Activity 1: A Day in Their Shoes – Empathy Mapping Roleplay
Read the scenario cards and complete the tables.
Role cards
| MARIA | |
| Age | 40 |
| Job | HR Officer in a medium-sized company, full-time |
| Care duties | Provides daily care for her father (72 years old) with Alzheimer. Approximately 25 hours of care per week (mornings and evenings) |
| Workplace challenges | Often requests flexible hours, find it difficult to attend late meetings, colleagues sometimes perceive her as less reliable |
| Personal goals | Wants to advance in her HR career |
| JUAN | |
| Age | 35 |
| Job | IT support specialist, full-time |
| Care duties | Provides evening and weekend care for his younger brother (22) with severe mobility impairment |
| Workplace challenges | High absenteeism during medical crises, cannot commit to overtime, sometimes receives negative feedback from his manager |
| Personal goals | Wants to maintain stable employment and avoid burnout |
| REBECA | |
| Age | 50 |
| Job | Teacher in a high school |
| Care duties | Provides daily care for her husband with mobility issues following a stroke. Also responsible for household chores. |
| Workplace challenges | Needs frequent short-term leave, emotional strain sometimes affects her concentration and teaching performance |
| Personal goals | Wants to teach until retirement |
| FRANCESCA | |
| Age | 28 |
| Job | Project assistant |
| Care duties | Share caregiving responsibilities of her grandmother (age 83) with her mother. Supports with shopping, meals, medical visits. |
| Workplace challenges | Employer is unaware of her caregiving role, feels anxious about asking for flexibility |
| Personal goals | Wants to develop a stable career and maintain work-life balance |
| ANA | |
| Age | 32 |
| Job | Assistant Manager in a private company |
| Care duties | Provides daily care for her son with autism (age 7) |
| Workplace challenges | Needs flexible hours to manage her son’s therapy schedule, occasional absences due to emergencies, experience stress balancing deadlines at work with care responsibilities. |
| Personal goals | Wants to advance within the company |
Empathy Map Template
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Think/ Feel |
See |
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What does the person think about their situation? What feelings do they experience most often? |
What does the person see in their environment? What challenges and opportunities does the person see? |
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[Space for notes]
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[Space for notes]
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Say/Do |
Hear |
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What does the person say at work? How does the person act to manage both work and care responsibilities? |
What does the person hear from colleagues, managers, family members? What do others expect from them? |
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[Space for notes]
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[Space for notes]
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Identified Support Gaps:
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Proposed Improvement:
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Think/ Feel |
See |
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What does the person think about their situation? What feelings do they experience most often? |
What does the person see in their environment? What challenges and opportunities does the person see? |
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[Space for notes]
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[Space for notes]
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Say/Do |
Hear |
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What does the person say at work? How does the person act to manage both work and care responsibilities? |
What does the person hear from colleagues, managers, family members? What do others expect from them? |
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[Space for notes]
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[Space for notes]
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Identified Support Gaps:
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Proposed Improvement:
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Think/ Feel |
See |
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What does the person think about their situation? What feelings do they experience most often? |
What does the person see in their environment? What challenges and opportunities does the person see? |
|
[Space for notes]
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[Space for notes]
|
|
Say/Do |
Hear |
|
What does the person say at work? How does the person act to manage both work and care responsibilities? |
What does the person hear from colleagues, managers, family members? What do others expect from them? |
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[Space for notes]
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[Space for notes]
|
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Identified Support Gaps:
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Proposed Improvement:
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Think/ Feel |
See |
|
What does the person think about their situation? What feelings do they experience most often? |
What does the person see in their environment? What challenges and opportunities does the person see? |
|
[Space for notes]
|
[Space for notes]
|
|
Say/Do |
Hear |
|
What does the person say at work? How does the person act to manage both work and care responsibilities? |
What does the person hear from colleagues, managers, family members? What do others expect from them? |
|
[Space for notes]
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[Space for notes]
|
|
Identified Support Gaps:
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Proposed Improvement:
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Think/ Feel |
See |
|
What does the person think about their situation? What feelings do they experience most often? |
What does the person see in their environment? What challenges and opportunities does the person see? |
|
[Space for notes]
|
[Space for notes]
|
|
Say/Do |
Hear |
|
What does the person say at work? How does the person act to manage both work and care responsibilities? |
What does the person hear from colleagues, managers, family members? What do others expect from them? |
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[Space for notes]
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[Space for notes]
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Identified Support Gaps:
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Proposed Improvement:
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Activity 2: Workplace Audit – Carer-Friendly or Not?
