Empathy from leaders critical for retaining Finance employees: 5 keys

As the Great Resignation continues, your people may be tempted by greener pastures. And given the cost of onboarding, it’s in your best interest to prevent that from happening. One thing that keeps employees faithful to a company is empathy from managers and the top brass.

According to the 2021 Empathy in Business Survey from Ernst & Young, almost 90% of workers agreed that empathy increases loyalty. And 85% said it improves productivity.

Empathy impacts retention as well: 50% of employees said they left a prior job because managers weren’t empathetic to their work challenges or personal struggles.

There’s no doubt about it – empathy is an important soft skill to have if you want to keep your best people in Finance. So it should be a natural part of your leadership toolkit.

Ways to demonstrate empathy

Make sure you’re showing empathy to your Finance staffers through:

• Authenticity. It’s important to initiate discussions with your employees about how their work and personal lives are going and genuinely listen to their responses. Go out of your way to show you care about what they’re saying.
• Personalization. Whether you’re delivering praise for meeting a tight deadline or offering support to someone with a sick relative, communicating with a personal touch is key. The more effort you make to understand your people on a personal level, the greater the morale boost for your staffers.
• Connection. Make time for you and your employees to forge deeper connections. Even if you’re still hybrid working or fully virtual, schedule time for happy hours, trivia games, coffee chats and other social events that help everyone collaborate and have fun.
• Technology. Not every staffer who’s working remotely has access to the same resources they would in the office. With that in mind, it’s crucial to double-check that employees have the tools they need to telework effectively, including everything from reliable high-speed internet to a separate monitor for their laptops. And if on-site employees have issues with outdated tech, do your best to offer repairs or replacements from IT.
• Respect. The most important way to show respect for your people is to honor their work/life balance. Encourage employees to keep regular working hours and take short breaks when necessary. To help staffers unplug, avoid contacting your team outside of work hours. Try not to send late-night emails and limit work-related contact on their personal phone numbers.