Nurturing a culture of psychological safety that sustains mental resilience
Identifying and managing psychosocial risks has become a pressing priority for HR teams - not only because organisations want healthier, happier workplaces, but because poor mental health is taking a measurable toll on productivity.
Data from the Health & Safety Executive shows that 22.1 million working days were lost in Great Britain to work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2024/25. Meanwhile, the CIPD’s 2025 Health and Wellbeing at Work report identifies mental ill health as the leading cause of long-term sickness absence among UK employees.
As a result, organisations are increasingly investing in wellbeing policies and benefits. Yet the challenge of translating these commitments into everyday practices - those that make employees feel psychologically safe - remains.
This matters for both wellbeing and engagement. When people feel comfortable raising concerns, contributing ideas, asking for help and admitting mistakes without fear of negative consequences, they are better able to participate fully in their work and respond to pressure before it becomes unmanageable.
This is also important for resilience. O.C. Tanner’s research into nimble resilience found that 53% of employees globally say they are expected to push through challenges without complaint, an experience associated with more than a 125% higher likelihood of burnout.
Rather than expecting employees to simply become more resilient, organisations should instead be asking what conditions allow employees to respond well when pressure increases?
An environment where employees can speak up
In practice, psychological safety is not created through a one-off wellbeing initiative. It develops through everyday experiences, especially in how leaders respond when employees speak openly.
An employee might raise concerns about an unrealistic deadline or a process creating unnecessary pressure. If that concern is dismissed or criticised, they are less likely to speak up again, allowing the underlying problem to escalate.
Managers therefore need regular opportunities for employees to discuss workloads, challenge decisions and raise concerns through one-to-ones, team check-ins or other forums.
Crucially, leaders must respond constructively. When concerns are acknowledged and acted upon, employees are more likely to believe that honesty is genuinely valued. When they are repeatedly ignored or dismissed, trust can quickly disappear.
This also affects the value of wellbeing benefits. A mental health support service, for example, can only achieve its full potential if employees feel safe enough to acknowledge that they need help and use it.
Recognise behaviours that make work safer
When recognition focuses solely on results, it can unintentionally signal that outcomes matter more than how they are achieved. Whereas when recognition acknowledges not just the outcome, but also the effort behind it, employees respond much more positively.
Recognition should also highlight behaviours that make the workplace healthier and safer. This might include helping a colleague under pressure, sharing learnings from a mistake, questioning an inefficient process or identifying a risk before it becomes more serious.
Small changes like this contribute to a gradual culture shift that creates the conditions for sustainable performance over time. It reinforces the message that collaboration, learning and questioning things constructively are valued alongside results.
Give employees greater autonomy and support
Rather than expecting employees to follow rigid processes or simply work harder as pressure increases, organisations should also give people the freedom to adapt, make decisions and find better ways of working.
This does not mean removing accountability or avoiding difficult conversations. Rather, it means creating an environment where employees can meet high expectations while still questioning, experimenting and asking for support.
O.C. Tanner’s 2026 Global Culture Report found that employees in highly supportive workplaces had 47% lower odds of probable depression, 44% lower odds of probable anxiety and 88% lower odds of burnout.
For HR leaders, benefits and wellbeing interventions cannot operate independently of culture. Mental health resources and programmes will have limited impact if admitting difficulty feels risky or asking for support is perceived negatively.
Sustainable resilience is not about creating a workforce capable of tolerating ever-increasing pressure. It is about creating the conditions that enable employees to respond constructively to challenges. For HR teams, the priority should therefore be to build a workplace that makes resilient behaviour both possible and sustainable.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, O. C. Tanner
The worldwide leader in employee recognition solutions that help people thrive at work.
