Why Workplace Compassion Improves Psychological Safety and Performance, with Professor Helena Nguyen
Conversation highlights
In 2018 and 2019, two tragic crashes involving the 737 MAX aircraft placed the spotlight firmly on Boeing. Investigations that followed pointed not only to technical failures, but to deeper cultural issues — pressure, silencing of concerns, and breakdowns in communication. While aviation disasters are always complex, many commentators concluded that psychological safety and the ability to speak up had eroded. When people don’t feel safe to raise concerns, small problems can become catastrophic ones.
That’s why compassion at work isn’t soft. It’s structural.
In a recent conversation on Compassion in a T-Shirt, Professor Helena Nguyen and I explored compassion not as an individual personality trait, but as a team and organisational capability. Too often, we place the burden of compassion on individuals — “just be more caring,” “be more resilient,” “practice self-care.” But when systems are overloaded, lean, and relentlessly performance-driven, even the most compassionate professional can struggle.
Helena’s research shows that high workload weakens the link between compassionate behaviours and positive outcomes like psychological safety. In other words, if the system is stretched thin, compassion becomes harder to enact and its benefits harder to sustain.
At the team level, compassion becomes something shared and coordinated. It looks like:
noticing when a colleague is struggling,
adjusting workload without blame,
debriefing after difficult events, and
creating space for honest conversations.
It is supported by team mindfulness — a shared awareness of what is happening within the team — and by cultures that legitimise speaking up.
Importantly, compassion predicts not only performance and safety outcomes, but meaningful gains in psychological wellbeing. In healthcare settings, compassionate care is linked to better disclosure, improved treatment adherence, and even mortality outcomes. At the same time, within teams, compassion fosters psychological safety — the sense that it is safe to admit uncertainty, raise concerns, and acknowledge mistakes without fear of humiliation. That safety reduces shame and defensiveness, two powerful drivers of stress and burnout, and enables clearer communication and earlier problem-solving.
Over time, this translates into lower emotional exhaustion, stronger team cohesion, greater job satisfaction, and improved retention. Compassion strengthens resilience not by asking people to endure more, but by creating conditions where they can recover, regulate, and collaborate under pressure.
Crucially, valuing compassion does not mean sacrificing performance; the evidence suggests the opposite. Teams that are compassionate tend to function better, make fewer errors, and sustain higher standards of care. In that sense, compassion advances both human wellbeing and operational excellence — supporting staff while simultaneously improving outcomes for those they serve.
Compassion isn’t a luxury. It’s a strategic necessity. When organisations design for it, rather than assuming individuals will carry it alone, teams function better, people stay longer, and results improve.
You can watch or listen to my conversation with Professor Helena Nguyen on Compassion in a T-Shirt. Find Helena’s website here.