Are British workers keeping their best ideas to themselves?

New research suggests 43 per cent of UK adults believe they contribute less than they are capable of at work, raising questions about how much productivity is being lost when employees decide it is easier to remain silent.

Businesses spend considerable sums trying to improve productivity. They invest in technology, restructure teams, introduce new systems and recruit people with better skills. Yet one potential source of lost productivity may already be sitting inside the organisation.

Employees who could contribute more, but choose not to.

New research from business psychology consultancy Pearn Kandola found that 43 per cent of UK adults said they contribute less than they are capable of because of their experiences at work.

The firm has given the phenomenon a name: “Talent Hushing”.

It describes employees holding back ideas, questions, concerns or ambitions because they do not believe speaking openly will be welcomed, worthwhile or effective.

The findings are being placed at the centre of Psychological Safety Week, which returned this week from September 21 to 25. The international initiative, hosted by Pearn Kandola, brings together employers, people leaders and business psychologists through webinars and resources examining why employees speak up or remain silent.

When employees decide saying nothing is easier

The idea of psychological safety can sometimes sound like another addition to the increasingly crowded vocabulary of corporate culture. The commercial question behind it is rather more straightforward.

If a business employs people for their judgement, knowledge and experience, what happens when those people conclude that using all three is not worth the trouble?

An employee might notice an inefficient process but stop suggesting improvements. Another might identify a risk but decide against challenging a more senior colleague. Someone with an idea for a new product or service might keep it to themselves after previous suggestions went nowhere.

Individually, such decisions can be almost invisible. Across an organisation, they potentially represent knowledge and ability for which employers are paying but not fully using.

Professor Binna Kandola OBE, cofounder and senior partner at Pearn Kandola, believes the scale identified by the firm's research should concern employers.

“In our research, conducted in July, we found that 43% of UK adults said they contribute less than they are capable of, due to their experiences at work,” he said.

“It’s a shocking figure that demonstrates how Talent Hushing could well be a national productivity issue.”

That final conclusion remains the consultancy's interpretation of its research rather than a direct measure of lost national output. The 43 per cent finding does, however, raise a useful question for businesses about whether conventional measures of employee engagement capture how much ability is going unused.

Psychological safety without lowering standards

Creating an environment in which employees are willing to speak does not necessarily mean removing disagreement or expecting managers to accept every suggestion.

Indeed, productive workplaces depend upon ideas being tested, challenged and sometimes rejected.

The distinction Psychological Safety Week is attempting to draw is between an employee having an idea rejected on its merits and an employee deciding there is little point raising the idea in the first place.

That becomes particularly significant when the subject is not simply an idea but a mistake, operational weakness or emerging risk.

Businesses increasingly operate in environments where problems can develop quickly. Employers therefore depend on people being prepared to question assumptions and identify problems before they become considerably more expensive ones.

The responsibility is not exclusively managerial. A workplace in which colleagues can disagree constructively requires employees to be capable of receiving challenge as well as giving it.

The cost of silence

Psychological Safety Week is now in its second year, with Personnel Today joining as headline sponsor for 2026 alongside returning and new supporting organisations.

This year's programme includes free live webinars and practical resources intended to help employers identify the conditions that cause people to withdraw from discussions and contribute less than they otherwise might. When employees decide saying nothing is easier The concept of Talent Hushing will inevitably have to prove its usefulness beyond becoming another piece of management terminology.

But the behaviour it attempts to describe is readily recognisable.

Most organisations will have encountered employees who gradually stop volunteering ideas, challenging decisions or offering more than the minimum required of them. The more difficult question is whether managers notice the change and, if they do, understand why it happened.

For employers concerned about productivity, that makes the 43 per cent figure worth examining.

The people a business needs to hear from may already be sitting around the table. The challenge is making sure they still believe there is a reason to speak.