As companies devise strategies to stay afloat in this period of global economic downturn, the basic human abilities of empathy with employees and customers can help corporates to prosper, an expert has said.
"Companies prosper when they tap into a power that every one of us already has -- the ability to reach outside of ourselves and connect with other people," said Dev Patnaik, founder of Jump Associates, an innovation strategy firm.
"We're wired to care. Widespread empathy can help companies to see opportunities faster, ensure ethical conduct and instill a personal sense of meaning in each of us as individuals," he said.
US-based Patnaik has been advisor to some of the world's most admired companies like GE, Nike, Harley-Davidson and Target.
"Harley-Davidson (the iconic American bike maker) is a great example of a company that has generated a widespread sense of empathy based on its employees' own experience as riders," said the top business strategist at an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in Mumbai.
"What's striking about Harley-Davidson is how people throughout the company, from engineers in manufacturing to the accountants in finance, have an intuitive understanding of the riders who buy their products," said Patnaik, who has authored a book Wired to Care.
Most companies can offer competitive salaries, vacation packages, health insurance and retirement plans. But few of them can demonstrate any sort of connection between the work that they do and a positive impact on the wider world, Patnaik said.
"To thrive over the long term, organisations need to move beyond their own views and discover what's happening in the rest of the world. They need to step outside themselves to see the world through other people's eyes," he said.
"When that happens the effects of empathy can be profound. Companies would prosper and communities would thrive," the business expert said.
