A majority of CEOs and chief human resources officers (CHROs) believe that demonstrating empathy at work could undermine their authority, despite overwhelmingly recognising its contribution to business performance, according to new research by Businessolver.
The 2026 State of Workplace Empathy C-Suite Special Report found that 59% of CEOs and 51% of CHROs or chief people officers (CPOs) expect their decisions to be challenged when they lead with empathy. However, 99% of CEOs and 88% of CHROs believe empathy contributes to business results.
The findings are based on a survey of 1,000 employees and 300 C-suite executives, including CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, CTOs and CHROs/CPOs. The report forms part of Businessolver's 11th annual study on workplace empathy.
Despite identifying the CEO as the executive with the greatest influence over building an empathetic workplace culture, many leaders remain uncomfortable demonstrating the behaviour themselves.
The research found that 43% of CEOs fear losing respect if they demonstrate empathy at work, while 61% say consistently demonstrating empathy is difficult in their day-to-day responsibilities.
"Executives have overwhelmingly accepted the business case for empathy, but data shows many still don't feel safe acting on it," said Marcy Klipfel, chief engagement officer at Businessolver.
She added that the constraints experienced by chief people leaders could affect how organisations make decisions, with employees feeling the consequences before they become visible in metrics such as employee turnover or declining productivity.
Toxic workplace cultures intensify concerns around empathy
The report also identified a significant relationship between workplace culture and executives' willingness to demonstrate empathy.
As many as 78% of executives working in toxic workplace cultures fear losing respect if they demonstrate empathy, compared with 14% of those in non-toxic cultures, representing a 64-percentage-point gap.
The findings also highlight a disconnect between executives and employees over who is responsible for shaping workplace empathy. While only 2% of executives believe non-managerial employees have the greatest influence on workplace empathy, 32% of employees attribute that influence to them.
Generational differences also emerged in how executives perceive empathy. Around 34% of millennial executives said empathy gets in the way of achieving their personal business goals, more than twice the proportion of Gen X executives (16%).
Mental health concerns remain unevenly distributed
The research further highlighted differences in reported mental health challenges between employees and senior executives.
Employees were 1.7 times more likely than executives to report experiencing a mental health issue in the past year, with 55% of employees reporting such experiences compared with 33% of executives.
Among those reporting mental health challenges, 54% of employees said they had experienced depression, compared with 12% of executives.
The report examines how different C-suite roles experience workplace intimidation and mental health pressures, suggesting that organisational performance indicators may not fully capture underlying challenges around trust and psychological safety.
The findings raise questions for boards and HR leaders about how leadership behaviours influence workplace culture, particularly when executives recognise the business value of empathy but fear that demonstrating it could weaken their authority.