, workplace empathy improved over the past year but concerning gaps still exist. Results showed 68% of CEOs admitted they fear they will be less respected if they show empathy in the workplace—a 31 point increase over 202o. Both HR professionals and CEOs said they personally struggle with demonstrating empathy, and seven in 10 said it’s hard to consistently show empathy in their working life—a 29 point increase from 2020.
On the upside, the findings paint a different picture of organizations that effectively rose to the occasion. Employee empathy ratings of their companies and CEOs rebounded in 2021: 72% of employees rated their organizations as empathetic—four percentage points higher than the prior year; 72% also said their CEOs were empathetic—a full nine percentage points higher. Still, only a quarter of employees said empathy in their organizations is sufficient.
Champion empathy through leaders’ platforms, so CEOs are on the same page with employees in understanding the reasons why empathy matters. There is no rolling back the clock to the old days when companies ignored the mental health needs of employees. According to Shanahan, Businessolver has taken three steps to create a more empathetic workplace for their own employees: They committed to work-from-home flexibility for all employees indefinitely, started offering unlimited vacation and conducted an internal diversity, equity and inclusion assessment.