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DEI Survey Questions That Reveal Your Company's Psychological Safety Score

How the right DEI survey questions can drive genuine inclusion, innovation, and engagement

10 Jan 2025 by Mark Holt
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In recent years, most organisations across the UK have recognised the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as a vital component of workplace culture. Beyond the moral imperative of fair and inclusive treatment, DEI has demonstrable business benefits: enhancing innovation, attracting a broader pool of talent, and ensuring a more engaged workforce. Yet, one element underpinning the success of any DEI initiative is often overlooked: psychological safety.

When employees feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to speak up, share innovative ideas, and highlight problems or biases without fear of ridicule or punishment. The result is not only a more collaborative, inclusive environment but one where diversity initiatives can genuinely flourish. This article explores how specific DEI survey questions can measure psychological safety in the workplace. We will examine the research behind psychological safety’s impact on diversity initiatives, provide example questions that effectively measure psychological safety, discuss how to interpret responses, and showcase case studies of companies that have leveraged survey insights to improve psychological safety.

1. Understanding Psychological Safety in the Workplace

1.1 Defining Psychological Safety

The concept of psychological safety gained prominence through the work of Harvard Business School professor Amy C. Edmondson, who defined it as a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. In a psychologically safe environment, individuals feel confident that their opinions, questions, and mistakes will be received with respect and openness, rather than derision or punishment. Employees in such environments are more willing to experiment, challenge the status quo, and hold candid conversations with one another—all crucial ingredients for fostering workplace diversity and inclusion.

1.2 The Importance of Psychological Safety for DEI

A workplace that actively promotes diversity must also ensure equity, inclusion, and belonging. Psychological safety serves as the “glue” that holds these components together. Without psychological safety, underrepresented employees may hesitate to share experiences of marginalisation, bias, or discrimination. Likewise, employees from dominant or majority groups may shy away from acknowledging their own biases or from speaking out against observed injustices if they fear social repercussions. Consequently, psychological safety underpins:

  • Open Dialogue: Employees feel empowered to discuss sensitive or challenging DEI-related issues.
  • Employee Engagement: Individuals who feel safe are more likely to be engaged and collaborative, thus driving inclusion efforts.
  • Innovation: An environment conducive to creative thinking and risk-taking benefits from the diversity of perspectives and experiences across the organisation.
  • Retention: High psychological safety and strong DEI practices correlate with higher retention rates, reducing the costs of employee turnover (CIPD, 2021).

2. Psychological Safety’s Impact on Diversity Initiatives

2.1 Fostering a Culture of Authenticity and Belonging

For diversity initiatives to be effective, employees from all backgrounds must be able to bring their whole selves to work without fear of judgement. Psychological safety facilitates authenticity: people who feel safe can freely express religious beliefs, cultural practices, or ideas that differ from the mainstream. By doing so, employees contribute valuable insights and help build a vibrant, inclusive culture.

2.2 Encouraging Allyship and Inclusive Behaviours

When psychological safety is high, allyship becomes more than a buzzword. Colleagues across various identity groups feel it is their responsibility to speak out and advocate for each other. They are more likely to intervene when they witness microaggressions or biased behaviour, leading to a safer and more equitable workplace for everyone. Furthermore, team members in psychologically safe environments often give each other the benefit of the doubt, which reduces the impact of unconscious bias on performance reviews or promotion decisions.

2.3 Strengthening Organisational Learning and Adaptability

Research by Google’s Project Aristotle demonstrated that psychological safety is the most critical factor influencing team effectiveness. Similarly, a 2020 McKinsey report found that companies with inclusive cultures are six times more likely to be innovative than their less inclusive counterparts. When mistakes happen, psychologically safe teams use these experiences as opportunities for learning. Such cultures are better equipped to respond to changing market conditions, technological disruptions, or shifts in consumer demographics—crucial competencies for organisations striving to stay ahead in a globalised world.

3. The Role of DEI Surveys in Measuring Psychological Safety

3.1 Why Use Surveys?

DEI surveys provide an objective, data-driven approach to gauging employee sentiment and experiences. Organisations use these tools to pinpoint areas of improvement, track progress, and evaluate the efficacy of interventions. Because psychological safety is often felt rather than quantifiable through performance metrics alone, surveys help capture employees’ subjective experiences.

