AGGREGATING RESULTS

Team Level:

Aggregating responses for a team can highlight collective strengths and common challenges. The team can identify shared areas for improvement which can lead to team Ideation and Prototyping of team norms, communication strategies, or initiatives to build connection and empathy for others within the group. 

Organisational Level:

Aggregating responses across the organisation reveals broader cultural patterns. This helps identify systemic and cultural issues. This can inform enterprise-level ideation and prototyping of new policies, capacity building programs around dialogue and societal cohesion, or changes to organisational structure to foster common purpose, greater connection and reduce otherness.

EMPATHY RUBRIC

The following rubric offers a framework for assessing empathy maturity by defining two key dimensions—Empathy Integration Level and Empathy Impact & Scope—across three progressive levels. The aim is to provide insight into how empathy is not merely felt but actively practiced and how its influence manifests in concrete outcomes within a team and organisational context.

Empathy Integration Level (Internal Practice within Teams & Organisations)

This dimension describes how empathy is cultivated and embedded into the day-to-day operations and culture.

• Low: Foundational/Individual: At this stage, empathy is largely dependent on individual personalities or is a reactive response to crises. Leaders may feel empathy but often lack consistent strategies or follow-through to address issues. There's a risk of "empathy fatigue" among leaders due to the absence of systemic support and clear boundaries. Organisations might verbally support empathy but fail to implement it consistently.

• Medium: Intentional/Cultivated: Empathy is explicitly recognised as a valuable skill that can be learned and developed within the organisation. Intentional efforts are made to foster empathetic practices, such as active listening, seeking employee feedback, embracing different viewpoints, and validating team members' efforts and emotions. Leaders begin to show genuine care for employees' well-being beyond work tasks. Tools and resources may be introduced to support leaders, but full embedding into all processes might still be in progress.

• High: Transformative/Systemic: Empathy is deeply woven into the organisational fabric and is seen as a practice of care. It's embedded organically into every aspect of the organisation, with policies and programs enabling leaders to act empathetically while respecting boundaries. Leaders champion practical empathy, consistently taking supportive action, removing roadblocks, and genuinely appreciating efforts. This level reflects a people-centred culture that proactively understands and addresses employee needs. Jackie’s approach of putting oneself at the centre of design thinking to understand individual needs and reconcile identities is foundational for leaders to develop this level of empathy, which then scales to the organisation.

Empathy Impact & Scope (Observable Outcomes for Teams & Society)

This dimension describes the results and broader reach of empathetic practices within and beyond the organisation.

Low: Limited/Inconsistent Outcomes: The positive effects of empathy are sporadic, often confined to individual interactions or specific teams, rather than being widespread. A significant portion of employees (e.g., 47%) may report a lack of follow-through on company promises related to empathy, leading to frustration and disengagement. Overall business outcomes are not notably or consistently improved by empathetic efforts.

Medium: Growing/Internal Benefits: Empathy starts to yield clear, measurable improvements within the team or organisation. This includes:

    ◦ Higher levels of innovation.

    ◦ Lower turnover rates.

    ◦ Increased trust among team members and leaders.

    ◦ Employees feeling more seen, heard, and valued.

    ◦ Better team dynamics and collaboration.

    ◦ Initial signs of increased engagement and fulfillment are evident.

High: Strategic/Societal Contribution: Empathy is a key strategic advantage that consistently drives superior business outcomes, with top companies outperforming peers in market capitalization growth (e.g., 50% over five years).

The organisation benefits from:

    ◦ High employee retention, with employees picturing themselves staying significantly longer

    ◦ Deep employee engagement and fulfillment

    ◦ A strong, cohesive workplace community and culture.

    ◦ The organisation actively contributes to social cohesion and broader societal well-being by demonstrating social empathy – understanding people from different backgrounds within the context of institutionalised inequalities and inspiring positive societal change. This includes fostering dialogue, bridging divides, and contributing to a more inclusive world where everyone feels safe, seen, and validated.

This rubric highlights that empathy maturity progresses from individual awareness to deeply embedded organisational practices that yield significant internal and broader societal benefits.

Recommendations:

Teams and organisations can check how they are progressing against each of these recommended practices.

• Implement capacity building and educational programs focused on systemic racism, unconscious bias, and the historical and ongoing impacts of discrimination.

• Facilitate structured dialogues, workshops, or employee resource groups that promote active listening and difficult dialogue, cross-cultural understanding, and perspective-taking

• Encourage exposure to diverse viewpoints and experiences through storytelling, guest speakers, or inclusive team projects.

• Promote active bystander intervention training specifically addressing discrimination, harassment, and exclusion.

• Clearly define expected behaviours and provide safe channels for reporting issues.

• Foster a culture where speaking up against unfair treatment is encouraged and supported.

• Explicitly link taking supportive action to core company values and recognition programs.

• Actively promote a culture where diverse perspectives are welcomed and integrated into the collective identity by celebrating diverse identities and perspectives.

• Provide more opportunities for employees to provide input and feel their voice matter, investigate underlying issues like trust or resource.

Jackie’s programs, advisory and strategic offerings will support your team and organisation to realise empathy as a strategic asset.