Businessolver has conducted a workplace empathy study that revealed that only 49 percent of employees in the United States rate their companies as empathetic.

"Empathy is a guiding principle for Businessolver," Businessolver President and CEO Jon Shanahan said in a press release. "We're committed to continuing the conversation about why it's critical in the workplace, and uncovering solutions that can help organizations make it a part of their culture."

The second annual 2017 Businessolver Workplace Empathy Monitor surveyed nearly 2,000 employees, HR professionals and company CEOs. While less than half of employees view their organizations as empathetic, 85 percent think that U.S. businesses undervalue the importance of empathy. This is a 5 percent increase from the 2016 study.

More than 90 percent of the survey respondents viewed empathy as important, 77 percent of the employees would work longer hours and 60 percent would take a lower salary from empathetic employers, according to the release.

"Empathy is essential to leading and managing others, but to reap its full benefits, leaders must understand what it is, how it functions, and how to effectively bring it to the workplace," Adam Waytz, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management professor of management and organizations, said. "Workplace empathy means understanding employees' feelings and needs to drive a more engaged workforce and a better workplace experience. We can only close the gap and achieve greater workplace empathy if organizations commit to an empathy evolution."