard: 

MINI ENERGY RESET (for everyone): 

1. Take a few long slow breaths and just think for a moment on where your attention has been/is. 
2. If you have lots of tasks or quite a few things on your mind, it may feel like it’s out like octopus tentacles or like it’s just spread out thin and flat like a pancake. (Your energy is at the end of all those tips or at the edge of your pancake, and it’s a bit like a computer with too many tabs open.)
3. Just breathe in and imagine you’re bringing it all back, breathing it all back or gathering it all back into your head. 
4. Notice yourself and where you’re standing or sitting, your connection point on the floor or the chair. If it helps, you can mentally say ‘I call my energy and focus back from everywhere it has leaked or strayed.’ 
5. Have a couple more conscious breaths, and then you’re good to go. 

If you’ve been avoiding anything, it’s sitting in the background draining some energy from you at all times. So do take action on it to ‘close’ that tab. 

Brain Scientist Jill Bolte-Taylor said in her book, A Stroke of Insight, ‘Many of us think of ourselves as thinking creatures who feel, but we are actually feeling creatures who think.’ 

She also said ‘We are 100% responsible for the energy we bring into a room.’

If you appreciate their characteristics and look after the empathic and sensitive people in your workplace, you’ll create a more empowered team.


​Deb x

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