ThoughtWorks
  • Contact
  • Español
  • Português
  • Deutsch
  • 中文
Go to overview
  • Engineering Culture, Delivery Mindset

    Embrace a modern approach to software development and deliver value faster

    Intelligence-Driven Decision Making

    Leverage your data assets to unlock new sources of value

  • Frictionless Operating Model

    Improve your organization's ability to respond to change

    Platform Strategy

    Create adaptable technology platforms that move with your business strategy

  • Experience Design and Product Capability

    Rapidly design, deliver and evolve exceptional products and experiences

    Partnerships

    Leveraging our network of trusted partners to amplify the outcomes we deliver for our clients

Go to overview
  • Automotive
  • Cleantech, Energy and Utilities
  • Financial Services and Insurance
  • Healthcare
  • Media and Publishing
  • Not-for-profit
  • Public Sector
  • Retail and E-commerce
  • Travel and Transport
Go to overview

Featured

  • Technology

    An in-depth exploration of enterprise technology and engineering excellence

  • Business

    Keep up to date with the latest business and industry insights for digital leaders

  • Culture

    The place for career-building content and tips, and our view on social justice and inclusivity

Digital Publications and Tools

  • Technology Radar

    An opinionated guide to technology frontiers

  • Perspectives

    A publication for digital leaders

  • Digital Fluency Model

    A model for prioritizing the digital capabilities needed to navigate uncertainty

  • Decoder

    The business execs' A-Z guide to technology

All Insights

  • Articles

    Expert insights to help your business grow

  • Blogs

    Personal perspectives from ThoughtWorkers around the globe

  • Books

    Explore our extensive library

  • Podcasts

    Captivating conversations on the latest in business and tech

Go to overview
  • Application process

    What to expect as you interview with us

  • Grads and career changers

    Start your tech career on the right foot

  • Search jobs

    Find open positions in your region

  • Stay connected

    Sign up for our monthly newsletter

Go to overview
  • Conferences and Events
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • News
  • Open Source
  • Our Leaders
  • Social Change
  • Español
  • Português
  • Deutsch
  • 中文
ThoughtWorksMenu
  • Close   ✕
  • What we do
  • Who we work with
  • Insights
  • Careers
  • About
  • Contact
  • Back
  • Close   ✕
  • Go to overview
  • Engineering Culture, Delivery Mindset

    Embrace a modern approach to software development and deliver value faster

  • Experience Design and Product Capability

    Rapidly design, deliver and evolve exceptional products and experiences

  • Frictionless Operating Model

    Improve your organization's ability to respond to change

  • Intelligence-Driven Decision Making

    Leverage your data assets to unlock new sources of value

  • Partnerships

    Leveraging our network of trusted partners to amplify the outcomes we deliver for our clients

  • Platform Strategy

    Create adaptable technology platforms that move with your business strategy

  • Back
  • Close   ✕
  • Go to overview
  • Automotive
  • Cleantech, Energy and Utilities
  • Financial Services and Insurance
  • Healthcare
  • Media and Publishing
  • Not-for-profit
  • Public Sector
  • Retail and E-commerce
  • Travel and Transport
  • Back
  • Close   ✕
  • Go to overview
  • Featured

  • Technology

    An in-depth exploration of enterprise technology and engineering excellence

  • Business

    Keep up to date with the latest business and industry insights for digital leaders

  • Culture

    The place for career-building content and tips, and our view on social justice and inclusivity

  • Digital Publications and Tools

  • Technology Radar

    An opinionated guide to technology frontiers

  • Perspectives

    A publication for digital leaders

  • Digital Fluency Model

    A model for prioritizing the digital capabilities needed to navigate uncertainty

  • Decoder

    The business execs' A-Z guide to technology

  • All Insights

  • Articles

    Expert insights to help your business grow

  • Blogs

    Personal perspectives from ThoughtWorkers around the globe

  • Books

    Explore our extensive library

  • Podcasts

    Captivating conversations on the latest in business and tech

  • Back
  • Close   ✕
  • Go to overview
  • Application process

    What to expect as you interview with us

  • Grads and career changers

    Start your tech career on the right foot

  • Search jobs

    Find open positions in your region

  • Stay connected

    Sign up for our monthly newsletter

  • Back
  • Close   ✕
  • Go to overview
  • Conferences and Events
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • News
  • Open Source
  • Our Leaders
  • Social Change
Blogs
Select a topic
View all topicsClose
Technology 
Agile Project Management Cloud Continuous Delivery  Data Science & Engineering Defending the Free Internet Evolutionary Architecture Experience Design IoT Languages, Tools & Frameworks Legacy Modernization Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence Microservices Platforms Security Software Testing Technology Strategy 
Business 
Financial Services Global Health Innovation Retail  Transformation 
Careers 
Career Hacks Diversity & Inclusion Social Change 
Blogs

