HR professionals are increasingly concerned about well-being.

Partnering with Johns Hopkins University Human Capital Development Lab, Great Place To Work® researchers identified that employee well-being has declined to pre-pandemic levels. And in polling, HR practitioners are increasingly sounding the alarm on mental health and work-life balance.

“I think that we as HR professionals have got to be leaning in and really talking about this,” says Amy Dufrane, CEO of , an organization that offers certifications and professional development to the HR industry.

“We've got to lean in on this area of mental health and anxiousness,” she says. That means embracing flexibility and challenging assumptions around what mental health warnings look like in the workplace.

What drives employees to have more psychological wellness?

Great Place To Work research found several key drivers of psychological and emotional well-being at work.

One of the most significant? A healthy work-life balance made employees three times more likely to say they had mental and emotional well-being at work. If they said they could be their authentic self in the workplace? That made them 2.4 times as likely.

The third and final driver, being able to count on colleagues to cooperate, made employees two times more likely to report high levels of well-being.

These drivers came from analysis of 1.3 million employee surveys collected by Great Place To Work in 2024. When looking at regression analysis based on its 60-question model, these three key ingredients for a psychologically and emotionally healthy work environment emerged.

This data reveals three key areas you should investigate when employees report higher levels of mental fatigue, burnout, or toxic workplace culture: boosting cross-team cooperation, improving flexibility and work-life balance, and making sure every employee feels a sense of belonging.

Why psychological and emotional health matters

Well-being has a direct impact on business performance, and HR teams can use data to show a financial value to levels of mental and emotional wellness across the business.

Concerned with turnover and employee retention? Employees are twice as likely to want to stay on the job when they have a psychologically health workplace. They are also three times more likely to recommend your workplace to others, becoming crucial ambassadors to help attract top talent and refer open roles to their network.

Well-being even has a proven impact on core business performance like customer service, with employees being 48% more likely to say the company offers excellent service when they also have high levels of well-being.

Where leaders should focus

What kinds of activities can move the needle on well-being? DuFrane says HR leaders in her network are finding success with key areas:

1. Creating spaces for people to talk openly about mental health

That might be an employee resource group or another protected space within the organization, Dufrane says. It could mean bringing in a mental health provider for a dedicated conversation.

“A company can hold a virtual event if you’re not physically together,” she says. “Have a virtual counselor come in and talk about some strategies that if you're feeling anxious, or how to bring down your heart rate.”

2. Make sure managers can provide information about your employee assistance program (EAP)

“Lots of employers have employee assistance programs, but they go underutilized,” Dufrane says. Employees don’t know what is offered or are concerned that using the program will be shared with their employer and might hold back their career.

Dufrane stresses the importance of having one-on-one sessions where they can ask questions about these resources, and people leaders are often a first point of contact for employees. “I think we're undercommunicating about this right now,” she says.

3. Turn communication into smaller, digestible chunks

One long email or SharePoint page with every resource your company offers is going to be less effective than more consistent communication delivered in bite-sized chunks.

“That's how we need to be communicating to people now — smaller chunk sized, just little bites and having a drumbeat around those communications,” Dufrane says.

4. Overcommunicate your values

As employees face a tumultuous news cycle and messages that trigger anxiety, it’s crucial to continuously communicate your values as an organization, Dufrane says.

“This is the time for companies to really demonstrate to their employees: ‘We really do mean our values and we really do care about you, and this is what we're going to do to help you,’” she says.

If you don’t, employees will not feel comfortable bringing their full selves to the workplace. “They're not going to deliver the best results for the organization,” Dufrane says. “It's not just a U.S. problem — it's a global challenge that we have.”

The antidote?  “Lead with compassion and kindness.”

5 creative ways great workplaces support employee well-being

Here are some of the creative and generous ways great workplaces are supporting the holistic wellness of their employees:

1. A dedicated well-being team

It’s no secret that working in health care poses real challenges for employee well-being. The American Medical Association found that meet the criteria for burnout, per a recent poll. Five years after the pandemic, health care workers continue to experience higher levels of fatigue and burnout.

Meeting the challenge has prompted the best organizations in health care to creatively leverage resources within the organization. A dedicated wellness team at Wellstar Health System has a clear mandate to improve employees’ experience. The team operates wellness rooms that offer a calming environment for employees to recharge, and leads Transforming Workplace Wellness, an action planning program that trains leaders on how to improve wellness across their teams.

Using Great Place To Work’s survey platform, Wellstar was able to measure that 65% pf leaders who participated in the Transforming Workplace Wellness program saw increased employee engagement in their department. 

Another hospital, Baptist Health South Florida has a Pastoral Care team that takes responsibility for well-being, including counseling, crisis intervention, grief support, and life cycle support for staff. The team also manages an Employee Sunshine Fund, which offers interest free loans and gifts to employees facing financial hardships.

Having a dedicated team that responds to the immediate needs of your workforce can make dramatic improvements to employee well-being — and ensures that well-being doesn’t fall off your organization’s radar.

2. Mental health resources

Beyond an EAP, what kinds of mental health resources are having an impact at great workplaces?

Visa offers a Psychological Safety Resource Hub with tools, resources and simple do’s and don’ts to help foster psychological safety across the organization. The resources got an extra boost with targeted programming during Mental Health Awareness Month in May.

NVIDIA takes things one step further with 100 employees getting trained as Certified Mental Health First Aid team members with the National Council for Mental Health. These advocates in the workplace are educated on mental health signs and symptoms, available resources and how to preserve confidentiality, becoming an essential resource for employees looking to talk to someone about mental health or substance abuse problems.

3. Offering more balance to always-on teams

How can you offer a better work-life balance to roles with challenging schedules? Maintenance teams at Camden Property Trust must respond to after-hours calls, which were often cited in exit interviews as one of the biggest downsides of the job.

