Harvard Business Review | New Hires’ Psychological Safety Erodes Quickly (2024)

PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY | Harvard Business Review | New Hires’ Psychological Safety Erodes Quickly | This article explores how new hires' psychological safety diminishes quickly after onboarding, revealing critical insights for organisations seeking to maintain openness and innovation in their teams.

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Introduction

In today's fast-paced business environment, organisations are under increasing pressure to onboard and integrate new hires quickly. However, recent research highlights a critical challenge: the rapid erosion of psychological safety among new employees. This executive summary explores the importance of psychological safety for new hires, its impact on learning and innovation, and provides actionable strategies to address this issue.

Key Insights

• Psychological safety declines rapidly for new hires

  • Studies show that psychological safety drops by 22% within the first 90 days of employment.

  • This decline occurs despite initial enthusiasm and openness from new hires.

• "Juniority benefit" comes with hidden costs

  • While younger workforces can bring fresh perspectives, losing experienced employees can impact team dynamics and psychological safety.

  • 50% of employees report feeling uncomfortable speaking up about problems or challenging issues at work.

• Accelerated onboarding is a double-edged sword

  • 75% of Fortune 500 companies are accelerating their onboarding processes.

  • Organisations risk losing valuable insights and ideas from new hires if they don't address psychological safety issues.

Recommendations

• Implement structured psychological safety initiatives

  • Develop specific programmes to maintain and enhance psychological safety throughout onboarding.

  • Aim to conduct psychological safety assessments at 30, 60, and 90 days post-hire.

• Foster a culture of open communication

  • Encourage leaders and managers to solicit and value new team members' input actively.

  • Set a goal to increase psychological safety scores by 15% within the first 6 months of employment.

• Balance rapid onboarding with psychological safety

  • Design onboarding processes prioritising building trust and psychological safety alongside skill development.

  • Extend the onboarding process to 90 days for deeper integration and trust-building.

Conclusion

By recognising the critical importance of psychological safety for new hires and implementing targeted strategies to maintain it, organisations can harness the full potential of their fresh talent. This approach accelerates effective integration and fosters innovation, learning, and sustained high performance.

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