The challenges in today’s workplaces are complicated, but at the root of many issues are leaders trying to do more with less, leading to many workers feeling unhappy, unsatisfied and disengaged. 

According to Gallup, more than half (50.8 percent) of U.S. employees feel they are not engaged in their jobs, and a study for The Conference Board by Nielsen reveals that less than half of U.S. employees (48.3 percent) are satisfied with their jobs. 

Clearly, today’s workplaces need something to bridge the growing gap between leaders and employees.  

As a tech company in the people business, Businessolver felt a duty to find that missing ingredient and understand what leaders and employees alike can do to improve engagement and satisfaction in their organizations.  

We found that the lost element – and key to an engaged, happy workforce – is empathy. And so, Businessolver spent the last year studying how empathy – or lack thereof – affects businesses. The end result is our hallmark research, the Businessolver Workplace Empathy Monitor, which we were excited to unveil yesterday at our Vision 20/16 Chicago user conference.  

Surveying more than 1,000 leaders, HR professionals, and employees, the Workplace Empathy Monitor gets to the bottom of why empathy matters in the workplace. Just a snapshot of key findings affirms our belief that change is needed:  

• Only 24 percent of Americans believe that organizations are empathetic versus 60 percent of CEOs.  
• 31 percent of employees believe profit is all that matters to their organization, and that their organization doesn’t care about employees. 
• 1 in 3 employees would switch companies, for equal pay, if the other company was more empathetic. 

Our study also explores how leaders’ and employees’ views of empathy differ and how organizations can increase productivity, engagement and their bottom line, all by fostering a culture of empathy.  

We’re pleased to share this study with leaders, HR professionals and employees and excited to see a great dialogue forming around the topic already. It’s certainly changed our way of thinking about employee engagement, revealing some fascinating trends and a true call to action for leadership.  

Read the full Workplace Empathy Monitor report here, and join the conversation on social media by following and using #EmpathyAtWork.