Read the information below and complete the checklist.
Fictional Company Profile: Company
| Sector and size | Mid-size manufacturer with 200 employees |
| Work arrangements | The company provides some flexible working for administrative staff, but production workers follow fixed shifts |
| Remote work | Possible only for office roles. |
| Carers’ leave | None – Employees rely on annual leave or unpaid leave when facing care responsibilities |
| HR policies | Do not explicitly recognise carers |
| Support programmes | The company does not provide training, peer networks or employee assistance programmes. |
| Managerial support | In general managers are supportive, but flexibility depends on individual goodwill rather than clear organisational policies |
Carer-Friendly Workplace Checklist
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Practice |
Present |
Absent |
Needs Improvement |
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Flexible working-hours (start/finish times, part-time options) |
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Remote work or hybrid arrangements |
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Paid carers’ leave |
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Unpaid emergency leave |
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Recognition of carers in HR policies |
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Inclusion of carers in diversity and inclusion strategies (recognising carers as a specific group) |
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Confidential discussion with manager about care responsibilities |
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Training opportunities for carers |
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Employee assistance programme (counselling, support groups) |
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Carer peer networks within the organisation |
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Awareness campaigns on carers’ issues in the workplace |
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Financial support or allowances (vouchers, subsidies for care services) |
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Regular employee support regarding work-life balance |
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Empathy Map Template
(with guiding questions in each quadrant, provided as handout in A3 for group work or A4 for individual use)
| Think/ Feel | See |
| What does the person think about their situation? What feelings do they experience most often? | What does the person see in their environment? What challenges and opportunities does the person see? |
| [Space for notes] |
[Space for notes] |
| Say/Do | Hear |
| What does the person say at work? How does the person act to manage both work and care responsibilities? | What does the person hear from colleagues, managers, family members? What do others expect from them? |
| [Space for notes] |
[Space for notes] |
| Identified Support Gaps: | |
| Proposed Improvement: | |
Trainer’s Notes/ Model Solutions
These notes are intended for the trainer only and should not be shared with participants during the exercise.
They provide examples of possible empathy maps entries and common support gaps or improvements. Use them as a reference to guide the discussion, highlight missing points after group work, and connect participants ideas to common patterns.
