Employees Feel Safer Speaking Up Than Leaders Think, But There’s a Catch

New research from a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of SafetyCulture suggests UK workers may feel more confident speaking up than many leaders realise.

SafetyCulture, a global technology company with a UK base in Manchester, helps frontline teams improve safety, quality and efficiency through its mobile-first workplace operations platform. Its tools support inspections, audits, task management, asset maintenance, training, lone worker safety and environmental monitoring.

The study found that 77% of UK frontline employees feel safe raising concerns or improvement opportunities, compared with just 63% of senior managers who believe workers feel that way.

A perception gap HR cannot ignore

The findings reveal a clear disconnect between employee experience and leadership perception.

Employees report high confidence in raising concerns, with 71% saying they have the autonomy to make small changes and 76% saying they have time to make improvements beyond simply “getting the job done”.

Yet leaders appear to underestimate this confidence. Only 59% of managers believe employees are empowered to make changes, compared with 71% of employees themselves.

For HR leaders, this matters because perception shapes action. If leaders underestimate employee voice, they may fail to create the systems needed to capture and act on ideas already being raised.

Speaking up is only the first step

The more important issue is what happens after employees speak up.

As Ronan Kirby, Managing Director EMEA at SafetyCulture, explains: “Gathering feedback isn’t enough: leaders need to listen and act on it.”

The study found that while half of employees say leaders act on ideas, the other half feel ideas are simply collected. That gap is critical. Psychological safety can erode quickly if employees feel their input disappears into a system without acknowledgement or action.

Psychological safety needs mature systems

The report found that workers with the highest psychological safety are in organisations where continuous improvement systems are more mature.

In advanced maturity workplaces globally, 90% of people feel psychologically safe and 81% feel empowered to act without waiting for approval.

This points to a key lesson for HR. Psychological safety is not created through messaging alone. It depends on leadership routines, feedback tools, clear ownership and everyday behaviours that turn employee voice into visible improvement.

Why this is a business performance issue

Psychological safety is often discussed as a wellbeing concern, but it is also an operational advantage.

SafetyCulture customer United Drug, Ireland’s largest pharmaceutical distribution company, reduced on-site injuries by 50% after enabling frontline staff to report hazards and near misses through the SafetyCulture app. Incident reporting also increased by 50%, suggesting hidden issues were becoming more visible.

For HR leaders, that is the point. When workers feel safe to raise concerns, organisations can identify risk earlier, improve processes faster and strengthen trust.

What HR should do now

HR leaders should focus on closing the gap between voice and action.

That means ensuring feedback channels are easy to use, managers are trained to respond constructively, and employees can see what changes as a result of speaking up.

As World Day for Safety and Health at Work approaches on 28 April, the message is timely. The psychosocial working environment is now central to safety, health and performance.

Employees may already be more willing to speak up than leaders think. The challenge now is making sure organisations are ready to listen.

HRD Connect Curators of the New Business Landscape. HRD Connect produces industry-recognized content for senior HR leaders. Through articles, case studies, Q&As, podcasts, events, and more, we offer truly progressive and cutting-edge insights designed to help people leaders address core HR challenges and add greater value to their business.

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