Discuss the significance of Empathy in Civil service.
Empathy is the experience of understanding another person’s thought, feelings and condition from his point of view rather than from our own. Empathy ensures that a person is compassionate towards the condition of another person.
Significance of Empathy in Civil Service
- Develop listening skills
The civil service requires an individual to be more patient and keep his temper and actions under check. For that to happen he/she is required to listen to the arguments of the other side before taking any action.
Ex: When an official is on an inspection duty, he needs to understand and listen to people’s problems before arriving at conclusion.
- Ensure wellness of public
Public welfare is an important part of duty of a civil servant. He/she is liable to take decisions that help in improving lives of the citizens. For him/her to be sympathetic towards public cause, there is a need for cultivating empathy in them.
Ex: A public official needs to be empathetic towards problems faced by women for collecting drinking water so as to make necessary arrangements.
- Prevents misuse of power
A public official is susceptible to misuse of powers if there is lack of empathy in him/her. By developing this character there are possibilities that he/she realises his mistakes and tries to rectify them.
Ex: A government official misusing his powers to transfer a poor man’s land to a rich company. This can be prevented if the official has empathy towards the poor man.
- Acceptibility of diverse thoughts
Civil service is a platform where there are more chances to experience diverse opinion and thoughts. It is necessary to accommodate other views and try to implement them if they are found to be appropriate.
Ex: Public official may get agitated if there is diverse opinion regarding his/her decisions. Empathy will give him ability to tackle such situations.
How to inculcate empathy?.
- Visual approach
Art and cultural forms are great enhancers of empathy in an individual. Forms like movies can send out positive messages that will help individual to strengthen his/her resolve towards empathy.
- Social approach
Empathy can be cultivated by greater participation in social gatherings. This will allow the individual to experience the need and importance of being empathetic towards society.
Thus, we can observe the importance empathy provides to a civil servant for performing his/her duty. Empathy creates a holistic official who is equipped to handle any kind of situation.
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