What is Talent Hushing?

Coined by Professor Binna Kandola OBE after conducting research into the topic in August 2026, Talent Hushing is defined as the process through which organisations fail to recognise, hear, develop or make full use of the capabilities, ideas and contributions of the people available to them.

The research, commissioned for Psychological Safety Week, revealed the groups that are more likely to have ideas dismissed in the workplace, and this data was explored in the Keynote delivered by Professor Kandola to launch psychological safety week 2026.

In this bonus episode, Grace is joined by Professor Binna Kandola OBE to explore the findings from our 2026 research into talent hushing: the ways organisations fail to hear, value and make full use of people’s ideas and capabilities.

Drawing on a nationally representative survey of over 2,000 people, they examine who feels heard at work, whose ideas are taken seriously, and how negative experiences can lead people to hold back in future. The conversation explores important differences across gender, sexual orientation, disability and ethnicity, and why focusing only on visible differences can obscure the bigger problem.

They close with three practical principles to help unlock the talent in your organisation.

Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms.