Detecting empathy in public organizations: Creating a more relational public administration

Abstract

Public organizations fulfill critical needs in communities across the United States, such as housing, environmental protection, public education, and more. In this important role, healthy public organizations should be accountable to the values that guide their work. But there is an absence of tools that support the assessment of the empathy in public organizational culture, that is, the value that supports equitably interacting, including, and representing all individuals served. To close the gap, this article presents a framework to detect an organizational culture of empathy, including the results from a case study of Housing Authority of Baltimore City and providing examples for how organizations can engage in empathic practices.