To respond, Camden enlisted the help of its 24-hour contact center, which receives the after-hours maintenance requests, to improve management of the calls and work to reduce the number of incidents that required a site visit. Meeting weekly with maintenance teams, the contact center developed a maintenance cheat sheet to troubleshoot some common problems via phone. With the success of this program, the maintenance team was able to introduce quiet hours for 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., reducing the number of after-hours calls and improving working conditions for all.   

4. Support financial well-being

Delta Air Lines heard from an employee survey of more than 40,000 employees in 2023 that financial wellness was a top concern. To respond, they launched an emergency savings program with financial education resources. After completing an education course, employees earned $1,000 which they can put towards decreasing debt or setting up a rainy-day fund. The program met its two-year participation goal in just two months and participants reported a 62% increase in their sense of financial control.

Comcast NBCUniversal launched a Financial Navigator program where employees can speak with a coach to learn how to improve their savings, pay down debt and navigate retirement or investments. Since launching in 2023, over 20,000 employees have engaged with the program.

5. Make physical wellness a social activity

Physical well-being is a vital aspect of holistic employee wellness. The most creative companies are now fusing efforts to encourage physical activity with opportunities for social connection.

At ServiceNow, 2024 marked the first ever WellFest, a two-week global event dedicated to all aspects of well-being. Activities included yoga and meditation sessions, gardening classes and cooking lessons.

With loneliness creating wellbeing challenges across then workforce, having events that boost both physical and social wellness can be an effective deployment of resources for companies of any size.

I once was in charge of running the social media channels for the company I worked for. When I shared a post to the company’s Instagram channel, one of my colleagues would often make a sarcastic remark or roll their eyes. They would comment on little details, from the choice of words to the choice of images.

Their constant criticism made me feel anxious and self-conscious about my work. I started questioning whether I was doing a good job. I second-guessed every post, trying to anticipate every possible criticism and making sure everything was perfect. I felt paralyzed by the fear of making a typo or facing more snide comments.

As these small criticisms accumulated, I increasingly felt like I couldn't take any risks or be creative in my work. I was so afraid of being criticized or judged that I started playing it safe, putting up bland and uninspired posts that wouldn't draw attention or invite any criticism. The more my psychological safety eroded, the more my work suffered.

What do we mean by psychological safety?

Psychological safety refers to the feeling of being able to speak up, take risks, and make mistakes without fear of negative consequences.

The term psychological safety was first , a professor at Harvard Business School. She described it as “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.”

In 1999, while studying the rate of mistakes made by medical teams, Edmondson found that the teams that made more mistakes performed better than teams that made fewer mistakes — or at least, that’s how it seemed at first. Rather, it was the teams that had a culture of openly admitting to making mistakes that had better outcomes. The other teams were making mistakes, too; they just hid them.

Simon Sinek later wrote about psychological safety in the workplace in his 2014 book Inspired by military organizations, where leaders literally put their lives on the line, he wrote that great leadership is about making employees feel safe so they can focus on work without fear for their own survival.

Why psychological safety matters in the workplace

Psychological safety isn’t merely a nice to have — it’s essential for a business to operate efficiently and effectively. Without it, employees won’t trust their employer, and the whole business can suffer.

“If you think about it from the business perspective, when people feel psychologically safe in the organization — are able to share ideas, questions, concerns — the company is more agile,” says , senior manager and strategic advisor with Great Place To Work®.

“We’ve seen through our research on psychological safety that when people question their every move, when people aren’t sure if they should raise questions, initiatives and programs roll out very slowly.”

A lack of psychological safety in the workplace can thwart new projects, processes, and procedures. Without it, employees fear anything from being criticized if they can’t keep pace, to being made redundant because of new, “better” initiatives.

Psychological safety in the workplace allows people to bring their full selves. It allows you to show up in a way that’s much more authentic.

But creating psychological safety goes beyond just encouraging people to speak up. It also includes how an employer views work/life balance.

“Great leadership is about making employees feel safe so they can focus on work without fear for their own survival.”

“Psychological safety allows people to bring their full selves,” says Julian. “It allows you to show up in a way that’s much more authentic. The company is looking out for you. You’re not just a cog in the machine, and they care about your long-term success. And then the benefit that the company gets is that employees actually care about the success of the organization.”

Psychological safety vs. psychological health

Feeling psychologically safe is not the same thing as feeling psychologically healthy, although the two are closely related, says Marcus Erb, vice president of data science & innovation at Great Place To Work.

Psychological health refers to an individual's overall well-being and mental state, he explains. It encompasses a range of factors, such as emotional regulation, self-esteem, resilience, and the ability to cope with stress and adversity.

“Psychological safety is one component of a psychologically healthy workplace, where employees feel supported and empowered to express their opinions and ideas without fear of retribution,” he says.

“A psychologically safe workplace can contribute to better psychological health, as employees who feel safe and supported are more likely to experience less stress and anxiety and have better overall employee well-being.”

While psychological safety and psychological health are related, they are not interchangeable. Psychological safety refers to the context in which an individual interacts with others, while psychological health refers to the individual's internal state of well-being. Both are important factors in creating a positive and supportive work environment that promotes overall well-being and success.

6 signs your workplace is psychologically unsafe

If you’re unsure whether your company is creating a psychologically safe work environment (and there’s no obvious factor like my belittling manager), there are a few red flags to watch out for, says Julian:

1. Projects take too long to roll out

Agility suffers when a workplace is psychologically unsafe. Employees are suspicious of new processes and procedures and may even work around them rather than give feedback. When psychological safety is low, instead of asking for help or clarification, employees would rather keep quiet and soldier on in uncertainty.

2. People don’t ask questions or share ideas

In meetings, few people (or no people) speak up or contribute. Ideas are presented in a top-down manner, with little room to question decisions or raise concerns. If an employee felt like their ideas were valued, they’re less likely to internally label something a “dumb idea” or hesitate to bring new ideas up in a meeting.

