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Empathy and Recent College Grads
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Empathy and Recent College Grads
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I am a Professor at Middle Tennessee State University and teach a Business Communication course that is designed to assist students in understanding how to properly prepare business messages (using v
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Empathy and Recent College Grads
posted at 3/13/2012 1:22 PM EDT
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 2
First: 3/13/2012 Last: 6/4/2012 |
I am a Professor at Middle Tennessee State University and teach a Business Communication course that is designed to assist students in understanding how to properly prepare business messages (using various media). As a portion of this course, we focus on writing direct (routine, good news, direct requests, goodwill) and indirect messages (unfavorable news, persuasive messages). For the past decade, students' performance in this segment of the course has been dismal--and declining with each passing year. Research has shown a steady decline in empathy among American college students over the past three decades (Konrath, O’Brien, & Hsing, 2011). Along with this decline, researchers have seen an increase in bullying and a misguided sense of self-importance (high levels of self esteem) on the part of college students (Twenge, 2006). Because of the increasingly poor scores on various writing projects for which students are admonished to work from the reader perspective, I became curious as to the possible relationship between the absence of empathy skills and students' inability to properly construct direct and indirect messages. My request of you: Have you noticed (whether you have administered any assessment instrument or not) an issue with interpersonal skills among your recent college graduates--particularly, do you believe these individuals understand what empathy means and how to apply it in situations relating to customers, clients, or co-workers? Do you think these individuals confuse empathy with sympathy and believe that feeling sorry for someone or about something is sufficient? Or, as I like to phrase it, do they believe that "it is better to ask forgiveness than to seek permission" when deciding on a specific approach to a problem--regardless of the outcome as it might relate to another person or persons? Please provide me with answers to these questions--and any other pertinent information you have with regard to the absence of empathy among your employees (whether recent college grads or old timers like me). I am planning to conduct a study of Business Communication students at MTSU but would like to know some actual workplace data regarding the practice of empathy (or perhaps, the lack thereof). Thank you! K. Virginia Hemby, Ph.D. Professor Business Communication & Entrepreneurship Department Middle TN State University Virginia.Hemby-Grubb@mtsu.edu |
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Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads
posted at 3/13/2012 7:03 PM EDT
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 174
First: 9/29/2011 Last: 2/12/2013 |
Interesting question. I did MBA placement for a few months at a major midwestern university and I did notice some disturbing characteristis of this age demographic. First, many do have a misplaced sense of self esteem. A number of students seemed to think that they deserved instant management positions upon graduation - trying to tell them that getting an MBA was only one ticket of several they needed to get punched was fruitless. Moreover, many were very fixed on what they wanted to study regardless of how that might be related to ultimate career goals. Overall, overly confident in their own skills, self worth and capabilities. Are they too self absorbed to be concerned enough about others to be able to work in a service or team environment? Sadly, many are in my opinion. The "better to ask forgiveness...." comment is, I believe, a bit off. If the self absorbed type of student does indeed ask forgivenments, it's token - part of the game. I don't think that there's really much genuine remorse there. I will note one very significant exception. To a person, those who were doing their MBA following military service were far better adjusted, had much clearer and well thought out goals, worked harder and naturally worked exceptionally well in teams. They also took responsibility for themselves and, if need be, their mistakes - no fingerpointing, no excuses. And they were typically the ones who found better jobs faster.
