The Importance of Psychological Safety

Since Google’s Project Aristotle, there has been a significant increase in research on psychological safety in the workplace.

• Recent statistics indicate that psychological safety is one of the three most valued aspects of the workplace, with 84% of employees considering it to be important. This is surpassed only by regular pay raises (86%) and flexible work (83%). – OysterHR, 2023
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• Employees with low resilience and low psychological safety are more likely to feel burned out (60%) and consider quitting their job (34%). In contrast, highly resilient employees who feel psychologically safe report feeling burned out (5%) and considering quitting (3%) much less frequently. – meQuilibrium, 2022
• Research has found that the benefits of psychological safety at work include: – Accenture, 2021
  • • 27% reduction in turnover
    • 76% more engagement
    • 50% more productivity
    • 74% less stress
    • 29% more life satisfaction
    • 57% more collaboration among employees
    • 26% greater skills preparedness
    • 67% higher likelihood of employees applying what they’ve learned
• When employees are net better off due to factors such as psychological safety, their performance can be up to five times higher, leading to greater innovation – Accenture, 2021
• On teams with high levels of psychological safety, diversity is positively associated with higher levels of performance. Moreover, the more diverse a team is, the more satisfied its members are. – Harvard Business Review, 2022
• Gen Zers, who will represent nearly a third of the workforce by 2025, prioritize their physical and psychological safety and their pursuit of mental and physical wellness. They expect their employers to support them in this regard.  – Conference Board, 2023
• Psychological safety is one of the two fundamental elements that affect whether employees feel they have a voice at work and are comfortable bringing up ethical issues and misconduct. The other element is the employee’s relationship with their direct manager . – MIT Sloan, 2022
• 1 in 4 organizations report that psychological safety is the top driver of employee retention. – Predictive Index
• Moreover, healthy organizations that prioritize the physical and psychological safety of employees are 2.2x more likely to surpass financial targets, 2.8x more likely to embrace change, and 3.2x more likely to retain employees, as well as experience drastic drops in absenteeism. – Josh Bersin Company, 2021
• Improving psychological safety has the potential to result in a 27% reduction in turnover, a 40% reduction in safety incidents, and a 12% increase in productivity. – Gallup, 2017.