When Trust Goes Bust, What Happens to Empathy?
As downsizing and economic uncertainty shake up the workplace, employees wonder if empathetic leaders are telling the truth.
Tony Kong studies trust in the workplace during times of crisis, such as COVID-19. Leaders werent trained in empathy, trust-building or relationship-building. People needed flexibility and connection, but employers werent prepared for this.
Massive layoffs in 2023 were a wake-up call for over 200,000 employees of tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft and Google, as well as fintech startups. Feelings of shock and betrayal replaced the trust workers once had in their employersand who could blame them? The tech industry has been notorious for its empathetic culture, perks, and commitment to employees well-being.
At Salesforce, many of the 8,000 laid-off workers complained the companys touchy-feely culture was a fa癟ade (Fortune, April/May 2023). CEO Marc Benioff, a self-described empathetic leader who spent decades developing a were-all-in-this-together family culture, was forced to justify Salesforces first-ever layoffs to shaken workers.
The truth, and nothing but the truth
From corporate downsizing to a slowing economy, its no wonder employees have lost some of the psychological safety they once had. As trust slides, so does their job satisfaction, productivity, creativity and innovation. Employees surveyed in the 2023 Ernst & Youngs Empathy in Business report overwhelmingly agreed that theres a lot of talk about empathy but not enough follow-through. In fact, over half of employees surveyed (52%) perceive corporate attempts at empathy as inauthentic (an increase from 46% in 2021).
52% of employees perceive corporate attempts at empathy to be inauthentic.
2023 Ernst & Youngs Empathy泭in Business report
And in Businessolvers 2023 State of Workplace Empathy report, the number of respondents who believed their company cared about them was at an all-time low: Only 66% believed they worked in an empathetic workplacea substantial drop from 78% five years ago.
Employees report a lack of consistency when it comes to company promises, and this has a way of breaking down a culture of empathy. For example, recent return-to-office mandates have had a head-spinning effect on workers who relied on the flexibility of previously instituted hybrid models. (In Businessolvers report, 96% of respondents considered flexible working hours the most empathetic benefit an employer can offer.)
Sensitivity and authenticity
Time and again research has shown that for businesses to be agile and adaptable, company leaders must provide transparency and psychological safety. Rather than focus solely on employee output, empathetic leaders put themselves in employees shoes. They listen, theyre approachable, and theyre flexible. As a result, their authenticity improves retention, performance, morale, motivation and collaborationleading to substantial business outcomes.泭
How to be a good leader is how to be a good human, says Dejun Tony Kong, an associate professor of organizational leadership and informational analytics at Leeds. Its about how responsive you are to other peoples concernsthe basis of any relationship. People want to be heard and understood.
Kong teaches Leeds Executive Leadership course and challenges students to imagine what kind of leaders they want to be. Strong leadership, he says, comes from self-awareness and reflection on ones strengths and weaknesses.
His work on trust in the workplacehow it can predict a companys performance during times of great stress, such as a pandemic, economic crisis or political upheavalhas won the Most Influential Article Award and a浮est Paper Award from the Academy of Managements Conflict Management Division.
Kong is now studying a new model for how companies can build systems and structures that cultivate a trusting culture. He says human resources staff will play a big part in creating systemic change thats self-sustaining in maintaining an empathetic work environment. This, combined with leadership training, could positively influence the psychology, attitudes and behaviors of employees.
He points out that in recent years, the pandemics impact on the workplace has prompted a great need for empathetic leaders who can help employees adapt to the changing business environment. This requires a special skill set, and empathy tops the list.
Indeed, it is what leaders must get right.