Employers that prioritise psychological safety at work can greatly improve retention rates, especially for women and professionals from marginalised communities, new research has revealed.
Employees who feel safe to speak up in the workplace and take risks without fear of being blamed or criticised report feeling 2.1 times more motivated. They were also 2.7 times happier, and 3.3 times more enabled to reach their full potential at work, according to a global survey from Boston Consulting Group (BCG). When leaders successfully build this feeling – known as “psychological safety” – among their workforce, attrition risk is greatly reduced.
The positive effects of psychological safety are particularly pronounced among women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ employees, people with disabilities, and people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The report found that when leaders successfully create psychological safety at work, retention increases by more than four times for women and for employees who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of colour; by five times for people with disabilities; and by six times for LGBTQ+ employees. This is compared with an increase of two times in retention for men not in those groups (in other words, white, non-LGBTQ+ men with no disability).
PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY AT WORK
When psychological safety is high, only 3% of employees are at risk of quitting. However, the report revealed that 12% of employees with the lowest levels of psychological safety were likely to quit within a year.
In environments where psychological safety is low, members of diversity groups have a higher risk of attrition than other employees. For example, 18% of LGBTQ+ employees in the bottom 30% of the psychological safety spectrum are at risk of attrition, compared with just 12% of straight and cisgender employees. By comparison, for those in the top 30% of psychological safety, the attrition risk gap between groups narrows, resulting in a 3% attrition risk for all.
EMPATHETIC LEADERS DRIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
The survey of 28,000 professionals across 16 countries showed that empathetic leadership is a key driver of psychological safety and its resulting benefits. Empathetic leadership is a style of managing that demonstrates an understanding of and respect for the perspectives, emotions and life situations of team members.
“Collective buy-in from the team is important, but leaders have an outsize impact when it comes to building psychological safety,” said Nadjia Yousif, Chief Diversity Officer at BCG and a co-author of the report. “They set the tone by being role models and signalling what behaviours will be rewarded and what won’t be tolerated. Psychological safety can flourish only if it’s driven from the top.”
HOW EMPATHETIC LEADERS CREATE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY
Building a culture of psychological safety starts at the top. The report shares tactics that leaders can pursue to cultivate psychological safety, including:
- Formalise time for sharing and learning. At the start of meetings, carve out a few minutes to let people engage with one another as humans first.
- Hold regular team reflections or “retrospectives.” Provide opportunities to discuss what the team is doing well and how to improve.
- Challenge ideas, not people. When delivering feedback, ensure that any criticism focuses on the quality of the work, not the person who did the work.
- Be open and authentic. Leaders should candidly share their own mistakes and lessons learned with the team.
“The benefits of a diverse workplace are realised only when employees feel safe to take risks and share new ideas,” added Gretchen May, Global Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at BCG and a co-author of the report. “Fostering psychological safety takes work, and it will be difficult at times. But the effort pays big dividends.”
Download the survey here.
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