Topics

Choose a topic
  • Technology
    Technology
  • Technology Overview
  • Agile Project Management
  • Cloud
  • Continuous Delivery
  • Data Science & Engineering
  • Defending the Free Internet
  • Evolutionary Architecture
  • Experience Design
  • IoT
  • Languages, Tools & Frameworks
  • Legacy Modernization
  • Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence
  • Microservices
  • Platforms
  • Security
  • Software Testing
  • Technology Strategy
  • Business
    Business
  • Business Overview
  • Financial Services
  • Global Health
  • Innovation
  • Retail
  • Transformation
  • Careers
    Careers
  • Careers Overview
  • Career Hacks
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Social Change
Career HacksDiversity & InclusionCareers

Leading with compassion and inclusivity

Tarsha McCormick Tarsha McCormick

Published: Aug 1, 2017

We are living in challenging times, fraught with anxiety and stress. Globally, we are faced with daily acts of terror, hate crimes, riots and protests, each having a long-lasting and damaging impact on the people around us and the communities we serve. Naturally, this is bound to blur the thin line dividing personal and professional lives.  

So, how should your organization respond in the aftermath of difficult events? Will a note expressing solidarity suffice? Will giving a day off to an upset employee help? Maybe, but it should not stop there. Organizations should help their employees to channel their positive and negative emotions to build an honest and authentic work culture. We need to listen, acknowledge, and respond in ways that truly make a positive difference to their mental and emotional wellbeing.

With over two decades in human resources advocating for social justice and inclusion, I’m familiar with the impact that such events can have. I believe that repressing emotions like anxiety, anger or sorrow in the workplace is highly counterproductive. An effective approach is to lead with compassion and empathy. As individuals, or even as corporate citizens within an organization, we must ensure that the needs of those around us are recognized. Our people should have the freedom to bring their whole selves to work.

Below, I have shared some thoughts about disruption in the workplace from a talk I gave at the SXSW 2017 titled 'Leading Through World Trauma'. It was an interesting and timely panel where I got the opportunity to explain how empathy, not indifference, drives organizational productivity and efficiency. Like every other organizational endeavor, this too requires planning with a cool head.



There are three main ways I’ve observed this type of disruption in the workplace; the first step is to categorize your company’s circumstances and then design appropriate interventions. Here’s how I view this challenge objectively:

First: When socio-political upheavals enter the workspace

We live in an increasingly connected world where our lives are being influenced by events across the globe. Politics, which might seem like a subject far removed from our sphere of work, impacts us daily. We need to be respectful of each other's opinions and feelings, which might mean refraining from heated debates. However, if there are situations that cause employees grief and impact them at work, I believe we should find a way to discuss them.

The recent immigration ban in the US, for instance, has cast a dark shadow over the future of millions of talented individuals and their families. People come to work, but are not able to focus due to what is going on outside of the workplace. Naturally, they are anxious to know if their employers understand and support them.

What you can do: The process of healing begins with the simple act of acknowledgment. I can’t overemphasize the importance of acknowledging the impact that these injustices and events are having on our employees. Acknowledge the situation, provide a space where people can share and learn from each other, make sure your employees know the resources available to them and discuss ways to get involved. The first step is the most important one - acknowledging what’s going on and fast.

Second: Coping with hate crimes and terrorist attacks

In the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in June 2016, people lost friends, family members, and loved ones. Numerous lost their lives. Others, their purpose for living. Their world was shattered for no fault of their own.

