Are you tired of your best team members leaving for other opportunities? Workplace empathy might be the key ingredient you are missing.
According to the 2019 Study of Workplace Empathy, 93% of employees say they're more likely to stay with an empathic employer. Here are a couple of other shocking statistics:
91% of CEOs believe workplace empathy is tied to their financial performance.
One out of three employees would leave their current job for a more empathetic environment.
77% of workers would be willing to work more hours for a more empathetic workplace; meanwhile, 60% would actually accept a slashed salary for the same.
92% of CEOs say their organization is empathetic.
Less than 50% of employees agree that their employers are empathetic.
That's a huge gap! So even if you think your company is winning here, you might want to listen up. Other CEOs and business leaders are missing out on this...you could be too!
But before we go further, let's define what Workplace Empathy actually is. First, empathy is "the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another." The Undercover Recruiter says that workplace empathy "is about showing respect for employees and co-workers. It is about a company’s managers showing that they care about their employees as human beings, recognizing they have lives outside of work."
Maybe you're the boss now. But you probably haven't always been. Do you remember what it was like to have a boss that didn't seem to understand or respect you? What are you doing to make sure you're not that boss?
If you want to hold on to your best people, you're going to want to be proactive in your efforts to create and maintain an empathetic workplace.
One of the best ways to do that is to invest in your people (shameless plug: www.evrgrnteams.com), especially your top-level leadership. It's been said that how a leader treats their team is how the team will treat their customers. Invest in your people, and your people will invest in your customers. When your team feels valued and feels like you are listening to them and care about their personal growth, they'll go from people simply working a job to leaders who are owning their responsibility. And that's better for everyone.