How Psychological Safety can reduce employee turnover
The topic of employee turnover has been firmly in the spotlight for the past 18 months, with a record number of workers leaving their jobs in what has been dubbed ‘The Great Resignation’.
And while a certain amount of annual turnover is natural (10% or less is viewed as healthy), there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s an expensive proposition. How expensive? Well, an oft-quoted study by the Society for Human Resource Management found that, on average, employers need to spend the equivalent of six to nine months of an employee’s salary to find and train their replacement. For an executive, this cost can rise to more than two years’ worth of their annual salary—and that’s before you factor in other negative outcomes like loss of momentum and opportunity, and the risk of the departing employee taking their knowledge and contacts to a competitor.
Which leads us to the million-dollar question: what can you do to protect against avoidable turnover?
Putting Psychological Safety to Work
There are two major factors that have traditionally been thought of as predictors of turnover—job satisfaction and organizational commitment. However, over the past decade evidence and attention has been accumulating around another powerful force: Psychological Safety.
Psychological Safety refers to the feeling of comfort that arises when employees believe they are valued by their coworkers, and that engaging in ‘risky behaviors’ such as sharing ideas, expressing disagreement, pointing out problems, or making mistakes will not result in their being harshly judged, rejected, or subjected to unfair career harm. For example, being able to point out a design flaw without worrying that your manager will become angry and label you as a disruptive troublemaker. Or being able to ask for help without being concerned about your teammate expressing frustration and judging you as incompetent.
“Psychological Safety refers to the feeling of comfort that arises when employees believe they are valued by their coworkers, and that engaging in ‘risky behaviors’ such as sharing ideas or making mistakes will not result in their being subjected to unfair career harm.”
Research has shown that Psychological Safety is strongly associated with a wide range of positive benefits for companies, such as enhanced performance, engagement, innovation, error reduction, customer satisfaction, and employee wellbeing. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it has also been shown to have a strong and direct effect on employee turnover—that is, employees who feel safe and valued generally want to stay. This direct effect even outperforms other predictors such as quality of supervision and amount of financial incentives. Furthermore, Psychological Safety can indirectly reduce turnover via its ability to enhance traditional predictors of turnover such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
So how can employers create Psychological Safety in their organizations? Here are the overarching goals that any Psychological Safety plan should aim for:
#1: Inclusion
First and foremost, make employees feel like their input is wanted and valued. This is usually achieved by explicitly seeking an employee’s opinions and inviting them to contribute to discussions, and by expressing gratitude for their input as well as highlighting how their work is valuable. It also requires that all employees, especially leaders, are available and approachable, specifically by being visible, avoiding exclusive patterns of social interaction at work, and adopting a “my door is always open” policy. And finally, it means showing awareness of, and sensitivity to, the diverse needs of employees—for example, using language that does not exclude or offend certain groups or individuals, and promptly addressing discrimination.
#2: Autonomy Support
Autonomy support refers to providing employees with a sense of discretionary power, and reducing the level of surveillance. This means involving employees in decision-making—even if this is initially only to create a platform for them to share their opinions and ideas—and, when possible, giving them the power to make decisions. Not only does this communicate a positive view of, and trust in, an employee’s capabilities, it also reduces the sense of anxiety that comes from having to check everything you do with a higher-up. Autonomy support also involves another important antecedent of Psychological Safety: shifting from a hierarchical mindset to a mindset of teamwork. As such, leaders should collaborate with their team members when setting goals and rules, and become more comfortable relying on and delegating tasks to them.
#3: Enhancing Clarity
This means making it easier for employees to predict what will happen when they engage in risky behaviors. This involves being transparent with information, providing thorough orientations, explicitly outlining policies and practices in multiple formats, and giving employees the space to practice and ask questions until they feel they have a complete understanding.
#4: Creating a Positive Climate for Mistakes and Learning
In short, reduce the fear of punishment and judgment for employees engaging in essential work processes such as experimentation and the development of new skills. This involves framing mistakes as learning opportunities and avoiding blame. It also means not punishing employees for honest mistakes, and rewarding employees who report mistakes. Leaders are also encouraged to be open about their own fallibility by admitting when they make mistakes or don’t know something.
#5: High-quality Relationships
Finally, creating high quality relationships does not mean that everyone needs to become friends. Instead, it means the formation of relationships in which employees feel like they are seen and valued as people, and are confident that their coworkers will be there if they need help. This means showing an interest in your coworkers’ lives outside of work, and sharing such information about yourself. Learning about each other’s working styles and preferences is another evidence-based intervention—a task that can be enhanced by the use of tools such as Attuned. And finally, offering support in terms of paying attention to others’ emotions, providing words of encouragement, and offering to listen and help with work-related tasks.
And for more insights from Melissa, watch our webinar—“Why Intrinsic Motivation and Psychological Safety are the Keys to Unlocking Employee Creativity and Innovation”.
Download our whitepaper on Psychological Safety and the Hybrid Work Era. It’s free!
