(PR in) HR Pulse | HR News Round-up: 6th – 12th November 2023
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
What is psychological safety?
A recent survey from Behave has found that only 16 percent of HR leaders understand what psychological safety really is and how to implement it effectively.
Behave defines psychological safety as a workplace where employees are able to make thought-out risk-based decisions - instead it is frequently thought to be a sense of security or being able to be one's whole self at work.
The survey collected responses from c200 HR professionals and shows that there is a difference in understanding based on individual fields, as over a third (38%) of educators understand the term but only 13 percent of those in finance do.
Behave also found that three-quarters (74%) of HR people encounter difficulties in measuring psychological safety in their organisations - yet the majority (84%) say psychological safety plays a pivotal role in fostering diversity, inclusion and belonging in the workplace.
Nearly one-third (32%) of respondents say remote work is a notable challenge in upholding psychological safety and the majority (88%) emphasised the necessity for increased support and commitment from C-suites.
Dr. Alexandra Dobra-Kiel, Innovation & Strategy Director at Behave, says psychological safety lacks a clear definition within the broader business community. The term's focus on 'safety' often leads to misconceptions, with people interpreting it as merely being ‘nice’. The contradiction in its definition which suggests there is safety in taking risks makes it hard for companies to understand and foster.
She adds that businesses need to understand that the true meaning of psychological safety involves finding a balance between comfort and discomfort - individuals and businesses need to expand their comfort zones to fuel both personal and organisational growth.
Dobra-Kiel says, that to evaluate and enhance psychological safety, it is crucial to employ benchmarking and share best practices. This will help HR professionals gain a deeper understanding of the concept and help them integrate it effectively within their organisations.
The survey found that most (80%) HRs think there will be a heavier focus on psychological safety in the future.
Source: HR Review.
Salary transparency is crucial in closing the gender pay gap, but only half of businesses are participating
New research from XpertHR shows salary transparency is only present in half (50%) of ‘all’ businesses job advertisements - under a third (29%) include salaries on ‘some’ job ads.
This comes after it was revealed that women directors in FTSE boardrooms make nearly three-quarters (70%) less than their male counterparts - £309,000 for women compared to £1.04 million for men.
By 2024, it will be mandatory for all eligible companies to disclose salary details.
Zara Nanu, Director of Fair Future of Work Strategy at XpertHR, says that salary transparency in job ads has a significant impact on ensuring employers have systems and pay equity analytics in place to find and address pay gap issues - enhancing their diversity, equality and inclusion performance.
XpertHR’s research reveals that participating in this form of salary transparency lowers the gender pay gap from 19% to 9%.
The private sector performed the worst when it comes to salary transparency (26%) whereas the public (83%) and not-for-profit (79%) sectors are shown to perform significantly better.
Doug Baird, Founder and CEO of New Street Consulting Group (NSCG), says most businesses are flexible when it comes to salaries so offering a specified range in a job advertisement may not work. But he adds that while most companies are open to negotiating pay for the right candidate, not providing any salary guidance may leave candidates uncertain about potential pay and may negatively impact their perception of the company's employee value proposition.
Virgile Raingeard, CEO of Figures, says that HRs need to focus on fixing pay inequity, particularly their gender pay gap and reevaluating how current compensation decisions are made.
XpertHR’s report found that women are most likely (65%) to be in top-paying roles when pay is disclosed in ‘all’ of their organisation’s job ads. This lowers by half (33%) for organisations with partial pay disclosure and drops to a quarter (24%) for organisations that don’t provide any salary information.
Source: HR Magazine.
Are work friends the key to retention efforts?
Pew Research Center's report reveals that 8% of individuals in the US have no close friends and just over a third (38%) have five or more close friends - only a third (32%) of people under 30 have five or more close friends compared to nearly Half (49%) of adults over 65.
A report from Gallup shows that having a friend at work boosted job satisfaction and engagement, with 14% of UK employees stating that their work friend understands them better than their partner.
Claudia Gård, Co-founder and COO, GoFrendly, who advocates for friendships in the workplace says, having a friend at work can boost productivity, reduce stress and increase the chances of retaining employees.
Ulrika Lillja, Co-founder and CMO, GoFrendly, says that businesses are reaching out to improve workplace culture by building friendships at work, particularly for women as it likely isn’t happening naturally.
Lillja adds that money isn’t always an employee's primary focus at work, especially for younger workers. This makes the fostering of friendships key to retention.
Danielle Farage, future of work expert says that having a friend at work who is also a mentor, which she refers to as friend-torships, can make both the mentor and mentee more comfortable to ask, receive and relay information.
Source: WorkLife.
And here are links to other really interesting news stories this week:
HR Review: 25% can’t focus at work due to money stress
HR Review: 1 in 4 employees feel the effects of discrimination
HR Review: 80% of workers feel anxious about attending day to day meetings