Psychologically safe leader employee survey

Employees’ perceptions matter

The optional Employee Feedback version obtains perspectives from the leader's direct reports. This helps provide information about whether employees are aware of the extent to which these strategies are being implemented. Any discrepancy in perception provides an excellent opportunity for team discussion and engagement towards a psychologically safer workplace. Employee perspectives could differ from the leader because of:

• A workplace incident like violence or harassment
• Changes in team dynamic
• Current conflict
• Current organizational changes that are difficult for employees
• Personal health or family issues that impact judgment or observations
• A previous leader who was not psychologically safe
• Work overload
• Lack of clarity about demands 
• Fear or anxiety about job retention
• Lack of awareness about what the leader does in confidence

This is not a personality or character assessment. It focuses only on the extent to which strategies known to support psychologically safe work are being implemented.

For more on engaging employees to help develop psychologically safe leadership, read Psychologically safe leader personal action planning.

Employee survey introduction

By completing the Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment: employee feedback, you’re contributing to the overall psychological health and safety of your work environment!

The feedback form requires an average of 15 to 20 minutes to complete. We recommend completing it in one sitting, free of distractions and without input from others. This helps to ensure a more accurate evaluation of your leader’s strengths and areas for improvement.

Avoid answering based on a single experience. Think of all recent experiences you’ve had with this leader. Where the statement isn’t something you’ve ever experienced, answer based on how you believe your leader would likely approach the situation. No leader will be perfect all the time. This tool is designed to identify your leader’s areas of strength and areas for improvement.

Please rate your level of agreement with each statement.

The scale ranges from 1= Never  2= Rarely 3= Sometimes 4= Often 5= Always*

*Always means that the strategy is done consistently in every instance and/or appropriately at regular intervals for every employee.

Communication and collaboration

1. My leader knows how and when to adapt their communication style to facilitate effective interaction with diverse employee personalities, emotional states, or learning styles.
2. My leader ensures that I have clarity in terms of job expectations and task priorities.
3. My leader has one-to-one meetings with me to discuss issues that affect my work, including how my work links to organizational goals and objectives.
4. My leader ensures I am kept up to date when there are proposed or actual changes in processes, policies or priorities that could impact my work.
5. Even when my leader is not authorized to share information, they communicate as appropriate with me to address any unnecessary fears or concerns.
6. My leader conducts check-ins to help me maximize my capabilities and potential on the job.
7. My leader seeks feedback about what might be currently challenging or frustrating me at work.
8. My leader seeks input about my professional development goals.
9. My leader provides positive, constructive feedback with the intent of helping me grow and develop.
10. My leader actively encourages me to suggest ideas for new workplace experiences that I may value or benefit from (e.g., committee work, mentoring, job shadowing).
11. My leader provides me with opportunities (formal or informal) to develop my interpersonal skills at work.
12. My leader discusses with our team how we can all work better together.
13. My leader verbalizes appreciation for my tasks and efforts at work.
14. My leader recognizes the successes and achievements of our team.
15. My leader demonstrates genuine appreciation for the specific work I do.

Social intelligence

1. My leader refers employees experiencing distress, mental health issues or disabilities to appropriate resources in the organization or community.
2. My leader supports the accommodation needs (formal or informal) of employees experiencing distress, mental health issues, or disabilities.
3. My leader appears comfortable when employees share their emotional or personal concerns.
4. My leader is effective at dealing with employees’ emotional reactions, even when they are under high work stress.
5. I can easily access my leader when I need someone to talk to.
6. My leader keeps my team motivated and positive, even when stress or pressures are high.
7. My leader takes active steps to create a work environment that is inclusive for everyone and free of stigma and discrimination.
8. My leader actively strives to facilitate respectful and non-judgmental discussions about mental health in the workplace.
9. My leader encourages solution-focused discussions about issues that affect work relationships and morale.
10. During times of high work stress, my leader remains positive in their language and attitude.
11. My leader motivates me to do my best work and achieve my job goals.
12. My leader helps foster a sense of purpose and meaning in my work.
13. During times of high work demands, my leader works even harder at keeping me motivated and engaged.
14. My leader notices when I am less engaged, and tries to help me resolve the challenges I may be facing.
15. My leader helps facilitate development of my interpersonal skills, in addition to the development of my technical job skills.
16. My leader finds opportunities for me to utilize my personal strengths at work.
17. I feel appreciated by my leader.
18. My leader recognizes my efforts and successes in ways that are meaningful to me.
19. My leader does not allow their stress and frustration to impact me at work.

