How public servants use empathy
This research brief was published through ANZSOG's The Bridge newsletter, which connects academic research with public sector practice. It provides a concise summary of a piece of research relevant to public sector professionals.
Empathy is an overlooked dimension in policymaking that can shape how policies are designed and implemented. An article in Public Management Review investigates the role of empathy in policy work through interviews with 22 Australian public servants in diverse policy-focused roles. The study identifies three ways public servants use empathy:
understanding citizens’ lived experiences to inform policy design
navigating interpersonal dynamics within and across agencies
challenging assumptions and embedded worldviews.
The findings suggest that empathy helps public servants interpret information in complex and uncertain policy environments.
What is empathy in public service?
Empathy refers to the ability to identify and understand other people’s emotions and to feel what the other person feels. There is no widely accepted definition or understanding of empathy in public administration and it is often treated as a secondary consideration rather than a foundational principle.
The study found that empathy was not only an emotional response but also a practical skill used by public servants to:
interpret problems
engage with lived experience
question dominant assumptions.
This study also showed that empathetic practice is not confined to direct citizen interaction. It is also present in non-frontline areas where work is oriented towards policy development.
Empathy in policy work
Empathy in policy work can be viewed as a sensemaking resource. Sensemaking involves interpreting and giving meaning to ambiguous or complex situations. This applies to most policy problems due to:
the inherent uncertainty of policy environments
complexity of resource allocation
ambiguity of problem framing.
Policy work can be understood in three ways:
Making decisions: Policy involves analysing evidence, providing expert advice and implementing decisions made by government.
Working with others: Policy is not made by a single person or organisation. It involves bringing together different stakeholders, managing competing interests, negotiating and building agreement.
Shaping understanding: Policy is also about how problems are defined, explained and understood. The language and narratives used by policymakers influence how problems are perceived and which solutions are considered.
In practice, public servants often work across all three areas at once. They may be analysing evidence, negotiating with stakeholders and shaping how a policy problem is understood. This highlights why effective policymaking requires more than technical expertise. Effective policy work, therefore, requires more than technical expertise. It also requires communication, collaboration and relationship-building.
These three dimensions help explain how public servants use empathy, including in roles without direct contact with the public.
How is empathy used in policy work?
The research interviews from the study identified three recurring ways in which empathy is used in policy work:
interpreting evidence, producing advice and designing solutions
managing relationships and interactions in policymaking processes
(re)framing problems, narratives and recommendations.
Across all three areas, empathy is more than simply understanding others’ feelings. It is a practical skill that helps public servants consider different perspectives, anticipate how policies affect people and navigate complex policy environments. Rather than being only an interpersonal skill, empathy is embedded in the everyday work of developing, negotiating and implementing policy.
Public servants use empathy in both direct and indirect communication with members of the public. Direct forms include consultation exercises, co-design, journey mapping and other forms of citizen-centric research. Indirect approaches use personas and short case examples to represent people affected by a policy. These help public servants better understand how policies might affect people in their everyday lives.
Empathy can also help policymakers question their assumptions about different groups in the community. Policy work often involves categorising people by age, location, income or education, but these categories can reinforce stereotypes or oversimplify people's experiences and needs. Empathy encourages public servants to look beyond these labels, challenge their own assumptions and develop a more accurate and inclusive understanding of the people affected by policy. However, empathy alone is not enough. Public servants must also critically reflect on whether their assumptions are grounded in evidence or shaped by their own experiences and biases.
The bottom line
The research suggests that empathy can help public servants:
make decisions by identifying analytical blind spots and considering how policies affect people
work collaboratively with others by understanding different perspectives and institutional pressures, communicating effectively and navigating complex negotiations
frame policy problems by questioning whose voices, needs and experiences may be missing or misunderstood.
Want to read more?
Mapping empathy in policy work: how public servants understand and use it – Assel Mussagulova and Colette Einfeld, Public Management Review, October 2026
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