3. The rumor mill is rampant

Rather than address issues openly, employees air their grievances within cliques or other teams. There is mystery and speculation about why or how a new initiative will happen.

4. High absenteeism

Employees may take unplanned leave or call in sick to avoid a micromanaging boss, microaggressions in the workplace or intense pressure on the job, even if they are not physically ill. The lack of psychological safety can create a culture of disengagement, where employees are not motivated to come to work, leading to increased absenteeism.

5. High presenteeism

Presenteeism refers to the phenomenon of employees coming to work even when they are sick, injured, or otherwise unwell, and not fully engaged in their work.

Digital presenteeism is a phenomenon where employees feel pressured to constantly remain connected to their work through digital devices, like checking and responding to emails, in an effort to appear to be working hard and often.

Presenteeism can be a sign of low psychological safety in the workplace because it indicates that employees do not feel comfortable taking time off when they need it and are struggling to perform at their best.

6. High turnover

Employees are simply leaving. Without a voice, they leave for roles elsewhere that encourage more open discourse.

How to foster psychological safety in the workplace

Writer Dr. Timothy Clark identified four stages of psychological safety:

• Inclusion safety — You are welcome into the organization as your authentic self.
• Learner safety — You are free to ask questions and make mistakes while you learn.
• Contributor safety — You are encouraged to share your ideas without fear of retribution.
• Challenger safety — You are safe to question the status quo, raise concerns, and provide dissenting opinions without fear of negative consequences.

All these stages apply to the workplace, and employees may move back and forth in the stages as new projects are rolled out or they change teams or roles. Here are five ways that managers can ensure psychological safety at every stage:

1. Be vulnerable

Leaders are human, too. A manager who admits to making mistakes or to not having all the right answers will create a far more psychologically safe workplace than a manager who hides their flaws or pretends to know it all.

At Ryan LLC, a tax services and software provider, mandated training sessions address well-being, psychological safety, failure tolerance and setting boundaries. To demonstrate vulnerability, the training includes leaders sharing their own stories of failure, and participants are encouraged to share their experiences of being on teams that got things done versus teams that didn’t. 

Julian, too, says he has witnessed first-hand how powerful this can be while he was working with an organization that demonstrated high psychological safety.

“The company was rolling out this strategy for go-to-market with customers,” explains Julian. “And there were some big questions. When we got to our meeting to talk about it, our leader said, ‘I’m acknowledging there are some holes in the plan. We don’t have all the answers right now.’”

He says that simple display of vulnerability opened the door for employees to raise other concerns, resulting in a far more effective problem-solving session.

2. Be transparent

“Sharing what you know is good, but what’s better is sharing what you don’t know. And best is sharing information transparently: what you know, what you don’t know, and how you’re going to help people get through it,” says Julian.

Communication that is open, honest, and credible feeds into psychological safety. Communicate consistently and directly, and make sure your actions match your words.

3. Be fair

Review every aspect of the employee experience and assess its fairness. What are the pathways to promotion? Are there pay gaps among any equivalent roles? Are people compensated and rewarded fairly?

Fairness can be an especially thorny issue with hybrid teams, where employees who are primarily remote may feel that they’re often overlooked due to a lack of “face time.” Ensure that they feel heard and supported as equal members of the team.

“Sharing what you know is good, but what’s better is sharing what you don’t know. And best is sharing information transparently."

4. Be curious

Strong leaders model curiosity — they ask questions and don’t necessarily assume the status quo is the right way. Acknowledge any uncertainties and foster a company culture of learning and problem-solving rather than blind following.

For example, the team at SAP America, an IT company based in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, acknowledges that psychological safety must begin at the top. Their new leadership credo, “Do what’s right. Make SAP better for generations to come” asks company leaders to think about the long-term impact of their actions and decisions.

“It is a clear signal that SAP’s leadership culture is moving away from one where leaders feel they need to make short-sighted decisions to make quarterly numbers, and toward a trust-based and ethical environment where teams have the space to be themselves, learn, grow, and thrive,” an SAP team member told us.

SAP’s leadership diverges from a company culture where leaders feel they need to make short-sighted decisions to make quarterly numbers. Instead, they move toward a trust-based and ethical environment where teams have the space to be themselves, learn, grow, and thrive.

5. Be reasonable

Unrealistic expectations — whether that’s how much someone can accomplish in a day or how available they need to be last-minute — can kill psychological safety.

Julian notes this is especially an issue for hourly workers who have less flexible schedules or schedules that are only set two weeks or so in advance, such as retail and hospitality workers. He warns that when people have a week-to-week schedule, they can’t manage work/life balance and, as a result, can’t feel like they fit in with the organization.

This can also be an issue for remote or hybrid teams, especially when they cross time zones and employees may be working while management is sleeping, or vice versa. Show that you respect employees’ personal lives and that you trust them to get their work done, even when out of sight.

How to measure psychological safety in the workplace

Conducting employee surveys on a regular basis will ensure you keep your finger on the pulse of how psychologically safe employees are feeling. Great Place To Work’s precise and rigorously tested Trust Index™ Survey statements are specifically designed to elicit meaningful employee feedback and insights.

To learn more about the psychology of high-trust workplaces, subscribe to our newsletter or inquire about Great Place To Work 카지노커뮤니티™, which can help you to measure and understand how psychologically safe your employees feel.

The immediate crisis of the pandemic has receded. But for many workers, the risk of burnout has never been higher.

In a recent report, 62% of women and 57% of men . Those rates are much higher than what was reported in 2021, and are on par with levels reported at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

What’s causing the rise? Layoff anxiety, coupled with new pressure from management around profits and productivity, .

To combat the rising tide of burnout, many leaders are doubling down on resilience, pushing for mindfulness practices and psychological safety. Crucially, great workplaces understand that burnout isn’t something that an individual employee can control.

— overwork, a lack of autonomy, or a lack of community — are problems that must be addressed by the organization.

