Testing the effectiveness of empathy conversations as a policy tool in the welfare and finance sectors-pilot study

Abstract

The underlying premise of this pilot study is that systems of competency-based empathy and motive-based compassion have a role to play in business, community and political environments. The study tested a method for creating empathic exchanges between a group, who were in a position to influence policy development, and a group who were experiencing financial and employment difficulties. The findings demonstrate that the procedure tested in this pilot study is a successful method for facilitating empathy conversations between individuals with different life circumstances. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the participants found the training and conversation experiences were non-onerous, being considered interesting and beneficial. However, the low response rate for the follow-up survey meant that we were unable to determine whether the empathy conversations had a beneficial impact on the work practices and decision-making processes of participants in the influencers over a period of time. As such, the 'real world' impact of participating in the empathy conversation is yet to be verified.