Why creating safe, supportive teams could be the key to reversing the UK’s ‘worklessness’ crisis.
Britain’s productivity problem is now a wellbeing problem.
The recent Keep Britain Working Review has made it clear: the UK is facing a worklessness crisis, fuelled by poor workplace health, stress, and fear.
More than 1 in 5 working-age adults are now out of work due to ill-health, and sickness absence has hit a 15-year high, costing employers over £6 billion a year.
While many organisations have invested in wellbeing programmes and flexible working, one crucial factor remains under-addressed, Psychological safety.
What is Psychological Safety?
Coined by Harvard researcher Amy Edmondson, psychological safety is the shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.
In plain terms, it’s the confidence to speak up, make mistakes, ask questions or admit when you’re struggling — without fear of blame or judgement.
When employees feel psychologically safe, they’re more likely to:
- Raise concerns early, preventing burnout and conflict
- Share ideas that drive innovation and improvement
- Seek support when health or workload issues arise
- Stay engaged, loyal and connected during challenging times
When that safety is missing, the opposite happens, silence, disengagement and underperformance follow.
The link between Psychological Safety and Productivity
The Keep Britain Working Review identifies “a culture of fear” as one of the biggest drivers of ill-health and absence.
- Fear of saying the wrong thing.
- Fear of being seen as “difficult”.
- Fear, even, of asking for help.
This fear doesn’t just harm individuals; it holds organisations back. Teams that don’t feel safe can’t collaborate, innovate or perform at their best.
A Gallup meta-analysis found that teams with high psychological safety see 27% fewer mistakes, 50% higher productivity, and significantly lower turnover.
In a climate where the UK economy is losing billions to lost output, building trust and openness isn’t just a cultural goal — it’s an economic imperative.
How Stretching the City helps teams build psychological safety
At Stretching the City, we’ve been helping organisations transform workplace culture through evidence-based psychological safety training and leadership development.
Our flagship workshop, Psychological Safety at Work programme, gives managers and teams the mindset, language and tools to create environments where people feel seen, supported and safe.
Delivered virtually or in person, this interactive session explores:
- What psychological safety looks and feels like in practice
- How fear, pressure and uncertainty affect team dynamics
- The essential role of leaders in modelling openness and empathy
- Practical communication tools for feedback, trust and inclusion
- How to build recovery and resilience after difficult conversations
💡 Outcome: Teams leave with clear frameworks and micro-behaviours to foster trust, collaboration and wellbeing, directly improving performance and retention.
Beyond awareness: A full suite of Psychological Safety workshops
Creating psychological safety isn’t about a single conversation, it’s about sustained cultural change.
Stretching the City offers a complementary suite of Psychological Safety workshops designed to tackle the everyday behaviours that shape inclusion, trust and respect at work:
🧍♀️ Active Bystander Awareness Training for Employees
Empower employees to challenge inappropriate behaviour safely and constructively.
This interactive session builds confidence to speak up in real time, fostering allyship, accountability and everyday leadership. Find out more.
🚫 Sexual Harassment Awareness Training
Create a zero-tolerance culture where everyone feels safe at work.
Through real-life case studies and discussion, this session helps colleagues recognise, prevent and address inappropriate conduct with clarity and care. Find out more.
🤝 From Conflict to Connection: Tools for Challenging Work Relationships
Conflict is inevitable — but how it’s handled makes all the difference.
This practical workshop equips managers and employees with frameworks for constructive feedback, emotional regulation and difficult conversations that build, not break, relationships. Find out more.
See our full Psychological Safety Series
From Safety to Performance: Building Productivity through Wellbeing
When teams feel psychologically safe, productivity follows naturally, because people can focus their energy on work, not worry.
Stretching the City’s Productivity Workshop builds on that foundation, blending neuroscience and wellbeing research to help teams work smarter, not harder.
Participants learn practical strategies to:
- Reduce cognitive overload and digital distraction
- Prioritise deep work and focused time
- Manage energy (not just time) for sustained performance
- Build everyday habits for calm, clarity and output
Delivered virtually or in person, this session complements our psychological safety suite by turning healthy team culture into measurable performance outcomes.
Supporting leaders to lead with care and clarity
Psychological safety doesn’t happen by accident, it starts with leaders.
That’s why we also offer follow-on modules and toolkits designed for line managers and senior leaders, including:
- Leading Through Change – Tools for navigating uncertainty and supporting teams through transition.
- Conversations with Confidence – Coaching techniques for honest, empathetic dialogue.
- The Leader’s 3-Minute Check-In – A microlearning module teaching managers how to build trust in hybrid teams.
These sessions equip leaders to build high-performing cultures rooted in trust, inclusion and wellbeing — aligning perfectly with the Review’s call for shared responsibility between employers, employees and the state.
Why psychological safety is good for business
- The data tells a clear story:
- £6 billion: Annual cost of poor workplace health to UK employers (The Guardian, 2025)
- £120: Average daily profit lost per sickness absence (CIPD, 2025)
- 4–8x ROI – return on investment from proactive wellbeing interventions (Deloitte, 2024)
- Organisations that prioritise psychological safety don’t just see happier teams — they see measurable business gains: fewer absences, stronger retention and better innovation.
- In short, psychological safety is not a soft skill — it’s a strategic advantage.
Take the next step
If your leaders or teams are navigating uncertainty, stress or cultural change, start with psychological safety. It’s the foundation for every other wellbeing and performance outcome that follows.
👉 Explore our Psychological Safety at Work hub to view our full suite of training options:
Start as You Mean to Go On: Building Workplace Wellbeing That Lasts Beyond January