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Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads
posted at 3/14/2012 10:01 AM EDT
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 30
First: 11/3/2011 Last: 2/12/2013 |
Nork nailed it pretty well. I'll add that I don't think students being self-absorbed is anything new or generational. I probably was too at that age. The challenge they face is transitioning from a "me" environment to a "we" or team culture. I work with some recent-to-3 year post-grads, and notice a wide variation in their view of the business world. As noted above, those with military or prior work experience seem to have a more realistic view of how they will fit into a work group or team. |
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Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads
posted at 3/14/2012 12:55 PM EDT
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 174
First: 9/20/2011 Last: 2/11/2013 |
In Response to Empathy and Recent College Grads: I am a Professor at Middle Tennessee State University and teach a Business Communication course that is designed to assist students in understanding how to properly prepare business messages (using various media). As a portion of this course, we focus on writing direct (routine, good news, direct requests, goodwill) and indirect messages (unfavorable news, persuasive messages). For the past decade, students' performance in this segment of the course has been dismal--and declining with each passing year. Research has shown a steady decline in empathy among American college students over the past three decades (Konrath, O’Brien, & Hsing, 2011). Along with this decline, researchers have seen an increase in bullying and a misguided sense of self-importance (high levels of self esteem) on the part of college students (Twenge, 2006). Because of the increasingly poor scores on various writing projects for which students are admonished to work from the reader perspective, I became curious as to the possible relationship between the absence of empathy skills and students' inability to properly construct direct and indirect messages. My request of you : Have you noticed (whether you have administered any assessment instrument or not) an issue with interpersonal skills among your recent college graduates--particularly, do you believe these individuals understand what empathy means and how to apply it in situations relating to customers, clients, or co-workers? Do you think these individuals confuse empathy with sympathy and believe that feeling sorry for someone or about something is sufficient? Or, as I like to phrase it, do they believe that "it is better to ask forgiveness than to seek permission" when deciding on a specific approach to a problem--regardless of the outcome as it might relate to another person or persons? Please provide me with answers to these questions--and any other pertinent information you have with regard to the absence of empathy among your employees (whether recent college grads or old timers like me). I am planning to conduct a study of Business Communication students at MTSU but would like to know some actual workplace data regarding the practice of empathy (or perhaps, the lack thereof). Thank you! K. Virginia Hemby, Ph.D. Professor Business Communication & Entrepreneurship Department Middle TN State University Virginia.Hemby-Grubb@mtsu.edu Posted by kvhemby Virginia-There is definitely a meaningful decline in writing skills that has a direct correlation to the rise in social media. Social media skills for IMing, Twittering, emailing, etc put a premium on shorthand/shortened communications so it should not be a surprise that current college students are having a problem in this area. It is not a skill they have been working on for years. I am not convinced this is greatly influenced by the the empathy/sympathy point you make but rather that they are not reading/reviewing/using materials with examples of what goes on in the business community. One way to get their attention is to bring in guest speakers who have graduated in the last five years and have them relate their experience of how business writing really is an area they need to focus on. They will likely listen to their age peers before others. I would also postulate to you that there is a strong correlation between excellent speaking skills and writing skills. My assumption is that if you cannot speak well you cannot write well and the corollary is probably true as well. So, like, if you can't say it, wow you can't rite it 
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Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY
posted at 5/6/2012 11:45 PM EDT
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 3
First: 5/6/2012 Last: 5/9/2012 |
Forgive me if I seem unresponsive to your question about empathy and college grads, but I would like to ask a question about an underlying issue. The whole discussion begins with the premise that one uses direct communication for good news, and indirect communication for bad news. I would suggest that the basically the same communication should be used for good or bad news: straight, clear, direct, honest communication. That is the only kind that is effective. For an example of indirect communication, look at Pepsico's announcement early this year that it was "launching strategic productivity initiatives." A direct, honest announcement would have said the company was "laying off employees." What was gained by the use of indirect communication, or what I like to call "weasel words?" No one is fooled. Everyone gets the message that people are being laid off. But everyone also gets the message that the company is not being straight with them and is trying to hide its actions and intentions behind a smokescreen of ridiculous verbiage. The company loses everyone's respect and trust, as it demonstrates, through its avoidance of direct communication, that it is not worthy or respect or trust. Am I missing something? Perhaps I have misunderstood what is meant by "indirect communication." Can someone enlighten me? Can someone explain why "launching strategic productivity initiatives" is a better choice of words than "laying off employees?" Many thanks. |
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Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY
posted at 5/7/2012 10:57 PM EDT
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 174
First: 9/20/2011 Last: 2/11/2013 |
