Free stuff you can do to become more empathetic.

Take time to listen to the concerns of your staff. Just lending an ear can sometimes be enough to help them in dealing better with the issues they face.
Understand that, with telework and homeworking becoming the norm, most people’s work-life balance has shifted. Avoid full days of digital meetings and leave room for people to have multiple breaks during the day to combat ‘Zoom fatigue’.
Give a compliment instead of pinpointing what went wrong. It takes the same energy amount of energy but will give you more energy in return. Positive feedback costs nothing and will let the receiver shine!
Communicate in person. With an overload of internal tools and instant messaging, nothing beats face-to-face communication. Grab a coffee with one of your employees, go for a walk with another, buy them a sandwich and improvise a quick lunch together. Rewards and recognition in small gestures also fuel empathy.
Establish a library hour: a silent moment can create rest and focus, something everybody can benefit from.
Schedule shorter meetings with clear agenda points. It can make you more productive! People spend too much time in too many meetings, leaving too little time to really work.
Whenever possible, organize ‘walking meetings’. Steve Jobs from Apple was known for this. Go on a hike if your office is close to nature, or go for a walk in town. It will give you some good exercise. A maximum thirty-minute walk in the open air also stimulates your vitamin D production, so what are you waiting for?
Don’t impose a culture in which late work or taking work home is the norm.
Allow flexible working hours if possible. Some people like to exercise in the middle of the day, while others are most productive early in the morning.
Let go of the 9-to-5 mentality to allow your staff more freedom and less stress.