Reading Fiction and Reading People Better

If you enjoy reading fiction from time to time, you’ll be happy to know your hobby can also make you a more effective HR professional. Reading literary fiction can make you better at reading people, according to the authors of a study published in “Science.” Investigators randomly assigned popular fiction, literary fiction, and nonfiction passages to study participants. The people who read more literary passages tended to do a better job on social perception tests. Following unusual human resources tips can help you learn new skills, so try reading literary fiction if you need to do a better job reading people at work.

This study shows what you read has an impact on how you perceive things in social and professional situations. If you conduct human resources investigations on a regular basis, improved perception skills can help you get the truth out of employees who may be afraid to tell you about what has been happening in the workplace. The study participants who read literary fiction did especially well on a test designed to gauge their ability to determine people’s emotions based on black-and-white photographs of the eyes. Reading people this way can yield valuable information for HR professionals.

Reading literary fiction can also help you determine what motivates the people around you. If you're responsible for developing incentive programs or reward systems, you can use this skill to determine what will truly motivate employees. Some people are motivated by the chance to earn more money, while others thrive if they are given more responsibilities. If you become adept at reading people, you will be able to do a better job determining how employees will respond to new programs. This can help you save time and avoid spending money on programs that won't motivate workers.

The study also showed people who read literary fiction passages tended to do better on tests related to their ability to empathize with others. As a human resources professional, you must be able to listen to employees and empathize with their experiences, or you will not be able to gain their trust. In some cases, just making employees feel like someone is listening to their concerns is enough to defuse tension and prevent workplace conflict. Showing empathy is also a good way to avoid lawsuits in high-stress situations. Reading people accurately will help you resolve problems and improve employee performance.

If reading is one of your favorite hobbies, it might also benefit you professionally. Reading literary fiction makes it more likely that you will be able to empathize with employees and assess a person's true emotions and motivations. Reading people accurately will help you resolve workplace conflict and develop human resources programs that get real results. Use this tactic along with other human resources tips to improve your performance on the job.

(Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)