3.2 Factors to Consider in Survey Design

  1. Anonymity and Confidentiality: To get honest responses, employees must trust that their input is anonymous and confidential. Platforms like Divrsity specialise in ensuring that surveys are both secure and anonymous, which encourages employees to give candid feedback.
  2. Cultural Sensitivity: Surveys must account for the diverse makeup of the workforce, using inclusive language and examples that resonate with different identity groups.
  3. Clarity and Precision: A well-designed psychological safety question uses clear language to avoid ambiguity. Employees need to understand the question’s intent for their responses to be accurate.
  4. Frequency and Follow-Up: A one-time survey might provide a snapshot, but true organisational change requires ongoing measurement, analysis, and action based on survey insights.

3.3 Identifying Key Measurement Areas

While psychological safety can be measured through various lenses, common areas include:

  • Interpersonal Risk-Taking: Whether employees feel safe voicing opinions that might go against group norms.
  • Resilience and Support: Whether mistakes and failures are treated as learning opportunities.
  • Team Respect and Trust: The extent to which teams treat each other kindly, listen to each other, and share knowledge openly.
  • Leadership Inclusiveness: The degree to which managers encourage and solicit feedback from all team members.

4. DEI Survey Questions for Measuring Psychological Safety

Below are some questions that organisations can incorporate into their DEI or psychological safety surveys. These questions are already included in Divrsity's constantly evolving survey questions that are based on our experience running thousands of surveys. These questions are tailored to elicit insights about how employees perceive risk-taking, respect, and inclusiveness in their workplace. In our surveys, these are answered on a five point Likert scale (e.g., Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree).

  1. “I feel comfortable speaking up in meetings or discussions, even if my ideas differ from others’.”

This question measures interpersonal risk-taking. A positive response indicates that the person feels safe challenging the status quo.

  1. “When I make a mistake, my team and manager respond with understanding and support, rather than criticism or blame.”

This explores how employees perceive the environment around failure. High agreement signals a culture that treats errors as learning opportunities.

  1. “My manager actively seeks input from all team members, regardless of their background or seniority.”

This question gauges leadership inclusiveness, ensuring that managers solicit feedback inclusively and do not favour certain groups.

  1. “I believe that concerns about bias or discrimination raised by employees are taken seriously by our organisation.”

This question probes whether there are open channels for addressing DEI-related issues and whether employees trust the organisation to handle them appropriately.

  1. “I feel that I can challenge or question decisions made by senior leaders without fear of negative consequences.”

This highlights whether there is a psychological safety net that extends beyond immediate teams to higher-level organisational structures.

  1. “In my team, diverse perspectives are encouraged and valued in discussions and decision-making.”

This question focuses on the integration of DEI principles into everyday workplace behaviour and whether employees’ inputs are considered based on merit rather than background.

  1. “I can share personal aspects of my life (e.g., cultural or religious practices) at work without feeling judged.”

This examines authenticity and belonging. A strong sense of belonging correlates with higher psychological safety, especially for underrepresented groups.

  1. “I believe that people in my workplace respect each other’s differences (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation, disability).”

This question measures overall inclusivity and acceptance, critical for nurturing a psychologically safe atmosphere.

5. Interpreting Survey Responses and Taking Action

5.1 Understanding Patterns and Trends

Collecting survey data is just the first step; the real impact comes from interpreting the results:

  • Demographic Breakdown: Divrsity automatically identifies and highlights whether certain groups (e.g., women, BAME employees, LGBTQ+ employees, disabled employees) feel less safe than others. This can highlight areas of vulnerability and help the organisation address systemic issues.
  • Comparisons Over Time: Track changes across multiple survey iterations. Improvements in certain areas could validate the effectiveness of interventions, while persistent low scores point to deeper cultural challenges.
  • Cross-Functional Analysis: Compare results across different departments or levels of seniority. Sometimes, an organisation may have pockets of high psychological safety in certain teams and low safety in others. Knowing where these pockets exist enables targeted action.

