Dive Brief:
- C-suite executives overwhelmingly acknowledge the value of empathy to their business but are making decisions that undermine it — deprioritizing employee well-being, benefits, retention and culture for short-term financial performance, according to a Nov. 3 report from benefits technology company Businessolver.
- The 300 C-suite leaders across six industries (including financial services, technology and manufacturing) surveyed earlier this year said CEOs and CHROs/CPOs have the greatest influence on workplace empathy. Yet, more than half of CEOs and senior HR leaders expect their decisions to be challenged if they lead with empathy; and roughly 4 in 10 CEOs and CHROs/CPOs fear showing empathy at work would cost them respect.
- When business performance is strong, those with the most power to shape an empathetic culture but who feel the least safe leading with empathy can mistake growth for organizational health — and not see trust, well-being and workforce confidence eroding beneath the surface, Businessolver explained.
Dive Insight:
According to the survey, 70% of C-suite leaders in toxic cultures report significant financial growth compared with 36% in non-toxic cultures, even as intimidation, layoffs and benefits cuts rise.
Yet two-thirds of 1,000 employees also surveyed said they’d accept lower pay to work for a more empathetic employer, reflecting “immense pressure” on leaders “to place winning bets on AI” without sacrificing empathy necessary to produce more resilient companies, Businessolver President and CEO Jon Shanahan stated in the report.
C-suite leaders may be thwarting artificial intelligence readiness by failing to lead with empathy, Businessolver found. The employee survey revealed that 51% worry they’re falling behind with AI, while 54% said AI disrupted their career progression.
By contrast, employees who view their leaders as empathetic are far more likely to experience AI as empowering and a driver of opportunity and growth than employees in toxic cultures, who see it as a source of disruption and an added burden, Businessolver reported in August.
“Performance and empathy were never mutually exclusive,” Shanahan pointed out.
Organizations that have best positioned themselves for what comes next treat empathy as a source of business intelligence, not as a leadership liability, the report noted. This means “listening and measuring for what financial results alone don’t reveal,” Businessolver explained.
Despite the emphasis on empathy as an important aspect of good leadership, managers may find a certain level of emotional detachment helpful, particularly in environments where difficult calls are routine, according to a March report from resume template provider Zety and HR services firm Sigma Assessment Systems.
Interpersonal and operational demands on each industry may influence the level of emotional responsiveness, though the realities of management, where leaders regularly make difficult, high-stakes decisions, can also explain the detachment, the Zety report said.
