world 1st - australian workplace psychological safety survey report
TRANSCRIPT
T H E A U S T R A L I A N
W O R K P L A C E
P S Y C H O L O G I C A L
S A F E T Y S U R V E Y
BACKGROUNDProfessor Amy Edmondson from Harvard
Business School defines psychological safety as
“A team climate characterized by interpersonal
trust and mutual respect in which people are
comfortable being themselves.”
In her TED talk she explains why psychological
safety is critical for agile, fast learning, and
resilient teams.
Google’s research of its own workforce revealed
that psychological safety was the most important
team norm for high-performing innovative
workplaces.
Professor Amy Edmondson Harvard Business School
WORLD-FIRST STUDY INTO WORKPLACE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY R U OK? commissioned* a world-first study into psychological safety in the
workplace. It is the first time a country’s whole workforce has been evaluated.
The Australian Workplace Psychological Safety Survey canvassed 1,176 Australian
employees and found that only 23 per cent of lower income-earning frontline
employees felt their workplace was “psychologically safe” to take a risk, compared to
45 per cent of workers on significantly higher incomes.
Detailed results and commentary by Professor Edmondson follow.
MORE INFORMATION
See the R U O K? Video – Why mental resilience should be on every CEO’s agenda
Graeme Cowan, Board Director, R U OK? – [email protected]
Brendan Maher, CEO, R U OK? – [email protected]
* Research Conducted by Colmar Brunton, the survey was based on an independent online survey of
1,176 Australian full-time and part-time employees across all states and territories in March, 2017.
MISTAKEat WORK
If you make a
IT'S OFTEN HELD AGAINST YOU
OTHER 56%
MISTAKESLESS CONCERNED
WILL BE HELD AGAINST ME
MALE
44%
FEMALE
56%
BY AGEMOST CONCERNED
0
10
20
30
40
18-2
4
25-3
4
35-4
4
45-5
4
55-6
465
+
DISAGREE OR STRONGLY DISAGREE
44%
Professor Amy Edmondson Harvard Business School
• Studying psychological safety is incredibly importantbecause it gets to the heart of innovation.
• In fast moving environments, breakthroughs happenthrough trying many things and making mistakes –before finding what works.
• When I work with clients I strive for a minimum 70%“Strongly disagreeing” or “Disagreeing” with thisstatement.
• It's very worrying and counterproductive for a“mistake” to held against you, and a cultural mindsetlike this will lead to people being reluctant to proposenew ideas.
• It was intriguing why women were less concernedabout making mistakes, and that this warrantsadditional insights and research.
• Whilst it isn’t unusual for younger workers to feelmore insecure, she explained that they are often atthe front line, and efforts should be made addresstheir concern.
FOR HELPIT'S DIFFICULT TO ASKMY COLLEAGUES
OTHER
38%
DISAGREE OR STRONGLY DISAGREE
62%
% of those whoagreed by age
group
FOR HELP
ask my colleagues
IT'S DIFFICULT TO
0
5
10
15
18-2
4
25-3
4
35-4
4
45-5
4
55-6
465
+
20
25
Professor Amy Edmondson Harvard Business School
• Team, cross department, and externalcollaboration has increased dramaticallybecause of the digital revolution.
• It is critical that people feel safe andwilling to ask their colleagues inside andoutside the organisation for help.
• High performing teams and organisationsshould be striving for at least 80% ofemployees “Strongly disagreeing” or“Disagreeing” with this statement.
AGREE 34%
OTHER 66%
A RISKIT'S SAFE TO TAKE
AT WORK
YESOF THOSE WHO SAID
BY GENDERMALE
53%
FEMALE
47%
YESOF THOSE WHO SAID
BY LOCATION
REGIONAL 42%
METRO 58%
YES
OF THOSE WHO SAID YES
BY INCOME
0
10
20
30
40
50
$156
K+
$104
-$15
6K
$78K
-$10
4K
$52K
-$78
K
Under $
52K
YES
OF THOSE WHO SAID YES
EDUCATION
0
10
20
30
40
YEAR 10/
TRADE
DIPLOM
A/CERT
DEGREE OR A
BOVE
Professor Amy Edmondson Harvard Business School
• Although much of my earlier work was undertaken inhospitals, I am hesitant to use this question wherephysical safety is critical such as mining,construction, and health care.
• For most organisations operating in the informationor digital economy, this question is critical to try newthings, learn quickly and continually improve. Forexample, Facebook has as one of its founding values“move fast and break things”.
• I recommend that my clients strive for 70% "StronglyAgreeing" or "Agreeing" with this statement.
• Google has identified psychological safety as theirmost important team norm for high performance. Theyhave found that by everyone sharing a risk they havetaken in the last week at their team meeting is thefastest way to improve psychological safety.
• The design company IDEO has 90% of its employeesstrongly agreeing or agreeing with this statement.
COLLEAGUES
WORKING WITHMY
MY UNIQUE SKILLS AND
TALENTS ARE UTILISED
AGREE or STRONGLY AGREE
64%
OTHER
36%
Only 50% for those on $52k or less per year agreed
or strongly agreed with this statement
Professor Amy Edmondson Harvard Business School
• High performing teams and organisationsshould be striving for 80% "Strongly agreeing"or "Agreeing" with this statement.
• The benefits to individual and teams that areable to use their top strengths each day iscompelling. For example, Gallup researchshows that if people use their top 5 strengthseveryday they are 600% more likely to beengaged at work and 300% more likely to reporthigh life satisfaction.
• The message for teams is equally strong.According to other Gallup research, ifindividuals within a team strongly agree withthis statement: “At work I have the opportunityto do what I do best each day” the team hasbeen shown to be 30% more likely to be highlyproductive, 44% more likely to earn highcustomer satisfaction scores, and 50% morelikely to have high employee retention.
REJECT OTHERS FOR
MY WORK COLLEAGUES OFTEN
BEING DIFFERENT
OTHER
42%
DISAGREE or STRONGLY DISAGREE
58%
MY WORK COLLEAGUES OFTEN REJECT OTHERS FOR
BEING DIFFERENT
% OF THOSE WHO AGREED BY AGE GROUP
0
5
10
15
18-2
4
25-3
4
35-4
4
45-5
4
55-6
465
+
20
25
Professor Amy Edmondson Harvard Business School
• In a supportive and psychologically safe teamenvironment, people feel comfortable to bethemselves. This in one of the main findingsfrom Google’s Project Aristotle into their highperforming team.
• If employees feel cared for, no matter who theyare, they will feel more engaged andproductive. For example, Gallup researchshows that the more people that “Stronglyagree” with this statement “My supervisor orsomeone at work, seems to care about me as aperson” – the higher the profit, productivitylevels, customer service rating, and the longeremployees stay with the company.
WOULD DELIBERATELY
NONE OF MY COLLEAGUES
UNDERMINE MY EFFORTS
METRO RESPONSE REGIONAL RESPONSE
AGREE or STRONGLY AGREE
56%
Other 44%
OTHER
36%
AGREE or STRONGLY AGREE
64%
R U OK? is an Australian suicide prevention charity. Our mission is to inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with the people around them and to support anyone struggling with life. We’re most well-known for our national day of action, R U OK? Day, on the second Thursday in September (14 September 2017).
We also have campaigns to inspire connection throughout the year, including R U OK? at Work, R U OK? Afield and R U OK? School.
For more information
www.ruok.org.au