5.2 Leveraging Open-Text Responses

A key factor in obtaining richer insights is integrating verbatim responses. Divrsity’s Surveys allow employees to write comments anonymously. These free-text responses are analysed by the Divrsity AI and correlated with the Diversity data; revealing deeper narratives behind the numbers. For instance, if a question about feeling “comfortable speaking up” scores low, verbatim responses might uncover the specific reasons—such as fear of retaliation, microaggressions, or cultural norms discouraging dissent.

5.3 Planning Targeted Interventions

Once the data is analysed, leaders can craft targeted interventions:

  1. Training and Workshops: Offer unconscious bias training, inclusive leadership workshops, and communication skill-building sessions.
  2. Employee Resource Groups: Empower employee resource groups (ERGs) to foster networks of support and champion inclusion across the organisation.
  3. Policy and Process Review: Examine existing grievance procedures, complaint channels, and promotion processes to eliminate elements that undermine trust.
  4. Leadership Accountability: Encourage senior leaders to role model inclusive behaviours, acknowledging their own vulnerabilities and actively seeking input from diverse voices.

5.4 Monitoring Progress

After implementing any changes, it is essential to measure their effectiveness. This can be done by running follow-up DEI or psychological safety surveys, conducting listening sessions, or holding focus groups. Continuous improvement relies on maintaining a dialogue with employees and systematically evaluating the impact of all interventions.

6. Case Studies: How Organisations Improved Psychological Safety Through Survey Insights

6.1 Case Study 1: UK Tech Solutions Provider

Background:

Our client is a fast-growing software company that prides itself on innovation. However, their Divrsity survey indicated that female engineers and BAME employees felt significantly less comfortable sharing ideas in team meetings compared to their white male peers.

Divrsity Survey Insights:

  • 35% of female engineers disagreed with the statement “I feel comfortable speaking up in meetings,” compared to only 11% of male engineers.
  • Open-text responses revealed feelings of being interrupted or overlooked, and a lack of inclusive behaviour from team leads.

Actions Taken:

  1. Mandatory Inclusivity Training: All team leads received training on active listening and inclusive meeting facilitation.
  2. Meeting Norms: The organisation introduced structured agendas for meetings, providing each participant dedicated time to speak.
  3. Diverse Mentorship Programme: Senior female and BAME engineers offered mentorship to new hires, creating a support network that increased confidence.

Outcome:

A follow-up survey nine months later showed a significant improvement in psychological safety scores. Female engineers agreeing with the statement “I feel comfortable speaking up in meetings” rose to 70%. Moreover, BAME engineers reported a greater sense of inclusion, marking a 55% decrease in feelings of being overlooked.

6.2 Case Study 2: Large Retail Group

Background:

Our client is a large retail chain known for its eco-friendly positioning. However, the company struggled with staff retention, particularly among LGBTQ+ employees and staff with disabilities.

Divrsity Survey Insights:

Through their Divrsity survey, they discovered that:

  • Employees from the LGBTQ+ community felt uncomfortable bringing up incidents of homophobic remarks by customers and colleagues.
  • Disabled employees felt that flexible working accommodations were inconsistently granted, leading to a sense of vulnerability when requesting them.

Actions Taken:

  1. Revamped Policies and Training: The firm updated its anti-discrimination policy to explicitly include protections for LGBTQ+ employees and those with disabilities. Intensive awareness training was rolled out across the organisation.
  2. Confidential Reporting Mechanism: A new anonymous platform was introduced for reporting discriminatory behaviour.
  3. Flexible Working Guidelines: Clear guidelines were established so that managers could not arbitrarily refuse flexible working accommodations.

Outcome:

Within a year, retention rates for LGBTQ+ staff improved by 30%, and disabled employees reported greater satisfaction with workplace accommodations. The company also noticed an uptick in employees voicing suggestions for accessibility improvements—an indication of increased psychological safety.

6.3 Case Study 3: Higher Education Institution

Background:

A prominent UK university sought to foster greater inclusion among academic and administrative staff. Historically, some senior academics were perceived as unapproachable, discouraging junior staff members from sharing ideas or concerns.

