Dive Brief:
- HR leaders have noticed an epidemic of silence among workers: About 67% of HR professionals said they have watched their workforce stay silent about their workplace concerns “often or very often,” according to a study by workplace learning organization Radical Candor.
- The C-suite is aware of this pervasive culture problem: 46% of executives told researchers that a lack of honest feedback across the company was among their top concerns.
- The issue may be related to learning and development, with 70% of managers saying they were never taught to give or ask for feedback before they stepped into their role.
Dive Insight:
Building trust continues to be a challenge, with real-world effects on one’s workforce. “When an untrained manager hears criticism from an employee, too often they punish the messenger rather than reward the candor,” said Kim Scott, co-founder of the firm Radical Candor and author of the book of the same name, in a press release. “That’s where psychological safety gets destroyed and the trust gap begins.”
Last year, decision-making software company Aura Intelligence analyzed insights from its platform and found that worker sentiment toward senior leadership was a key indicator of overall workplace health. It may come as no surprise that, by Aura Intelligence’s measure, trust in leadership declined “significantly” in industries dealing with layoffs or “sudden” RTO initiatives.
Artificial intelligence appears as a particular pain point in the Radical Candor report; 73% of respondents said they have reported AI-related inconsistencies at work, and 50% said their negative feedback regarding AI mistakes was acted on “sometimes or rarely.” Especially when leadership is bullish on AI — to the point of laying off talent — workers don’t have an incentive to speak up about the mistakes that AI is making, Scott said.
As leaders look to build trust, ensuring psychological safety is crucial.
“The trust gap will close when leaders invest in teaching their managers to solicit and reward criticism, to give specific, sincere praise, and to give kind, clear criticism that helps employees succeed,” Scott said, adding this culture results in the kinds of feedback that executives said they want from their workforce.