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.