Divrsity Survey Insights:

Their Divrsity survey segmented the organisation by role and found that postdoctoral researchers were the least likely to speak up, with many citing a hierarchical culture that prioritised senior voices.

Actions Taken:

  1. Panel Discussion Series: The university hosted open forums where junior staff presented research ideas to senior faculty without formal power dynamics.
  2. Mentoring Across Departments: Cross-departmental mentorship programmes made it easier for junior staff to connect with approachable senior staff members outside their immediate departments.
  3. Recognition Mechanisms: A new recognition scheme rewarded collaborative projects that bridged junior and senior academics, incentivising inclusive behaviour.

Outcome:

Running another Divrsity survey six-months later showed scores improved notably among early-career researchers, who felt that their voices were increasingly valued. There was also a marked increase in interdisciplinary publications, suggesting that greater psychological safety correlated with higher levels of collaboration and innovation.

7. Bringing It All Together: Best Practices for UK Organisations

Given these insights, here are some best practices for UK organisations aiming to improve psychological safety through targeted DEI surveys and interventions:

  1. Use an Anonymous and Secure DEI Survey Platform

Confidentiality is paramount for candid feedback. We are clearly biased, but the Divrsity platform is obsessed with ensure anonymity and data protection; crucial for encouraging honest responses—particularly in sensitive areas like psychological safety.

2. Integrate Quantitative and Qualitative Data

Combining structured Likert-scale questions with open-text responses provides a richer understanding of issues. Divrsity's AI analysis can further distil key themes from comments, pinpointing the root causes behind low scores.

3. Analyse Findings with Demographic Precision

The Divrsity platform automatically analyses responses by gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, and other demographic variables; automatically generating interesting insights. Intersectional data can uncover issues that might be concealed in aggregated scores.

4. Create a Culture of Accountability

Psychological safety must be championed from the top. Leaders who model vulnerability, admit mistakes, and actively solicit feedback set the tone for the rest of the organisation.

5. Publicise Actions Taken

Employees need to see that their survey responses result in tangible changes. Communicate improvements—like updated policies, new training, or revised processes—to foster trust and encourage future participation.

6. Track DEI and Psychological Safety as Linked Metrics

Because psychological safety directly affects diversity and inclusion, track improvements in one alongside the other. This holistic approach helps ensure that gains in psychological safety benefit all employees.

8. Conclusion

Psychological safety is central to the success of any DEI initiative. When employees feel safe to speak up, bring diverse perspectives, and learn from mistakes, organisations can more effectively leverage the full range of talents within their workforce. Carefully crafted DEI surveys—conducted anonymously, framed inclusively, and analysed rigorously—offer powerful insights into the psychological safety landscape of your organisation.

By identifying gaps in trust, openness, and respect, leadership teams can implement targeted interventions, such as inclusive leadership training, changes to policy and process, and the creation of safe reporting channels for bias and discrimination. The result is a more engaged, innovative, and resilient workforce. The case studies of Tech Solutions UK, Sustainable Retail Group, and a leading UK higher education institution demonstrate that investing in psychological safety yields real-world dividends: stronger team cohesion, greater employee retention, and enhanced organisational performance.

Looking ahead, UK organisations of all sizes and sectors can benefit from a renewed focus on psychological safety. Coupled with robust DEI frameworks, psychological safety empowers employees to bring their full selves to work and collaborate effectively across lines of difference. By using survey insights from platforms like Divrsity, leaders can formulate data-driven action plans that champion openness, accountability, and inclusion. This, in turn, propels the entire organisation forward—equipped not only to meet the demands of an ever-evolving marketplace but also to foster a workplace culture where everyone can thrive.

By measuring psychological safety through well-crafted DEI survey questions and taking strategic, evidence-based action, organisations can empower all employees to share ideas, voice concerns, and collaborate in truly transformative ways. In the UK’s diverse and dynamic workforce, fostering an environment of psychological safety is not merely a nice-to-have, but a critical foundation for sustainable success in the years to come.

References and Further Reading

  • Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350–383.
  • CIPD. (2021). Diversity and Inclusion at Work: Facing up to the business case. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
  • McKinsey & Company. (2020). Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters.
  • Google. (2015). Project Aristotle: Understanding Team Effectiveness.

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