Example of Empathy in Government Work
The meme below made the rounds with farmworkers at the start of the shelter in place.
The first caption says this is how the wealthy shelter in place.
The second says this how people who live day to day shelter in place.
I don't know how the wealthy shelter in place; this is about how others see themselves.
As the deadline approached, call volumes started increasing dramatically. People were getting anxious about the consequences of missing the reporting deadline. Many began calling often, then more often, and we knew because there was a queue. The policy was that people, who called to settle-up, explore exemptions, or challenge the requirements, would not be subject to penalties if their issues were resolved after the deadline, so long as they made a sincere effort to resolve them by contacting us before the deadline. Although there were 30 or so people working on this project, the responses to emails and calls fell several weeks behind, due to heavy call volumes.
As the deadline neared, the calls and emails kept increasing, and soon an emergency meeting was convened to instruct the folks working on
this project. The instructions were to tell the people calling, and already in the queue, that every time they called, it created a situation that made it harder for program staff to call them back. We were encouraged to ask them to stop calling as nicely as possible, and that it would help them get a call back sooner. Another meeting was held when the call volumes and backlog just kept growing.
At that meeting, someone spoke up and said, “hey, I’ve been that person on the other line. I procrastinate; and then end up stressed out over potential penalties and/or worse consequences. To those callers, we are faceless bureaucrats who they cannot hold accountable. If I tell them not to worry because I’ll enter their name in a queue, they understand that if I don’t, it likely won’t affect me; it could turn their lives upside down. They are calling about their livelihoods, and experiencing worry until it gets resolved. If you create an automated email they can hold in their hands, as proof they made an effort to resolve their issues before the deadline, they will stop calling. That email empowers them, and removes the anxiety of leaving their lives in the hands of strangers.”
The team’s next meeting was a celebration! The
call volumes dropped immediately, and two days later were down by 70-80%. That
is a large amount of anxiety that many community folks were spared, as well as a considerable amount of staff time saved. Although
it took several folks to get that email created and automatically generated, it all started with EMPATHY.
6 Ways to Improve Your Empathy | Savvy Psychologist (quickanddirtytips.com)