The employee burnout crisis is showing no signs of slowing. A new report from O.C. Tanner, for instance, found that nearly a third of the 38,000 global workers surveyed said they are “merely surviving, they’re ‘on the verge of burnout’ and ‘doing the bare minimum,’ ” says Dana Rogers, vice president, People & Great Work at O.C. Tanner.

Recognition programs and investment in the employee experience—through workplace flexibility and growth opportunities, for instance—can curb some of the risks for employee burnout, researchers found. However, there is another often-untapped area that HR can focus on as well: leading with emotional intelligence.

In particular, O.C. Tanner recommends that organizations focus on five components of emotional intelligence—practical empathy, self-awareness, nimble resilience, equitable flexibility and communication skills. Companies that do so, the research found, are 107 times more likely to have employees who are thriving.

5 key elements of emotional intelligence

1. Practical empathy

Rogers explains that this is a people-centered approach grounded in understanding individual employees—and supporting them with action.

Dana Rogers, O.C. Tanner

“It includes all of the same elements of empathy—the ability to understand and share another’s feelings—but places equal focus on the actions taken on their behalf,” Rogers says. There are six primary components of practical empathy, which can be practiced both at the organizational and leadership levels: focus on the person, seek understanding, listen to learn, embrace perspectives, take supportive action and respect boundaries.

The potential is significant: “Employees are 1,388% more likely to be engaged at work when leaders prioritize empathy in their actions,” Rogers says.

2. Self-awareness

Leaders who come from a place of self-awareness, Rogers says, steadfastly stand for their values while managing their emotions in the workplace, and they are open to accepting and implementing feedback.

When leaders acknowledge their own strengths and weaknesses, their employees are six times more likely to thrive at work, the research found.

3. Nimble resilience

While traditional resilience is often reactionary to outside forces and places responsibility on individual employees, nimble resilience is more proactive. Through this approach, organizations and their leaders embrace change rather than resist it and lean into organizational culture to address the origin of a problem and create resources to adapt, Rogers says.

“Nimbly resilient organizations reap many rewards,” Rogers says—including being 158% more likely than others to increase revenue and 914% more likely to have a thriving culture.

4. Equitable flexibility

While employees today want ownership over their work and how they complete it, a one-size-fits-all approach to flexibility isn’t feasible—especially for deskless or frontline workers. Organizations that are rooted in emotional intelligence instead look to equitable flexibility. This can look like hybrid or remote work for corporate employees or flexible schedules for nurses or factory workers so they can attend a child’s extracurricular activity during work hours.

“When employees are satisfied with their work flexibility—whatever that looks like for their role—they are 894% more likely to report a positive employee experience,” Rogers says.

5. Communication skills

Leaders who prioritize emotional intelligence recognize the value of effective, successful communication, Rogers says.

“A demonstration of open and honest communication in the workplace is key to building trust among teams,” Rogers says. “Leaders should openly address mistakes, take accountability for their actions and encourage others to do the same.”

The ROI of investing in emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is an “essential skill” for both leaders and individual contributors, Rogers says, that can generate significant ROI from a business perspective: Employees who report that their organizations have high emotional intelligence are 120% more likely than others to report a sense of wellbeing in the workplace—and 90% less likely to report burnout.

“A culture of EQ starts with leadership,” Rogers says. “HR teams and C-suite leaders must empower leaders to adopt those EQ behaviors.”

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