“Employers need to create a true culture of acceptance surrounding mental health and make it safe for employees to talk about it in the workplace,” says Tina Thornton, AVP, well-being and safety at Nationwide.

The insurance firm cites research from UKG: For 69% of people, on their mental health than a doctor or therapist.

Employers have an outsized impact on the mental health of their workers, and burnout can have a , productivity, and the bottom line.

Signs of employee burnout

When Great Place To Work® analyzes employee surveys, results show a few key indicators that workers are experiencing burnout:

1. Employees don’t trust management. Employees experiencing burnout are three times less likely to say leaders’ actions match their words.

2. Employees say they are micromanaged. Employees with burnout are three times more likely to say they are micromanaged in experience surveys.

3. Employees say they aren’t informed about the business. Employees feeling a lack of control over their work often express it as feeling like they lack important information. Workers with burnout are 2.5 times less likely to say they are kept in the loop with important updates about the business.

4. Employees don’t see their workplace as fair. Employees experiencing burnout were much more likely to respond to the question “What would make this a better place to work?” with phrases like:

• “fear of retaliation”
• “discrimination”
• “remove favoritism”

Taking action against burnout

Here are some of the strategies that are having the best results for improving employee well-being and reducing burnout:

1. Train managers

An employee’s direct supervisor has an extraordinary impact on the well-being of the worker. That’s why many companies are focused on training their leaders to identify burnout and intervene.

“The top way to prevent burnout from my perspective is first to ensure you have strong, well-trained managers that focus on engaging and supporting their team members,” says Anna Avalos, chief people officer at SoFi Technologies.

“Employers need to create a true culture of acceptance surrounding mental health and make it safe for employees to talk about it in the workplace." - Tina Thornton, AVP, well-being and safety, Nationwide

Managers can prevent burnout by connecting employees to tools to manage stress, reassigning projects to ensure employees have a balanced workload, and providing coaching on how to prioritize tasks.

At Nationwide, leaders are encouraged to connect with employees in huddles and one-on-ones to identify when burnout might be starting. A crucial question to ask in these meetings: “How can I support you?”

2. Measure outcomes — not time spent

When you change how you manage your workforce, such as rewarding employees for completed projects rather than hours logged, workers can find a better balance.

“When business needs allow, providing employees flexibility can produce better work and a happier, more engaged workforce,” says Chrissy Kendrick, vice president, human resources with Shields Health Solutions.  “By measuring outcomes, we can continue to drive the business forward, focusing on results, not the time spent to get there.”

3. Provide employees with tools to set boundaries

At Ryan, a global tax services and software provider, leaders help team members craft messages for clients when they close their office for a weeklong break in July. Clients are alerted well in advance of the week off and respect the company’s decision to take a break.

The example stands out in how leaders are ensuring their workers are able to unplug from demanding, client-facing roles. Without the extra communication to reset expectations for both team members and clients, an attempt to give all employees a week off wouldn’t be as successful.

4. Lean on resource groups

Social connection is a key ingredient in building resilience for employees. For many companies, supporting relationships across the organization is done through employee resource groups.

“Twenty-five percent of our team members are part of our mental health and wellness employee resource group, EMPOWER,” says Charlene Naumann, VP, talent at Shields Health Solutions. “This has been instrumental in creating a supportive, inclusive, and safe environment for everyone.”

5. Reset expectations about post-crisis recovery

The pandemic offered plenty of lessons about the causes of burnout, particularly in the field of health care. One dynamic that stood out: Employees pushed past their limits to meet a crisis with an expectation of recovery time that never materialized.

Psychologists at Scripps Health say that many in health care burned through their reserves with the expectation they would be able to stop and “fill up their tanks” at a later date.

Instead, the experts at Scripps recommend different coping strategies: “We never know what is on the other side of a major stressor, or if there will be time to stop and recharge, which is why having a preventative approach to mental health can be so important. Practice the coping and strategies before the crisis and stressor hits so we have the skills in place to navigate it without depleting ourselves.”

Benchmark your employee experience

Worried about burnout in your workforce? Use Great Place To Work 카지노커뮤니티™ to get unmatched data on how employees feel about their work.

, Novartis professor of leadership and management at Harvard Business School, and renowned for her research on psychological safety, joins the Better podcast to talk about her new book, “”— the .

Her research-backed guidance on failing well, what types of failures to avoid, and why high performing teams report more errors than lower performing teams will help your companies thrive. Teams thrive when people feel safe to speak up and take risks (even if they fail), and leaders play a crucial role in creating this culture.

On what happened when you were a PhD student at Harvard and you had a hypothesis about medical errors and teamwork:

My hypothesis was that better teams would have fewer error rates, which was a sensible hypothesis. It was a hypothesis that mirrored prior work that had been done in the aviation context.

To my great chagrin, the data seemed to be saying that better teams had higher, not lower error rates. I began to wonder that maybe the better teams aren't making more mistakes. Maybe they're more willing and able to report the mistakes they're making, or maybe they're just more able to speak up about it.

On how to encourage leaders to create an environment of psychological safety when they don't like taking risks:

If you don't like taking a risk, you are taking a risk. You're taking the risk of stagnation or the risk that your company or team will seize to be relevant over time. It won't catch up with you today or next week, but soon enough, it will.

The way I approach this is by first calling attention to the context that everybody's aware of already: your company or your team is operating in a volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous world.

They know that already, but they may not be calling attention to it enough to let other people know that they know that things could go wrong. In fact, things will go wrong.

First and foremost is to paint reality in a way that makes it explicit that you need people to speak up, that you know things will go wrong, and the more transparent and the quicker we are, the better off we are.

And two, distinguish between good failures and not-so-good failures. The good failures are the ones that bring us new information in new territory. They're the necessary failures that lead to innovation.

If you can be clear about the fact that we know and expect, and even value what I call intelligent failures, then you make it easier for people to speak up about them, but also easier for people to do their best to avoid preventable failures.

