Kindness and Retention: What the Research Says About Why Employees Stay

Executive Summary

Employee retention is a growing concern for companies facing high turnover, rising recruitment costs, and a competitive talent market. This blog reviews research showing that leadership behaviors rooted in kindness — including empathy, inclusion, and psychological safety — can significantly improve employee loyalty. We examine the evidence across industries and consider whether prosocial leadership is a measurable driver of retention.

Key Takeaways

The leading predictor of attrition is a toxic workplace culture — not pay, perks, or remote work policies.
Leaders who create psychological safety and treat employees with dignity foster stronger commitment and lower turnover.
Inclusive leadership is essential to retaining underrepresented groups, especially women and people of color.
While “kindness” is not a standard HR metric, behaviors associated with it — such as fairness, respect, and support — are linked to greater organizational resilience and retention.

Why Employees Leave — and Why They Stay

The leading predictor of attrition is a toxic workplace culture — not pay, perks, or remote work policies.

A 2022 study from MIT Sloan Management Review analyzed 1.4 million employee reviews to determine what drives attrition. The top factor? Toxic culture — including disrespect, exclusion, unethical behavior, and abusive management — all of which stand in contrast to prosocial workplace behavior.

Employees were more than ten times more likely to leave due to toxic culture than because of low compensation. Organizations that actively foster fairness, respect, and psychological safety experienced far lower turnover.

"Toxic culture is the biggest factor pushing employees out the door during the Great Resignation."

Reference: MIT Sloan Management Review – Toxic Culture Is Driving the Great Resignation (2022)

Psychological Safety: A Practical Expression of Respectful Leadership

Leaders who foster psychological safety and treat employees with dignity build stronger commitment and reduce turnover.

Psychological safety — the shared belief that it is safe to speak up or take risks — is one of the strongest correlates of employee engagement and team performance. It also represents a measurable expression of what many would consider “kindness” in leadership.

Google’s Project Aristotle, after assessing 180 teams, identified psychological safety as the single most important factor in high-performing teams. Employees in such environments are more likely to feel valued and committed — and less likely to leave.

"Teams with a culture focused around value and respect were more successful."

Reference: PsychSafety – Google’s Project Aristotle Summary

Research from Amy Edmondson at Harvard confirms that psychological safety is built through consistent respect, openness to input, and supportiveness—behaviors rooted in prosocial leadership.

"Team psychological safety is a shared belief held by members of a team that it's OK to take risks, to express their ideas and concerns, to speak up with questions, and to admit mistakes - all without fear of negative consequences."

Reference: Harvard Business Review – What Is Psychological Safety?

Inclusion Drives Belonging — and Belonging Drives Retention

Inclusive leadership is especially critical to retaining underrepresented groups, including women and people of color.

While pay and benefits matter, the feeling of belonging plays an equally powerful role in employee retention. When people feel included, heard, and respected, they are more likely to stay.

Millennials make up the largest segment of the workforce today. Deloitte and the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative surveyed 3,726 global professionals and found that millennials are more actively engaged when a work culture fosters inclusivity.

"83 percent of millennials are actively engaged when they believe their organization fosters an inclusive culture, compared to only 60 percent... when their organization does not."

Inclusive leadership reduces isolation and signals that employees are seen and valued — a key contributor to loyalty and retention.

Reference: Deloitte – The Radical Transformation of Diversity and Inclusion - The Millennial Influence (2015)

The High Cost of Losing People

Workplace kindness — when operationalized as fairness, inclusion, and psychological safety — supports retention and long-term resilience.

Turnover carries financial, operational, and cultural costs. It is far more than just posting a job Ad, recruiting, and onboarding - it is a potential loss of leadership and innovation.

"The cost of replacing an employee can range from 50% to 200% of their annual salary, depending on their level."

Reference: SHRM – The Myth of Replaceability: Preparing for the Loss of Key Employees

Beyond cost, employee retention supports continuity, morale, and institutional knowledge. Leadership grounded in human-centered values reduces the reasons employees leave in the first place.

Critical Thinking Corner

At Investing in Kindness, we believe in examining every angle. While the evidence strongly supports prosocial leadership, it is important to consider critiques as well.

Debate: Does Kind Leadership Improve Retention?

Position 1: Yes, It Does

Toxic culture is the top driver of attrition — and leadership grounded in respect and inclusion addresses this directly.
Psychological safety, built through trust and respectful communication, correlates with reduced turnover.
Inclusive leadership increases belonging — a key factor in whether employees stay.
Studies across industries link prosocial leadership behaviors to lower voluntary exit rates.

Limitations:

Most studies are correlational and do not prove causation.
Some rely on self-reported perceptions, which may carry bias.
Kindness is often bundled with other traits (e.g., clarity, accountability), making isolation of its effects difficult.

Position 2: Not Necessarily

Retention can be influenced by external factors such as compensation, job location, or growth opportunities.
Definitions of “kindness” vary, making it difficult to measure consistently across organizations.
Leaders may be kind but fail to provide career advancement, prompting departures.

Limitations of the Critique:

Research (e.g., MIT Sloan) shows culture outweighs pay as a driver of attrition.
“Kindness” can be linked to measurable constructs like inclusion and psychological safety.
Combining empathy with structure and clarity addresses many concerns about effectiveness.

Conclusion

Kindness-Informed Leadership Supports Retention

Retention is one of the clearest areas where leadership grounded in fairness, respect, and inclusion delivers measurable value. From reducing toxic culture to supporting belonging, the behaviors often associated with “kindness” are the same ones that help employees stay.

While compensation and growth still matter, research consistently shows that how people are treated — day to day — is often the deciding factor.

Kindness, when translated into actionable leadership practices, is not a soft extra. It is part of a broader strategic approach to retaining talent, sustaining team performance, and building resilient organizations.