In Response to Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY: Forgive me if I seem unresponsive to your question about empathy and college grads, but I would like to ask a question about an underlying issue. The whole discussion begins with the premise that one uses direct communication for good news, and indirect communication for bad news. I would suggest that the basically the same communication should be used for good or bad news: straight, clear, direct, honest communication. That is the only kind that is effective. For an example of indirect communication, look at Pepsico's announcement early this year that it was "launching strategic productivity initiatives." A direct, honest announcement would have said the company was "laying off employees." What was gained by the use of indirect communication, or what I like to call "weasel words?" No one is fooled. Everyone gets the message that people are being laid off. But everyone also gets the message that the company is not being straight with them and is trying to hide its actions and intentions behind a smokescreen of ridiculous verbiage. The company loses everyone's respect and trust, as it demonstrates, through its avoidance of direct communication, that it is not worthy or respect or trust. Am I missing something? Perhaps I have misunderstood what is meant by "indirect communication." Can someone enlighten me? Can someone explain why "launching strategic productivity initiatives" is a better choice of words than "laying off employees?" Many thanks. Posted by JamesKunen Yes I think you may be missing something. The intended audience for this communication is not the workforce but the stockholders. If you own shares in a company you would expect strategic productivity initiatives. There may in fact be more than just staff reductions actions that are undertaken as most executives know that this is not sufficient. I would go back and read the announcements that have come out since the first one to see how they are following up. |
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Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY
posted at 5/8/2012 3:01 PM EDT
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 3
First: 5/6/2012 Last: 5/9/2012 |
In Response to Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY: In Response to Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY : Yes I think you may be missing something. The intended audience for this communication is not the workforce but the stockholders. If you own shares in a company you would expect strategic productivity initiatives. There may in fact be more than just staff reductions actions that are undertaken as most executives know that this is not sufficient. I would go back and read the announcements that have come out since the first one to see how they are following up. Posted by howard7 Thank you, Howard. I take your point that Pepsico is talking about MORE than staff reductions. But I would point out that the stockholder audience is not in one silo and the workforce in another. At Time Warner, where I worked in corporate communications, we assumed that employees would read everything about the company in the financial press and elsewhere, and that investors and the press would become aware of communications to employees in a heartbeat. Therefore, I think that, so far as possible, communications aimed at stockholders or employees, conveying good news or bad, should be as direct, non-evasive and non-jargony as possible. I suspect you'd agee with that. but please correct me if I'm wrong. |
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Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY
posted at 5/8/2012 3:22 PM EDT
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 174
First: 9/20/2011 Last: 2/11/2013 |
In Response to Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY: In Response to Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY : Thank you, Howard. I take your point that Pepsico is talking about MORE than staff reductions. But I would point out that the stockholder audience is not in one silo and the workforce in another. At Time Warner, where I worked in corporate communications, we assumed that employees would read everything about the company in the financial press and elsewhere, and that investors and the press would become aware of communications to employees in a heartbeat. Therefore, I think that, so far as possible, communications aimed at stockholders or employees, conveying good news or bad, should be as direct, non-evasive and non-jargony as possible. I suspect you'd agee with that. but please correct me if I'm wrong. Posted by JamesKunen James-If you agree that they are talking about more than staff reductions, then perhaps their communicate hits the mark. I have not seen it but when you are writing to broad, diverse audience, the communications at the public level will be intentionally less direct and writen in "jargon" that they hope all will understand. Why should we assume Pepsico did not do exactly what they were trying to do with their communication? After all they can afford the best and they also understand the benefits of direct communication don't you think? |
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Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY
posted at 5/9/2012 11:37 PM EDT
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 3
First: 5/6/2012 Last: 5/9/2012 |
In Response to Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY: In Response to Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY : James-If you agree that they are talking about more than staff reductions, then perhaps their communicate hits the mark. I have not seen it but when you are writing to broad, diverse audience, the communications at the public level will be intentionally less direct and writen in "jargon" that they hope all will understand. Why should we assume Pepsico did not do exactly what they were trying to do with their communication? After all they can afford the best and they also understand the benefits of direct communication don't you think? Posted by howard7 I agree that Pepsico said what it wanted to say (although I'm not particularly impressed by the point that "they can afford the best," having been there). Maybe it comes down to style of jargon. For messages that sound like straight-shooting rather than jargon, read anything from Warren Buffett. On another matter (decreasing engatement in the forums), I think that technical difficulty may be a major factor. I almost gave up, while watching the little buffering circle turn for a long, long time before I could put up this post. |
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Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY
posted at 5/10/2012 7:53 AM EDT
on Workforce Management
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Posts: 174
First: 9/20/2011 Last: 2/11/2013 |
In Response to Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY: In Response to Re: Empathy and Recent College Grads and HONESTY : I agree that Pepsico said what it wanted to say (although I'm not particularly impressed by the point that "they can afford the best," having been there). Maybe it comes down to style of jargon. For messages that sound like straight-shooting rather than jargon, read anything from Warren Buffett. On another matter (decreasing engatement in the forums), I think that technical difficulty may be a major factor. I almost gave up, while watching the little buffering circle turn for a long, long time before I could put up this post. Posted by JamesKunen James thanks for bring up the "technical issue". I have noticed the same problem recently but thought it was only my system. |
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