Empathy, a word largely associated with friendship and service and struggle, merits an association with work, too. While hiring managers have long been reminded to remember that employees bring their “whole self” to work, the COVID-19 pandemic has made them recognize — and respect — that employees now bring their whole lives to work. Team meetings once limited to conference rooms sprawl between kitchen tables and home offices and repurposed walk-in closets. Children once limited to subjects of watercooler small talk make appearances on camera. Standards once widely understood — from timeliness to personal presentation to meeting etiquette — have been redefined. Candidates and employees may not be at their best, but they are doing the best with what they have. Which begs the question: how can hiring managers curate experiences marked by understanding and grace when choosing apathy is the easier route to take? By making empathy a habit.
As stewards of the client-candidate matching process in the creative industry, Janou LLC prioritizes connection and “best fit” over title or age-based merit. This humanized approach to hiring — going beyond the resume to ask for more and not simply assume the least — is admirable for its inherent, rare empathy and rewarding nature for candidates and clients alike. Janou LLC client Patrick Ramsey, Head of Artistic Direction, CHANEL USA, has observed how Janou LLC’s partners Janou and Damian, “care deeply about their candidates,” and appreciates how they speak on their expertise but also, “listen and provide insight and guidance to both sides.” At Janou LLC, candidates aren't overlooked due to circumstances beyond their control. They’re seen for their ability to overcome those circumstances — chosen for their future potentials as much as they are for their present capabilities.
In the hiring process, to listen, go deeper, and ask questions before assuming is to view candidates through a lens of empathy. It’s also to take the harder — albeit more rewarding — route. The good news? According to IDEO, a global design company known for reframing perspectives, this route is made easier by walking it often. In an article on understanding employee emotions, IDEO destigmatized the difficulty of being a good manager with the notion that one is “...not born knowing how to play scales or eyeball specific volumes of pasta — it’s something learned and practiced.”
By humanizing the struggle to constantly check “all the boxes” in hiring and in the workplace, candidates are valued not only for what they can contribute, but for their identity and potential as well.