Model Solution – Role card 1 (Maria, HR officer, caring for father with Alzheimer)
Empathy Map Example
| Think / Feel I want to do well at work, but I am constantly tired. Feels guilty for not being fully present either at work or with her father. | See I see my colleagues staying late, meetings are scheduled at inconvenient times. Company has no policies on carers. |
| Say/ Do I keep saying I am fine. I often request to leave early. Avoids volunteering for extra projects. | Hear Maria is not as reliable as before. – from colleagues. Family always comes first. – from relatives. |
| Identified Support Gap: Lack of formal flexibility policies | |
| Proposed Improvement: Introduce formal policies for carers and awareness-raising sessions to normalise caring responsibilities in the workplace. | |
Model Solution – Role Card 5 (Ana, Assistant manager, caring for her son with autism)
Empathy map example
| Think / Feel My son’s needs always come first. Feels stressed, tired, and worried about being judged as less committed at work. | See Long therapy schedules, tight project deadlines. Other employees without caring responsibilities are progressing faster. |
| Say/ Do Requests emergency leave; sometimes misses deadlines. She shares her situation with close colleagues. | Hear Encouragement from friends and close colleagues, frustration from her manager about missed deadlines or lack of concentration; advice from parents is similar situations. |
| Identified Support Gap: Lack of emergency leave arrangements or flexible work arrangements for carers. | |
| Proposed Improvement: Provide paid emergency leave and introduce flexible work arrangements for employees with care responsibilities. | |
Generic Guidelines for Any Role Card
Empathy Map – Common Patterns
| Think / Feel Carers often experience stress, guilt, fear of burnout. They want to do well in both roles (employee and carer) and feel pulled in two directions. | See Limited formal support in the workplace Colleagues without care duties advancing more easily Family expectations to provide constant care |
| Say/ Do They often request flexible working arrangements, avoid extra tasks, appear distracted or tired. They often say “I can manage” | Hear Mixed messaged: support from family/ friends; criticism from managers or colleagues about reliability and commitment |
| Typical Support Gaps Identified: Lack of formal carers’ leave or policiesNegative perceptions of carers at workLimited flexibility or emergency support | |
| Typical Improvements Proposed: Introduce or formalise carers’ leaveTraining for managers to support employees with caring responsibilitiesCreate awareness campaigns to reduce stigmaOffer peer networks to support carers | |
Activity 2: Workplace Audit – Carer-Friendly or Not?
Aim
- To assess how supportive a workplace is for employees with caring responsibilities, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and proposing solutions for improvement.
Materials and Resources
- Printed checklist (Carer-Friendly Workplace)
- Pens, markers, sticky notes
- Fictional company profile (optional; e.g. Company W, provided by trainer)
Steps
| Step 1 | Trainer introduces the concept of carer-friendly workplace and distributes the printed checklist. |
| Step 2 | Participants work in pairs or small groups to complete the checklist. They can analyse: their own workplace ora fictional company profile provided by the trainer (e.g. Company W with 200 employees, flexible hours but no carers’ leave, supportive managers but no formal policies) |
| Step 3 | In pairs or small groups, participants complete the checklist. They review each practice and tick whether it is Present, Absent, or Needs Improvement in the workplace they are analysing. From the items ticked as Present, groups select two practices they consider strong points of the workplace (e.g. flexible working hours, supportive managers)From the items ticked as Absent or Needs Improvement, groups select two priority issues where change is most urgent.Groups write their 2 strengths and 2 weaknesses/ areas for improvement on a flipchart sheet (or in a worksheet provided by the trainer). |
| Step 4 | Each group presents their results to the whole class. |
Carer-Friendly Workplace Checklist
| Practice | Present | Absent | Needs Improvement |
| Flexible working-hours (start/finish times, part-time options) | |||
| Remote work or hybrid arrangements | |||
| Paid carers’ leave | |||
| Unpaid emergency leave | |||
| Recognition of carers in HR policies | |||
| Inclusion of carers in diversity and inclusion strategies (recognising carers as a specific group) | |||
| Confidential discussion with manager about care responsibilities | |||
| Training opportunities for carers | |||
| Employee assistance programme (counselling, support groups) | |||
| Carer peer networks within the organisation | |||
| Awareness campaigns on carers’ issues in the workplace | |||
| Financial support or allowances (vouchers, subsidies for care services) | |||
| Regular employee support regarding work-life balance |
Fictional Company Profile: Company W
| Sector and size | Mid-size manufacturer with 200 employees |
| Work arrangements | The company provides some flexible working for administrative staff, but production workers follow fixed shifts |
| Remote work | Possible only for office roles. |
| Carers’ leave | None – Employees rely on annual leave or unpaid leave when facing care responsibilities |
| HR policies | Do not explicitly recognise carers |
| Support programmes | The company does not provide training, peer networks or employee assistance programmes. |
| Managerial support | In general managers are supportive, but flexibility depends on individual goodwill rather than clear organisational policies |