To err is human, we will all make mistakes. But when we're at our best, when we're vigilant and mindful, we can prevent most of them and catch and correct the rest.

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On the three types of failures: intelligent, basic, and complex:

An intelligent failure is an undesired result in new territory where you couldn't have known in advance what would happen without experimenting. So they are in pursuit of a goal. You've taken the time to come up with a good hypothesis that you have good reason to believe it might work. And an intelligent failure is no bigger than necessary. You haven't made it larger than it needed to be.

Basic failures are single cause. Sometimes they're people not paying close enough attention. Sometimes they're overtired. Some of those basic failures are large, like when an employee accidentally checked the wrong box and wired the principal rather than the interest of a loan. That was a $900 million mistake at Citibank a couple of years back.

The third kind of failure is complex failures, and those are perfect storms. Those are failures caused not by one mistake or one factor, but by a handful of factors that come together in the wrong way or at the wrong time to lead to a failure. Any one of the factors on its own would not cause a failure. It's the unfortunate way they came together that leads to the failure.

There are many historically famous, but also every day accidents that qualify as complex failures.

On an example of a preventable failure where everyday fear, or lack of psychological safety, prevented someone from speaking up:

The Columbia shuttle tragedy of 2003 is complex failure. The shuttle reentered the earth's atmosphere and combusted, killing all of the astronauts, and of course, destroying the shuttle itself.

This was a complex failure that was a combination of some technical anomalies happening, some cultural factors coming together that made it not possible to end up catching and correcting in a timely way.

And there is an engineer at the very heart of this story who has doubts, has concerns, makes some tentative attempts to bring them up to his boss. He's kind of shut down, and then in a crucial mission management team meeting, he is present but feels unable to speak up when they start talking about this foam strike issue.

His explanation was he is just too low in the hierarchy to feel it was possible to speak up, and yet he's the one who had the most expertise. The accident investigation board concluded that it would not have been easy, but it was at least possible that a rescue attempt could have succeeded. This is a complex failure that was very much allowed by a strong sense of inability to speak up. That's the very reality of low psychological safety.

On the correlation between higher rates of agility and innovation, and trying new things, even if they fail:

If you only welcome trying new things when they work out, then they're not very new. They're kind of safe bets. And again, over the long term, that's not an innovative company. That's not a company that will likely thrive over the long term.

I think leadership is an educational activity, and this is an ongoing educational journey.

We need to continue to help people shift their mindsets from, "I got this" to "I wonder what would happen if," and shift their mindsets from the idea that we're supposed to have the answers and execute, hit our targets, and everything's supposed to be like a well-oiled machine to a mindset where it's, "Wow, we live in a volatile, uncertain world and we've got to be doing all sorts of things at all times to stay ahead of it."

It's just as important to do our part to minimize and prevent as many as preventable failures, but also to welcome the thoughtful experiments that end in failure.

Part of the answer is making those distinctions, because I think it's very hard for people to sign up for, “Let's fail all day!”

The only reason we're willing to sign up to try new things is when we are all on the same page about the kinds of experiments that might end in failure that are worth doing, and then the ones that we should try to avoid.

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You’re going to hear a lot more about psychological safety in 2024.

After the Supreme Court struck down Affirmative Action last June, companies have been reevaluating their diversity, equity, inclusion & belonging (DEI&B) approach and messaging. Mentions of “diversity” or “inclusion” , when comparing financial quarters year-over-year.

Glassdoor reported that access to diversity programs declined in 2023, of declining access. DEI&B professionals also report to work with U.S. companies.

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However, the business case for DEI&B hasn’t changed. It’s become more important than ever for companies to make sure that everyone feels safe in the workplace.

Focusing on belonging

 For Reggie Willis, chief diversity officer at Ally Financial, psychological safety is a crucial ingredient for creating belonging in the workplace.

“It’s really about people feeling safe to speak up for themselves, to speak up for a situation,” says Willis. “People should be willing and able if they see something, to say something as it relates to their experience in the work environment — and do that without fear of repercussion.”

To have an effective DEI&B strategy, you must first establish trust and psychological safety for every employee to engage.

“It changes the way people approach how they come to work,” Willis explains. Instead of being in an environment where you feel pressure to assimilate, employees with psychological safety feel secure and empowered to express their personal values.

The power of consistency

"Where you lose some of this psychological safety is when there’s this perception that you’re in it, then you’re out of it." - Reggie Willis, chief diversity officer, Ally Financial

The No. 1 ingredient for building trust and creating psychological safety is consistency, Willis says. “Can you continue to create that opportunity where people feel like they can speak up?” That requires consistency in how you seek out conversations with employees and how you conduct those conversations, asking questions that surface authentic responses. 

“As humans, our natural reaction is to defend ourselves,” Willis says. However, a defensive response to employee feedback risks damaging psychological safety for employees who are taking a risk to share their experience.

“You’ve got to be willing to listen — not just listening to react, but listening for understanding,” Willis says.

Organizational support

While it’s up to individuals to support the psychological safety of their colleagues and teams, the organization is responsible for building structures that support psychological safety.

“If the organization gets it wrong, then it’s really hard for the individual to be able to try to do it on their own,” Willis says.

Here are three ways Ally Financial promotes psychological safety:

1. One-on-one meetings

“We have quarterly engagements where our leaders speak to their teams in a very formal way,” Willis says. These one-on-one conversations are in addition to any weekly touchpoints. They are designed for leaders to create the space for their direct reports to speak openly and honestly about how they are performing against their individual goals and any challenges they are facing. These conversations also foster an environment in which an employee can discuss and reflect on their interests, skills, and career plan.

Having these meetings might seem like an obvious step, but for many leaders these important touchpoints with employees can get pushed off the calendar by other pressing business needs. Frequent meetings provide employees a chance to build relationships with managers and develop the trust needed to drive stronger outcomes for everyone.

At Ally, employees are given space to give feedback at quarterly one-on-ones.

