Join us for PDW 10171 - Compassion in Organizations: Connecting Theory to Practice via Lessons from Health Care and Research! We look forward to engaging discussions on organizational compassion and how networks, organizational culture, roles, routines, and leaders contribute to compassion thriving in the workplace. Our examples are primarily drawn from healthcare and health research settings, but lessons are relevant across divisions.
Date: Friday July 25, 2025
Time: 9:00 - 10:30am CEST (GMT +2)
Sponsors: HCM (primary), MOC, OB, OMT
Location: Bella Center Hall C- C3-m5
Presenters & Organizers:
David Addiss – Task Force for Global Health
Meena Andiappan – McMaster University
Thomas Quaade Bandholm – University of Copenhagen
Erica Di Ruggiero – University of Toronto
Julie Midtgaard Klausen – University of Copenhagen
Laura McClelland – Virginia Commonwealth University
Michael Skovdal Rathleff – Aalborg University
Sara Singer – Stanford University
Breanna Wodnik – University of Toronto
Abstract:
Research increasingly demonstrates that compassion in workspaces is not just a luxury – it is critical to employee well-being. Compassion is defined as the noticing, interpreting, feeling, and acting to alleviate suffering. Benefits of compassion in organizations include reducing staff burnout and turnover, improving patient outcomes in healthcare settings, elevating organizational capacity for learning, adaptation and change, supporting innovation and creativity at work, and reducing costs. Participants in this professional development workshop will be introduced to the compassion research landscape through the lens of healthcare and health research organizations, collectively reflect on a case study of Copenhagen-based researchers launching the Excellence and Kindness in Research Training (ELIS) Initiative to address workplace suffering in academic research settings, and employ critical reflective practices through a series of roundtable dialogues to connect theory to practice. Discussions will be action- and research-oriented, guided by the Dutton et al. (2006) social architecture framework for awakening organization-level compassion competence through five organizational component categories: network structures, organizational culture, work roles, routines, and leadership. We aim for participants to draw connections between the theory outlined in the workshop and their own working environments, supporting insights into their own workplace practices and inspiring future research ideas that are relevant for practitioners and researchers across multiple management divisions.
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Breanna Wodnik
Doctoral Candidate
University of Toronto
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