Is your manager the kind of person who can't tell whether you're angry, simmering with frustration, plain anxious or satisfied with your lot at work?
A major factor in the way managers and staff relate to each other in the workplace is their capacity for empathy, says Queensland University of Technology Honours psychology student Mark Sykes.
Mr Sykes is seeking 150 managers and staff volunteers for a free onsite survey to conduct Australia's first study to measure empathy in the workplace.
He said he was looking at managerial empathy because it was associated with high productivity and yet had not been accurately measured in depth before.
"Empathy is the most critical factor in the relationship between people, and it has been shown that outstanding managers have big doses of it," he said.
"Some managers report that they completely don't 'get' other people. They don't interpret body language, they misunderstand the point of communication and are unable to sense how others are feeling.
"But the managers who are in tune with their staff produce higher job satisfaction which leads to less workplace stress and lower staff turnover and thus increased productivity."
Mr Sykes will administer a test at volunteers' workplaces to measure three major components of empathy related to feelings, thinking and communication.
Ideally, a person should have the right balance of each type of empathy.
"The best counsellors, for example, have highly developed emotional and thinking empathy and combine this with strong communicative empathy.
"Lack enough punch in one of the empathy dimensions and dealing with issues in the workplace can be a lot more challenging."
Mr Sykes said study participants would complete an innovative DVD based test that would take less than an hour.
And for those whose empathy scores were low, Mr Sykes said empathy could be learned.
Psychologist Dr Herbert Biggs from QUT is supporting the testing program with an optional empathy training program for organisations and individuals who want to increase their levels of empathy.
"The most outstanding managers are referred to as transformational leaders who understand people and their aspirations. Research shows that transformational leaders such as Richard Branson and Nelson Mandela are likely to have high levels of empathy."
To participate in the free testing, contact Mark Sykes on 0416 157 751. For more information go to www.empathy.com.au.
Media contact: Niki Widdowson, QUT media officer, 07 3864 1841 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au.