Supporting a highly sensitive person at work

Do you have a colleague or team member that truly wears their heart on their sleeve, someone that can easily empathise with residents and colleagues? Chances are, you have a highly sensitive person in your team.

Highly sensitive employees bring plenty of quality skills to the table. They have a human-centred approach that’s essential in aged care, both on the floor and behind the scenes. But often they struggle to fully express themselves and that’s where you can step up as a manager to guide them.

Who’s a highly sensitive person?

• The term highly sensitive person (HSP) was coined by Doctor Elaine Aron in the 1990s
• It describes someone who displays increased emotional sensitivity and reacts strongly to external and internal stimuli, e.g. light and noise, hunger
• HSP is a personality trait and it could also be applicable to people who would call themselves empathetic or introverted 

Dr Aron came up with a simple test that asks you to tick boxes when a statement is true to you, such as ‘other people’s moods affect me’ or ‘I try hard to avoid making mistakes or forgetting things’. Someone who ticks 14 or more boxes is highly sensitive.

If you have highly sensitive people in your team, they are more likely to:

• Think before they act or speak
• Are detail-orientated and will pick up on subtle changes or cues
• Can understand and empathise with residents and staff very well
• Have strong diplomatic negotiation skills – but they won’t control the situation
• Ensure everyone is engaged and involved with an activity or meeting
• Provide, acknowledge and listen to a wide variety of viewpoints and opinions 

However, a highly sensitive person is also likely to doubt themselves and be self-critical. Growing up, they have likely been told to stop being so sensitive – especially as a male – or have been asked to better hide their feelings. For some, negative comments or subtle cues are like water off a duck’s back. But for a HSP, it will often bring them to a sudden halt.

What are the biggest challenges for HSPs?

For sensitive aged staff, there’s a lot more to it than just feeling overwhelmed and letting their emotions show. They run the risk of going into their shell, particularly when a situation or structure of a team environment includes other people with more dominant and assertive personalities.

HSPs also fall into the trap of unnecessarily comparing themselves to others or doing too much to stop others from expressing disappointment.

Your role as a manager is to nurture them, especially in the early stages of their career. Many HSPs will become more comfortable and confident with experience so you can be assured they will contribute to the workload just as much as anyone – if not more.

But it’s all about giving them the platform to succeed. You can do this by:

• Holding regular one-on-one meetings with them to check in and talk about their workload, how they’re getting along with colleagues and residents
• Providing a structured routine and schedule that gives them plenty of time to prepare when they have to take charge
• Encouraging them to set healthy boundaries in the workplace
• Having a balanced workload that includes time to decompress following highly stressful situations
• Giving them time to talk and express themselves without dismissing them

Ultimately, you want to give a HSP room to grow without doing all the hard work for them. It’s important that staff are held accountable for their own development, but your support means they have the ability to learn and succeed without fear of letting others down.

Avoiding burnout

Burnout is incredibly common in aged care. In fact, burnout in workers skyrocketed over the last few years due to additional workplace pressures from COVID-19. Fewer staff on deck, increased resident deaths and social isolation all played a part. 

But your highly sensitive staff are often the ones who feel it the most. They are carrying the weight of additional responsibility on their shoulders and it can wear them down quickly. If you can recognise the signs of burnout early on, you have a chance to help.

Just as a sensitive worker will notice subtle changes in other staff or residents, keep an eye on changes in their personality or work output. If they’re visibly frustrated or have lost motivation, they are likely burnt out. This is when you need to reach out and support them by actively listening to and supporting their needs.