Businessolver recently released an e-book that presents an overview of findings from its 2018 State of Workplace Empathy study.

A national SaaS-based benefits administration technology company, Businessolver has been surveying empathy in the workplace since 2015.

Among the findings from this year's study were that 96 percent of employees surveyed believe that empathy is important in an employer and 92 percent think empathy remains undervalued. In fact, 9 out of 10 employees said they were more likely to stay with an organization that empathized with their needs. Some employees in fields such as tech, healthcare and finance even said they would be willing to sacrifice pay and work hours for a more empathetic employer, according to the e-book.

The study also found that CEOs and HR professionals strongly believe empathy is directly tied to a company's business performance and nearly 8 out of 10 employees would like to participate in some type of empathy skills training. 

Some examples of empathetic behavior addressed in the study included respecting the need for time off for personal/medical issues, flexible work hours, traditional benefits such as 401(k) contributions and maternity/paternity leave as well as recognizing an employee's personal milestones.