More recently, the Manchester Arena attack shocked us to the core. The ThoughtWorks’ Manchester office is just a mile away from the site of the attack. What if the gunman had chosen to conduct his business during the day and not during the Ariana Grande concert in the evening? Perhaps the teenagers in the audience would have been spared. office-goers would have borne the brunt of the assault. Even our own colleagues ... I shudder to think of the possibilities. I’m also aware that our employees in the Manchester office are still trying to cope with the horror.

Reading or hearing about violence in the news is one thing. Experiencing it is another.

Grieving and emotionally distraught employees can take a day off, or two, or ten. Unfortunately, grief doesn’t descend with a proper schedule. There’s no guarantee that the number of days they’ve been given off is adequate for them to cope with their loss.

What you can do: At such times, organizations need to be mindful of their employees’ vulnerable mental state and modify their expectations of them. Maintaining a stoic silence will not help. Organizations should speak with their employees about appropriate ways to be supportive, and work on crafting solutions together. By simply acknowledging their grief and recognizing its enormity, organizations can help their employees cope with their distress better. 

Third: Tackling the depressive hold of ongoing trauma

Ongoing trauma, such as the systemic and cultural oppression of minorities, is a different beast altogether. It lulls people into believing that their oppression is nothing out of the ordinary. While many accept their ‘fate’, those who protest, place themselves at risk of being labeled rebels, or threats, and fear being viciously silenced.

The African American community in the US, for instance, has been deeply impacted by the deadly shootings of people of color at the hands of law enforcement officials. Such issues are not necessarily about the individual incidents as much as about the systemic problems.

I, along with many others, particularly in the African American community, have had a tough time dealing with these incidents. You start to question how much more you can take. How long will these incidents continue to happen? Are you and your loved ones safe? Will you be next? You cannot deny the fact that such incidents disrupt workplace dynamics.

What you can do: It's important for organizations to figure out ways in which they can contribute to breaking down existing barriers that divide and discriminate. You can begin the initiative in your organization by creating safe spaces for people to have conversations and learn from each other. Next, help your employees get involved outside of your organization, perhaps with an NGO, to help bridge social and cultural rifts in the society. There is nothing more empowering than the ability to influence change. Why are organizations not more vocal about social issues?

There are a variety of reasons why a company may choose to ignore an incident or not make a public statement. Sometimes they are not familiar with the topic and are uncomfortable speaking out, or sometimes, the incident is considered too political, and commenting may cause a financial impact.

It is natural for businesses to be mindful of such possibilities. Sure, they must weigh their words before making a public statement. However, the risk of riling a few in power is less than the risk of passively endorsing injustice through one’s silence. Irrespective of how sensitive a situation, you can always take discreet, but meaningful steps to help soothe the pain.

Compassion is key.

As the Head of Diversity & Inclusion for ThoughtWorks North America, it’s my responsibility to set the strategic vision around making ThoughtWorks the most diverse and inclusive company in the IT industry. In the 18+ years that I’ve been here, I have learned that in the long term, a holistic approach is the winner.

You cannot expect an individual to dissociate their emotions from work. It is humanly impossible. What you can expect, is for that individual to recover faster with your help.

That is why, it is important that you convert your workplace into a source of strength and inspiration, by being compassionate. Doing so will help people gain the strength needed to cope, by being the pillar of support that your employees seek in their darkest hour of need. And that will help find a way to take your organization forward despite the challenges.

Tips for companies

In addition to making internal and public statements, employers can also show support by:
  • Making sure that employees understand the resources that are available to them for self-care.
  • Providing employees with the opportunity to express themselves in a safe environment.
  • Bringing in an outside facilitator if required. The goal should be to provide a safe environment for people to express themselves and learn at the same time. 
  • Guiding employees to become agents of change rather than victims of circumstance through protests, donations, volunteering, etc.
Related blogs
Career Hacks

Authenticity at work is a privilege

Roseanne Malfucci
Learn more
Career Hacks

I Am a Technologist, Not a Female Technologist

Laura Nash
Learn more
Career Hacks

The makings of an enduring organizational culture

Sameer Soman
Learn more
  • What we do
  • Who we work with
  • Insights
  • Careers
  • About
  • Contact

WeChat

×
QR code to ThoughtWorks China WeChat subscription account

Media and analyst relations | Privacy policy | Modern Slavery statement ThoughtWorks| Accessibility | © 2021 ThoughtWorks, Inc.