Workplace from Facebook Warns Businesses About Empathy Issues

Workplace from Facebook releases new insights

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Workplace from Facebook Empathy Issues
CollaborationInsights

Published: June 17, 2021

Rebekah Carter - Writer

Rebekah Carter

Workplace from Facebook, a leader in collaboration experiences, recently revealed the outcomes of new research commissioned to provide insights into the current workplace. The research shows a growing demand among employees for more empathetic leaders since the pandemic began.

Currently, 58% of employees say they would think about leaving their job if their company leaders didn’t empathize with staff, while around 27% have already considered looking for work elsewhere because of this reason. Around 69% of employees also said that company leadership style is a crucial factor in their personal wellbeing and happiness.

The study from Workplace indicates that expectations of leadership teams in the employment world are changing. 35% of respondents even said that concepts like tough leadership and bravado were more important before the pandemic.

Prioritising Empathy and the Right Leadership

Currently, around 65% of employees say that working for a company with empathetic leadership teams is more important today. When asked which characteristics most represented empathetic leadership, 55% of people said approachability, while 47% and 44% said being a good communicator or good listener.

Around 4 in 10 employees said that they want their companies to explore more personal communication methods, like video conferencing. Many UK employees also say they felt let down by bosses during the pandemic, with 32% saying communications felt cold and impersonal. Teams working on the frontline, wellbeing seemed to be even less of a priority. Frontline workers were less likely to say their leadership’s response to the pandemic had been reassuring.

Despite this, the changes in the current landscape have pushed some UK leaders in the right direction, with 51% saying their leadership teams are now prioritizing people and wellbeing over productivity. UK bosses have also embraced more transparency in regard to mental health, with 46% of respondents saying their leadership team were more open about their own mental health issues.

Employees also demand further transparency on societal issues, with 62% saying they wanted to work for a company with shared values on diversity, inclusion, and climate.

Looking Towards a Brighter Future

Workplace from Facebook has issued a call to all organisations to embrace more transparent and empathetic leadership styles. Workplace from Facebook Head of MEA, Nazir Ul-Ghani said the research shows employees want to work for leaders prioritising transparency and empathy. These days business leaders need to forget deeper connections with their workers.

63% of employees said in the study that an empathetic leader was a crucial factor when they were choosing somewhere new to work. Additionally, only 43% of respondents said they felt leadership communication during the first year of the pandemic was clear and frequent. Fortunately, 58% of respondents did say that they felt employee wellbeing was prioritized by leaders in 2020, above things like financial performance and company survival.

 

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