There continues to be a disconnect between leadership and what employees are actually feeling and experiencing in the workplace. Yet new data reveals the gap is even larger than expected. New research from Deloitte shows that leaders are very out of touch with their employees, and well-being is at a critical juncture.
Deloitte partnered with independent research firm Workplace Intelligence to survey 2,100 employees and leadership executives across four countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The results are eye-opening.
Leaders are overestimating how ‘well’ their employees are doing and how much employees are supported in their organization. More than 8 out of 10 of the surveyed executives believe their employees are doing extremely well in the measured areas of well-being, while employees rate themselves at 20% to 40% lower levels.
At the same time, only 53% of employees feel that their organization’s executives have been making the best decisions for their well-being during the pandemic, while 88% of leaders believe their decision-making has been excellent.
What may be most concerning:
Only 56% of employees think that their company's executives care about their well-being.
However, 91% of leaders believe that employees feel their leaders care about them.
It is clear that employees want – and need – more from their leaders. It is critical for leaders to act and do much more to understand their employees - their needs, their stressors, what they are truly feeling and experiencing – and then demonstrate that they truly care about their wellbeing.
There is opportunity here – for organizations to focus on the whole-person that is the employee – and build a well workplace.