Words aren’t enough: The risks of performative policies (2nd edition)

A major challenge for organizational leaders is how to respond to a seemingly never-ending series of crises, constant change, competing priorities, and swings in sentiment in ways that employees perceive as genuine. This is especially fraught when social, cultural, or political events have the potential to affect employees’ experiences of inclusion. Our research reveals that in these circumstances, how leaders show up in the moment is equally important as what they do in response.

In particular, our data identify empathy as the key to communicating an authentic, equitable vision for the future that unlocks employee and organizational benefits.

We surveyed 6,975 employees in 14 countries in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder and found that an astonishing 79% of employees believed their organization’s new racial equity policies were not genuine. But employees who said their senior leaders demonstrated empathy in their communications and day-to-day interactions at work were much more likely to perceive their organizations’ actions as genuine than employees whose senior leaders didn’t display empathy.

These findings are consequential because when employees perceived their organization’s new policies related to racial equity as genuine—as opposed to performative, insincere, or shallow—employees were more likely to have positive job outcomes such as engagement and experiences of inclusion, which drive business success.

Bottom line: CEOs and senior leaders faced with the next unprecedented disruption can mitigate issues of employee disengagement, exclusion, and even turnover through authentic, meaningful actions and policy changes that are demonstrated through empathy.