Problem solving and conflict management

1. My leader ensures our team interactions remain inclusive and respectful for all, regardless of our current workplace demands, stressors, or personal biases.
2. My leader ensures that all team members demonstrate civility in their workplace interactions.
3. My leader effectively resolves workplace conflict in a way that preserves the respect and dignity of all participants.
4. My leader holds members of my team accountable for inappropriate workplace conduct.
5. My leader actively solicits my input on potential solutions to work-related challenges and issues.
6. My leader communicates with me on potential decisions and changes that may affect my work.
7. My leader provides flexibility over how I achieve my agreed-upon work outcomes.
8. As soon as possible, my leader informs me in a clear and positive manner of changes outside of my control that may impact how my work is done.
9. My leader actively involves me in discussions about how I can best achieve my work objectives.
10. My leader helps me manage my workload demands.
11. I feel comfortable talking to my leader when I am having challenges completing my tasks within my defined work hours.
12. My leader monitors our team's workload demands on an ongoing basis, and makes adjustments as needed.
13. When demands are high, my leader works with me to prioritize my tasks and responsibilities.
14. I would be comfortable going to my leader if I needed help prioritizing my job tasks.
15. My leader ensures that I have the skills and resources I need to meet the psychological and emotional demands of my job.
16. My leader fairly and promptly resolves workplace issues and disagreements.

Security and safety

1. My leader ensures the mental and emotional effort required to do my work is reasonable.
2. My leader requires me to take my entitled breaks and time off (e.g., lunchtime, breaks, vacation time).
3. My leader supports and encourages me to maintain healthy work-life harmony.
4. When I express a conflict between work and personal demands, I trust my leader to support me in finding an effective solution.
5. My leader models healthy work-life harmony in what they say and do.
6. I trust my leader would respond in an effective and timely manner to any potential risks to my psychological safety.
7. I trust my leader would effectively support me during and after times of crisis or trauma.
8. I trust my leader would recognize and address the psychological impact of verbal, sexual or physical harassment, discrimination, bullying, or violence at work.
9. I trust my leader would effectively address and resolve situations that may threaten or harm my psychological health or safety including from clients, customers, or patients.
10. I would feel comfortable speaking to my leader about risks to my psychological safety at work.
11. My leader would respond in an effective and timely manner to any potential risks to my physical safety.
12. My leader ensures I have the resources, knowledge, and skills needed to do my job in a physically safe manner.
13. I trust my leader would respond promptly if I raised concerns about physical safety.
14. I trust my leader would recognize and address the psychological impact of illnesses, accidents, or injuries at work.
15. I would feel comfortable speaking to my leader about risks to my physical safety.

Fairness and integrity

Strategies relevant to fairness and integrity were drawn from the other domains: communication and collaboration, social Intelligence, security and safety, problem solving and conflict management. All questions in this domain come from the other domains. 

1. My leader knows how and when to adapt their communication style to facilitate effective interaction with diverse employee personalities, emotional states, or learning styles.
2. My leader ensures that I have clarity in terms of job expectations and task priorities.
3. Even when my leader is not authorized to share information, they communicate as appropriate with me to address any unnecessary fears or concerns.
4. My leader supports the accommodation needs (formal or informal) of employees experiencing distress, mental health issues, or disabilities.
5. My leader takes active steps to create a work environment that is inclusive for everyone and free of stigma and discrimination.
6. My leader notices when I am less engaged, and tries to help me resolve the challenges I may be facing.
7. I feel appreciated by my leader.  
8. My leader recognizes my efforts and successes in ways that are meaningful to me.  
9. My leader does not allow their stress and frustration to impact me at work.
10. My leader ensures our team interactions remain inclusive and respectful for all, regardless of our current workplace demands, stressors, or personal biases.
11. My leader ensures that all team members demonstrate civility in their workplace interactions.
12. My leader effectively resolves workplace conflict in a way that preserves the respect and dignity of all participants.
13. My leader holds members of my team accountable for inappropriate workplace conduct.
14. My leader communicates with me on potential decisions and changes that may affect my work.
15. As soon as possible, my leader informs me in a clear and positive manner of changes outside of my control that may impact how my work is done. 
16. My leader monitors our team's workload demands on an ongoing basis, and makes adjustments as needed.
17. My leader ensures that I have the skills and resources I need to meet the psychological and emotional demands of my job.
18. My leader fairly and promptly resolves workplace issues and disagreements.
19. My leader ensures the mental and emotional effort required to do my work is reasonable.
20. My leader requires me to take my entitled breaks and time off (e.g., lunchtime, breaks, vacation time).
21. When I express a conflict between work and personal demands, I trust my leader to support me in finding an effective solution.