Why employees don’t speak up at work and how HR can build psychological safety
I was recently asked to comment on research from Mental Health First Aid England (MHFA), reported by People Management, which found that almost half of employees do not feel safe admitting mistakes at work. It’s a finding that will resonate with many HR leaders, not because it is surprising, but because we’re operating in an employment landscape where news of redundancies is constant and teams are being asked to do more with less, leaving people feeling overstretched and perhaps somewhat replaceable. As a result, employees don’t speak up at work, even when they have valuable insight to share.
In my experience working with HR teams and senior leaders, when employees decide that staying quiet feels safer than speaking up, organisations lose access to vital insight about how work is really being experienced on the ground.
The research by MHFA England prompted me to reflect more deeply on why silence has become so common in modern workplaces and what HR leaders can realistically do to change it.
Why employees don’t speak up at work?
In today’s uncertain climate, it’s understandable that many employees feel reluctant to speak up. We’re operating in an employment landscape where news of redundancies is constant and teams are being asked to do more with less, leaving people feeling overstretched and perhaps somewhat replaceable. When people feel insecure in their roles, they often weigh up the personal risk of calling out issues or challenging decisions, even if only subconsciously. And if the culture of the origination doesn’t convey openness and psychological safety, it’s likely employees will choose silence over the perceived risk of raising concerns. In these environments, employees don’t speak up at work, even when they can see issues or risks emerging.
These high-pressure environments are also contributing to growing mental health strain, which can further discourage people from voicing concerns.
How can organisations create a culture where employees feel safe to speak up?
For employers, the first step is recognising there is an issue and addressing it head on, because When people stay quiet, it’s rarely because they have nothing to contribute. If leaders aren’t hearing about risks or challenges from those closest to the work, the impact can be significant both financially and reputationally. When employees don’t speak up at work, organisations lose visibility of the challenges that could impact performance, culture and risk.
Employees who fear speaking up may also feel disengaged, which can impact productivity and increase the risk of talent churn. And where the culture doesn’t encourage openness, mistakes may go unchecked, risking the performance and reputation of the business, so business and HR leaders must prioritise and create psychologically safe working environments to reduce these risks.
How employment law changes are shifting the balance of power
This is especially critical right now, as we’re approaching a significant turning point with the shifting legislative landscape. The Employment Rights Act has raised employee awareness of their rights, and AI tools are helping employees to find the right words to articulate grievances that might otherwise have been kept quiet. Historically, employees don’t speak up at work when the perceived risk outweighs the benefit, but that balance is now starting to shift. We are seeing this in rising employee relations cases across industries, and the seismic rise in AI generated employee complaints. So, employers need to act now to prepare for the tide of silence to shift. As the window for unfair dismissal protection moves from two years to six months, the power balance is changing so that may reduce the fear of challenging decisions and speaking up in the future.
Building a culture of psychological safety at work
To navigate this, HR leaders need to be laser focused on building cultures that are genuinely psychological safe. This doesn’t just mean saying that you have an open-door policy, it requires a transformation in how people leaders are trained and empowered to be better people leaders.
Why manager behaviour shapes speaking up cultures
We often talk about ‘accidental managers’, those who are skilled in their role but have no experience in managing people, and it is these people leaders who need to understand their role in building cultures where fear of speaking out is reduced. The priority should be equipping managers with the confidence to be genuine, own their mistakes, and handle difficult conversations with skill and consistency. If a leader can admit when they are wrong and what they are doing to fix the issue, it lowers the risk for everyone else speaking up.
Simple steps like training managers to focus on what allowed a mistake to happen, rather than who is to blame, can completely change the employee experience and create the safety needed for people to admit their mistakes or challenge decisions.
The most open and innovative cultures are those where people can disagree without it becoming a personal or political threat, and where errors are seen as learning opportunities and not a personality flaw.
Are there practical steps leaders can take to encourage openness without creating a culture of blame?
On a practical level, it’s small shifts that can make a huge difference. For example, if a deadline is missed, framing the question around what blockers were in the way of completing the task invites the employee to be a problem-solver instead of feeling like a defendant.
Another practical example is for people leaders to model behaviours they’d like of their teams. For instance, in meetings, leaders can lower the barrier to speaking up by asking simple questions and confirming their understanding of a situation. When a leader demonstrates curiosity over always being the expert, it signals to the rest of the room that it is safe to seek clarity and speak out. It’s also helpful to publicly acknowledge when someone catches an error before it becomes an issue as this reinforces that the organisation values transparency over perfection.
The role of feedback and trust in open workplace cultures
We also have to be ruthless about feedback loops because a culture of openness will be eroded if issues are raised or suggestions are made and they go into a black hole. Even if we can’t act on an idea, explaining the reason behind that decision builds trust.
It’s also important to provide the right wellbeing and mental health support to help demonstrate a culture that values the individual. Introducing trained Mental Health First Aiders can provide a neutral, safe point of contact for those not yet comfortable speaking directly to their manager about their mental health. This should be paired with regular wellbeing check-ins with direct reports that are separate from performance reviews and task based 1-2-1s. This can help facilitate more open conversations and help leaders to intervene before a minor issue escalates into a crisis.
Psychological safety should be at the heart of every people strategy to create cultures where employees can openly share ideas and concerns, and raise issues without fear of reprisals, helping to improve ways of working and build a more resilient and loyal workforce.
How organisations can embed a culture where employees speak up
The organisations getting ahead of this aren’t relying on policy alone, they’re investing in manager capability, clearer processes and better use of data to surface risk early. That’s where AdviserPlus is supporting HR leaders to turn intent into action, building cultures where people feel confident to speak up and where issues are addressed before they escalate. Get in touch with one of our experts today to discuss in more detail.