“With every engagement that you have, it needs to be a part of your thought process,” Willis says. “If it’s a weekly team meeting, a monthly status update, a quarterly business review — each one of those are opportunities to reinforce that you are creating an environment where you want people to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts.” 

To be effective, Willis recommends that every employee has at least one quarterly meeting with their leader.

2. Encourage participation in employee resource groups

Ally Financial has eight employee resource groups (ERGs) where people who identify by affinity or demographic can join a small group setting to connect and learn.

ERGs support psychological safety by offering a place where people can ask questions and engage on sensitive topics in a controlled forum. Different ERGs will partner with one another to surface new information and share resources.

Ally team members are encouraged to join the conversation. “People feel safe and heard and can learn in an environment that’s low risk,” Willis says.

3. Transparent communication

How transparent a company is about its DEI&B progress will have an impact on psychological safety, Willis says. At Ally, reports progress on representation, and an internally facing site shares DEI&B messages with employees, including upcoming goals and objectives. 

A bumpy road

For any company looking to increase psychological safety, leaders must be prepared for bumps in the road. Psychological safety can’t be improved with any quick fixes, but rather accretes from sustained commitment and engagement.

In the short term, efforts to change your culture might result in lower numbers on important metrics. “You’re going to be uncomfortable as a part of this,” Willis advises. “And that’s OK. You’re going to have some ups and downs, but that’s a part of evolving.”

To reassure leaders who get spooked, Willis recommends comparing efforts to improve psychological safety to other business activities, many of which have uncertain outcomes.

“In other contexts, we talk about failing fast so we get better,” says Willis. Building psychological safety is no different.  

The real risk for companies comes when leaders react to trends and news headlines rather than staying true to their values. “Where you lose some of this psychological safety is when there’s this perception that you’re in it, then you’re out of it,” says Willis. 

Measuring success

What metrics should you watch to for improving psychological safety?

“We’ve got some proxies in our engagement scores,” Willis says. Ally Financial measures how employees feel about their managers and about DEI&B programs at the company, as well as responses to survey questions about belonging.

Surveys are taken each year, and Ally Financial can compare year-over-year responses and then benchmark against top performing financial institutions and top companies overall. Then, leaders go a little deeper.

Focus groups provide qualitative answers, with a workforce analytics team that develops topics for discussion based on employee answers to open-ended questions on the engagement survey. Ally also interviews new employees after their first 90 days to ask if their experience matches what they were promised in the hiring process.

When talking to employees, Willis recommends finding ways to follow up when body language and nonverbal cues suggest that you aren’t getting the full story.

“Don’t just accept the ‘everything’s fine’ response,” Willis says. When you see a reaction to something, take note and then offer the employee the space, either later or privately, to share more. Willis offers this script:

“Hey, I remember when we were in this meeting, I felt like you had a reaction and maybe didn’t feel comfortable or weren’t willing to provide feedback in the moment. Can we talk about that? Because I want to make sure that I’m not, or the team is not, unintentionally creating an environment where you’re uncomfortable.”

“Many times, the first time a leader hears something they don’t want to hear, they shut things down,” Willis says. To build psychological safety, leaders must get comfortable welcoming the tough conversations and remain open to feedback.

Get more insights

Learn more strategies from our workplace culture experts at our For All™ Summit, May 7-9 in New Orleans. 

The best workplaces are those that create a warm and welcoming environment for everyone.

In the current cultural climate gender nonconforming people — those identifying with a gender other than what was assigned at birth — are having more adverse workplace experiences.

Even at great companies, nonbinary or transgender employees’ encounter a range of experiences, from misguided curiosity to outright hostility.

카지노 커뮤니티 추천 that can’t create a safe environment for nonbinary and transgender employees aren’t creating inclusive cultures and will miss out on important business outcomes.

Great Place To Work® research shows that when employees feel safe, are able to innovate, and are encouraged to bring their full selves to work, companies flourish.

According to 1.6% of U.S. adults identify as transgender or nonbinary. For adults aged 18-29, 5.1% identify as transgender or nonbinary. More than four in 10 U.S. adults say they know a trans person and one in five report knowing a nonbinary person.

The way your company either makes room or excludes transgender and nonbinary people will have an impact, both for those who identify as trans or nonbinary, or have a friend or family member who does.

What can workplaces do to create a safer and more welcoming experience for nonbinary and transgender employees? We spoke with one of our Great Place To Work colleagues, Kyndle DelCollo, who identifies as nonbinary, about their experience in the workplace.

While one person’s experience won’t capture the full picture, these voices are often so invisible that one voice can make a difference.

Ted: Tell me a little about your background. Where did you grow up? What experiences helped define you as a young person?

Kyndle: I grew up in a small conservative town in Southern Oregon. I came out as a lesbian when I was 14, and it wasn't received well where I lived.

I was pretty feminine growing up, just because of expectations and how my parents wanted to see me. Being in a conservative town, there's a huge emphasis on femininity versus masculinity … and if a female wants to express their masculinity, it's almost like, “Whoa! What are you doing? Why would you do that?”

College is really when I started expressing who I am, more through my clothing and the way that I presented myself to others. I met my partner my freshman year. I think that her being able to give me the space that I needed to figure out who I am and who I wanted to be was probably the most influential part of me developing into the adult that I am.

I cut my hair four or five years ago, and that was actually because she was the one who said, “Hey, have you ever considered cutting your hair? If that's something that you would like to do, I would be OK with that” — and I was like, “OK. Maybe that is something I would like to do.”

Once somebody who I really cared for gave me the green light, I was able to develop more into my true self rather than who people think I should be.

Ted: There’s a lot you shared there, both about the trauma that can come with coming out as LGBTQ+, and also the gift that comes with a loved one giving you permission to explore. Do those dynamics also come up in the workplace?

Kyndle: There have definitely been times in the workplace where I knew it wasn't acceptable to be who I am and bring my full self to work.

