New Data Highlights Value of Psychological Safety in the Workplace

• Ecsell Institute Shares Empirical Evidence on How Managers Can Improve

Psychological safety in the office leads to more effective communication, better employee retention and increased team performance, according to new data released by Ecsell Institute. The numbers come from over 36,000 employee ratings of their psych safety in the workplace, which is one of the largest datasets on psych safety in the world.

Defined as an employee’s ability to be open and secure in interactions with their leaders and peers, psych safety correlates directly with managerial effectiveness. When managers’ skills are rated a 9 or a 10 by their employees, they have an average psych safety score of 84%. Those whose overall skills are rated a 6 or lower conversely have an average psych safety rating of 36%.

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The data indicates psych safety also makes a difference to a company’s bottom line. Managers whose overall skills are rated higher in areas like psych safety lead teams who bring in an average of $4.3 million more in revenue per year.

Position tenure and generational differences do not impact psych safety scores, according to Ecsell’s research, and neither does the size of a team – an indication that all managers, regardless of their team make-up, have the ability to create a psychologically safe environment for their employees.

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According to the research, there are four things managers can do to increase psych safety:

• Encourage unique opinions.
• Avoid micromanagement.
• Support smart risk-taking.
• Move quickly past mistakes.

“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.”

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