Psychological Safety is a Growth Lever
Psychological Safety Isn’t Just a Buzzword
Let’s cut through the noise: psychological safety isn’t “soft stuff.” It’s the difference between a team that delivers and one that quietly falls apart without you realising it is.
I was brought into a team with 50% turnover, chronic absenteeism, and the few people who showed up were running on fumes. When I sat down 1:1 with everyone, the message was blunt:
“No one cares what’s going on with us. Every time we try to fix something, we’re told to stop without any valid reason.”
Here’s what founders need to know:
If your team doesn’t feel safe to speak up, experiment, or even fail, execution stops.
People stop raising issues, knowledge leaks out, and the business bleeds cash fast.
Let’s talk numbers.
For a team of 24 on £30k salaries, 50% turnover costs you at least £540k a year.
That’s capital you could have put behind strategy, expansion, and eventually your exit.
How do you fix it? Build psychological safety into the way you work. Here’s how I do it:
Prioritise problems as a team: We made a list, set priorities together, and tackled them one by one.
Get in the trenches: I learned their jobs and did the work. That’s how I spot what’s really broken.
Listen. Really listen: Sometimes what they wanted wasn’t realistic, but I always heard them out first and then I explained why we couldn’t or even wouldn’t.
Treat people like adults: No scripts, no corporate nonsense. Just honest conversations and real feedback.
Be human: 1:1s, walk-and-talks, knowing people beyond their job title.
Build solutions together: We co-created fixes that worked for the team and the business.
What does this look like in practice?
Lead by example: Own your mistakes, show vulnerability, and model the behaviour you want to see.
Be approachable: When you’re real, people speak up early. This way you get to solve problems before they explode.
Encourage open comms: No fear, no ridicule. That’s how you identify risks and opportunities.
Make inclusivity real: Pay attention to who’s speaking up (and who isn’t). Give feedback, invite those who are silent in private first, and when they are more comfortable then, in public. It closes the gaps.
Show empathy: Know your people. It pays off when the tough conversations come.
Reward risk-taking: Teams that feel safe to try, fail, and learn are the ones that innovate—and win.
The results?
Trust grew. Turnover dropped below 10%. Absenteeism plummeted. The business saved over £432k a year and that’s before counting the productivity gains.
If you want to scale and exit, you need more than a “nice culture.” You need a high-trust environment where people bring you problems early, own their results, and stick around to deliver.
Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to spot what’s really holding your team back.
If you’re ready to build a team that’s set up for scale and exit, let’s talk. Book a free discovery call.