Fostering Psychological Safety in Teams: Evidence from an RCT

Abstract

This paper uses data for over 500 teams totaling more than 4,300 employees in a global healthcare company to document that workplace cultures where individuals feel safe voicing their ideas associate with innovation, team performance and team stability. We then implement a randomized control trial to improve workplace norms and create psychologically safer spaces. We encourage managers to hold regular one-to-one meetings and exogenously vary the content of those meetings. Focusing on employees’ psychological needs increases psychological safety, while focusing on task execution is effective only for moderate levels of psychological safety. Our interventions also improve perceived innovativeness, leadership quality, and are particularly effective for male majority teams and junior leaders.

Keywords: field experiment, psychological safety, managerial attention

JEL Classification: C93, D91, J28, M54