The supervisor may have noticed that the employee was unsettled as a result of their discussion and could call her back into the office or go to her office to discuss the event further. This is important when managing and moving staff toward completion of tasks. To acknowledge gender, interest area, value differences, etc. when communicating with others is quite a challenge. However, employees that feel valued and appreciated will be committed to doing excellent work. The workplace is often a stressful environment in which tensions run high.
Effective communication is essential for excellent job performance.
Talking about feelings and concerns and taking the other perspective provides an opportunity to distinguish between what someone does and what someone says. For example, your otherwise efficient employee does not pick up on the fact that the agency's top donor wants sympathy about his health. The donor spreads it around town that your employee does not care about people. No agency needs this type of publicity. These components are not only predictors of success in the workplace but to participate effectively as citizens of a democracy.