A University of Tokyo research group reported surveying 462 people at Japanese companies on the relationship between humble leadership and employee presenteeism. The findings suggested that humility may enhance psychological safety and help create a workplace environment where employees can perform closer to their full potential even when they come to work.
The report introduces a paper titled “The mediating role of psychological safety on humble leadership and presenteeism in Japanese organizations,” published in 2024 in the academic journal WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation by a research group including Matsuo Akiko (松尾 朗子), a specially appointed assistant professor at the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology. The paper examined, through workplace psychological safety, the possibility that a leader’s humble attitude affects employee performance.
The survey covered multiple companies and included 462 people. The participants’ average age was 35.67 years. The analysis focused on presenteeism, a situation in which employees are at work but unable to perform adequately because of health problems.