But I think at Great Place To Work, my people leader really created a space within my immediate team for me to be who I am, and valued who I am as an individual and what that brings to the business and to clients.

In my role as a customer success manager, I often am asked about diversity and inclusion in the workplace. I always tell them that it starts with the team leads. It starts with management.

Ted: Can you share how your manager made you feel safe sharing your full story?

Kyndle: Respecting my pronouns. When I came to her and said, “These are the pronouns that I want to use moving forward,” she has never used my previous pronouns since. That’s probably the single biggest thing.

She will avoid using terms like “ladies," "guys," or other gender specific verbiage when referring to the group.

I’ve asked her not to correct people in meetings to avoid the "all eyes on me" feeling, and she’s respected that.

If I could clone her, I would duplicate her willingness to go with the flow, her kindness to all regardless of who you are, and her ability to listen.

Ted: Is it enough to just display your pronouns on a video screen or do you find it makes a difference when people are more intentional by asking someone for their pronouns?

Kyndle: Being active makes a huge difference. Putting your pronouns in your signature or on Zoom is a passive act but, introducing yourself with your pronouns actively creates a safe space with new people.

Ted: Most people want to say the right thing, but they make mistakes. What are those interactions like for a nonbinary person?

Kyndle: It depends on the person. Do they want a public apology? If I’m on a call and somebody uses the wrong pronouns, and they stop the entire call and single me out and say, “Kyndle, I am so sorry that I just used the wrong pronouns; I will be so much better next time” — and they make a huge apology … I do appreciate it because it's coming from the heart, however, they are putting me in the center of the spotlight.

It brings unwanted attention.

They're innocent mistakes, but when they do happen, just move past them. If you truly feel the need to apologize, maybe do it on a private basis. Don't put the person in a position where everybody on the call is now looking at them. It's stressful.

Ted: It sounds like you're having to constantly come out and relive this experience, which can be traumatic.

Kyndle: Right, exactly. I don't want to relive that every day. That's a big reason why if somebody does use incorrect pronouns, I don't usually say anything.

I have it written everywhere. I have it in my Zoom signature. I have it in my email signature. I shouldn't have to make an announcement about it.

Ted: What are some things that have made you feel welcomed and safe company-wide?

Kyndle: The fact that we've done things on Launchpad [our all hands virtual company meeting] highlighting Pride month, and also highlighting Lesbian Day of Visibility, Trans Day of Visibility … it really helps.

The fact that we brought an expert on this topic to come and train our people is really beneficial, because things change. … they're coming in and training us on how to be more inclusive.

Even for me, as a nonbinary person, that training is really beneficial. I can say, “OK, how do I want to be treated? Or, how am I treating others? Am I creating that space for others?”

Ted: What's the importance of bringing in an external person that people can talk to rather than turning to your one employee who might be out at work?

Kyndle: It can be really traumatic talking about these things.

Usually, people that do trainings and workshops, they're comfortable sharing their story in that way, and they're completely comfortable in who they are and how they got there.

Ted: Even if they're out in the workplace, they might not be comfortable being the person everyone comes to with their questions.

Kyndle: Yeah.

Ted: What's your advice for employers who want to create a better work experience for nonbinary or transgender employees?

Kyndle: Don’t assume; ask questions.

Remember that things change.

There have been plenty of times in my life where I'm like, "What am I? Who am I? What is going on here? Why is this happening to me?"

It could be that one day an employee comes in and they're like, "I want to go by he/him pronouns," and then six months later they come in and they're like, "I want to go by she/her pronouns." And maybe six months after that, they're like, "You know what? Neither of them worked for me. I'm going to go by they/them and try that out."

You have to be flexible. And if you aren't sure, just ask, "Hey, what are your pronouns?" Or, when you introduce yourself to people, just introduce your pronouns. That's the easiest way to do it.

Ted: What would you like to see from either the management team or just your colleagues general in terms of showing up and supporting nonbinary, gender nonconforming folks?

Kyndle: I think annual training on how to create an inclusive workplace is really vital. We get new employees; we all get in the minutiae of our day to day, so these reminders are important.

Just be kind. Respect is not: "Do you like me? Are we best friends?" Respect is: "Hey, I'm going to refer to you by your correct pronouns, or however you want to be referred to, because I would want you to do the same to me."

Learn what your employees need

Get the data behind the employee experience at your workplace and benchmark your efforts against the best companies in the world. 

What does it take to be innovative today? A massive budget? A high-tech team in Silicon Valley? A dedicated R&D department?

How about inclusion?

Workplace diversity and inclusion are not something many organizations think about when they’re looking to grow and adapt to changing market conditions. But a company’s culture of innovation is closely intertwined with its culture of inclusivity.

And that connection can have big results: companies that get innovation right by inviting every employee into the process outperform their competitors and see five and a half times the revenue growth.

What does a culture of innovation look like?

A culture of innovation is one that encourages questions, conversations, and new ideas — from everyone. An innovative culture is essential for any business to survive. However, successful innovation doesn’t necessarily come from how much money you put into R&D or from adopting the latest tech. Rather, it comes from emotionally connecting all employees to the company’s mission strategy.

“Innovation comes ultimately from a diversity of perspectives,” says Frans Johansson, CEO of The Medici Group. “When you combine ideas from different industries or different cultures, that’s when you have the best sense of developing ground-breaking ideas.”

Johansson is describing what we have known at Great Place To Work® for 30 years — inclusive workplace practices are core to creating a culture of innovation. This proven philosophy is what we call Innovation By All — when leaders cultivate the intelligence, skills, and passion of everyone in the organization. Everybody creates, everybody is connected, and everybody contributes.

How to create an innovative culture in the workplace

In our ongoing annual research on the Fortune 100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 to Work For®100 Best 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 to Work For®, we found six practices that cultivate this inclusive, innovative workplace environment.

