How Psychological Safety In The Workplace Can Impact Employee Retention

New data from Ecsell Institute shows that psychological safety in the workplace has a direct impact on employee retention, communication, and performance.  

Psychological safety in the office is described as a worker’s ability to feel secure in their interactions with managers and colleagues. 

According to the findings of over 36,000 employee responses, managers whose skills were rated a 9 or a 10 by employees saw an average psych safety score of 84%. However, those with skills ranked 6 or lower saw an average safety rating of 36%.  

Not only does improved managerial skills have an impact on the overall psychological safety of professionals, but those who ranked higher led teams to bring in an average of $4.3 million more in revenue every year.  

The research identifies four factors that can help managers improve the psychological safety of employees, including:  

• Encouraging opinions 
• Avoiding micromanaging tactics 
• Supporting well-thought-out risk taking 
• Moving past mistakes swiftly 

“A psychologically unsafe environment can be created, but sometimes it exists simply because it’s allowed to exist,” said Sarah Wirth, president of Ecsell Institute. “Once managers understand the impact of psych safety, we are able to teach them specific techniques to improve it.”