1. Give all types of space

Creating an environment that values all voices is the hallmark of leading companies. They make room for their employees’ complete identities — mental, emotional, and otherwise — fostering a psychologically safe workplace where creativity and risk-taking can thrive. This culture of inclusivity and empowerment allows fresh ideas to emerge, which drives the organization forward.

This open culture resonates profoundly with employees. For instance, an LGBTQ+-identifying staff member at 9th Wonder offered this perspective on their unique work environment:

“In our workplace, ideas are valued no matter where they come from. Executives are accessible and open. There is dialogue whenever it’s needed. There isn’t any fear culture. If anything, you may be completely slammed, but you want to say yes to projects because you don’t want to miss out on something great, not because you feel pressure.”

Giving space also means acknowledging employees’ lives outside of the workplace. If employees are worried about things happening outside of work, then they won’t be able to function at their best.

At 1-800 Contacts, this space includes financial wellness. The company recognizes that financial troubles can be a huge source of stress for employees. And financially stressed workers . 1-800 Contacts mitigates this stress by offering mortgage training, get-out-of-debt training, and essential financial advice — creating more mental space for employees.

2. Create energy by thanking all

Recognizing employees for their efforts, not just their outcomes, doesn’t dilute the idea. Instead, it acts as a fertilizer. It energizes individuals and the entire organization. And encourages people to keep contributing. The enthusiasm around trying to make things better is infectious and fun. And that is itself a catalyst for creativity.

Energy reverbs from the words of this survey comment from an employee at OC Tanner:

“This is a recognition and appreciation company. That’s our business, but we’re really good at it internally as well. The whole company sees it done all the time; it is not contrived or fake, it is real and sincere. This makes all of us want to step up our game and recognize great work when and wherever we see it. This makes people kinder and more controlled as we work together shoulder to shoulder. We try to treat people as people and not as objects to walk over. Everyone is more cooperative and respectful in this company. Everyone can feel valued.”

3. Cultivate diverse interactions

Top-tier organizations stand out by fostering an environment that encourages unlikely alliances, creating spaces for collaborations between individuals who might not otherwise interact.

When asked to pinpoint what makes their workplace special, an employee at Agilent Technologies highlighted the inclusivity and adaptability of their team:

“There is a strong sense of everyone’s voice matters within projects despite titles/roles. The team has been quite open to being influenced by new and emerging trends and listening to innovative thinking.”

These diverse connections not only enrich the everyday work environment but also play a critical role during challenging times. Illustrating this, consider how Farmers Insurance CEO Jeff Dailey responded to a major crisis. He formed a cross-functional team comprised of leaders from human resources, government affairs, internal and external communications, legal, and real estate teams to strategically manage the situation.

This example underscores the power of diversity in decision-making and problem-solving, reinforcing the fact that a broad spectrum of perspectives can lead to more comprehensive and effective strategies, even in the face of adversity.

Innovative companies also prioritize diversity and inclusion at the individual level. They recognize that when employees come to the table with diverse experiences, it can spur innovation and even boost revenue. 

4. Invest in everyone’s growth

Lavishing resources only on employees who show “high potential” is misguided. It ignores the potential of others and can have unintended consequences. It often leads to feelings of frustration and favoritism.

The best leaders see the value of maximizing all human potential and training and developing every employee — including developing them outside of work.

Few companies exemplify this so well as Bitwise Industries does. When asked about its secret to employee retention, co-founder and CEO Jake Soberal said one reason is that the company “is not tight-fisted.”

As most employees found their agency increased during the pandemic and the transition to remote work, Bitwise was already encouraging flexibility and non-linear paths for growth and work.

“We encourage that agency and ask employees, ‘do you have a thing you want to do on the side? We really want to support that and see that succeed. Do you have a new interest that you want to explore internally? We’d like to open up channels and opportunities for you to do that.’”

This open-handed approach to training and career progression is what Jake says makes Bitwise a place where folks can see themselves navigating between roles in the company. And who do you think benefits from all that outside inspiration? The company culture.

5. Democratize the idea generation process

Leading organizations know to leave no stone unturned. It’s not enough to put out a suggestion box. They make it simple for their people to generate ideas — and lots of them.

These companies go further by providing guidance for fleshing out a new concept. They adopt systems that allow peers to comment on and get behind promising proposals.

Texas Health Resources taps into the wisdom of employees regardless of their role. This egalitarian approach is possible with a dedicated communication tool. Used throughout the design process, the tool is called “Question & Resolve.” Employees can ask colleagues about designs until they reach mutual understanding.

6. Inspire all with purpose

카지노 커뮤니티 랭킹 research shows that a purposeful work and innovation are linked.

In many organizations, there is a downward trend in inspiration and sense of purpose at work between the higher echelons of management and the lower ones. However, in companies that have cultivated a strong purpose-driven culture, leaders succeed in inspiring individuals across all tiers — from the C-suite executives to warehouse employees.

Consider the example of Playa Resorts & Hotels, where purpose is not just espoused by leadership, but is actively demonstrated, trickling down to those on the front lines through community engagement activities.

Dayna Blank, senior vice president of human resources at Playa, recounts, “카지노 커뮤니티 랭킹 CEO doesn’t just talk about environmental responsibility; he practices it by cleaning the beach — donning gloves and picking up trash alongside all of us.”

Whenever Playa employees come together in different countries, they plan a community service where everyone participates, no matter who they are or what they do for the company, ensuring that meaningful work is felt at all levels.

Innovation is not accidental, it’s strategic

By embracing diversity, enabling collaboration, and recognizing the potential of every team member, you can spark novel ideas. Foster psychological safety, and you’ll encourage bold risks.

Make idea-sharing simple. Help your team feel connected to a bigger purpose. That’s how you create a culture of innovation. If you’re ready to build a fast-moving, idea-driven culture, try our employee engagement survey software—the same tool Fortune 100 카지노 커뮤니티 추천 rely on to make it happen.