Psychological safety in the workplace is the shared conviction that it is safe to take interpersonal risks as a group. These risks include, among other things, speaking up when there is an issue with team dynamics and expressing creative ideas. According to the 2022 State of Talent Optimization Report, psychological safety is the most critical driver of employee retention for one in every four businesses. To keep exceptional employees, ensure psychological safety throughout the organization. Like any significant endeavor, it must begin at the top with executive support. Here’s all you need to know about psychological safety at work and how you can create it.
What Is Psychological Safety at Work?
Psychological safety is the assumption that you will not be punished or humiliated if you express your thoughts, questions, worries, or errors. At work, teammates have a shared expectation that they will not be embarrassed, rejected, or punished for sharing ideas, taking chances, or requesting feedback.
Psychological safety at work does not imply that everyone is always polite to each other. It implies that people are free to “brainstorm out loud,” exchange feedback, and work through differences together, knowing that leaders encourage honesty, candor, and truth-telling, and that team members will have each other’s backs.
When there is psychological safety in the workplace, people feel comfortable presenting their whole, real selves to work and are comfortable “laying themselves on the line” in front of others.
And firms with psychologically secure work cultures — where employees feel free to ask provocative questions, discuss concerns, seek assistance, and take calculated risks – benefit greatly.
The Four Stages of Psychological Safety
As businesses improve their psychological safety, four distinct stages develop.
The foundation of a psychologically secure workplace is a sense of belonging. Employees, like Maslow’s hierarchy of fundamental wants, must feel accepted before they can contribute completely in ways that benefit their businesses.
#Stage 1 — Safety of Inclusion
The underlying human need to connect and belong is met through inclusion safety. You feel secure being yourself at this time, and you are welcomed for who you are, including your unique attributes and defining characteristics.
#Stage 2 — Learner Safety
Learner safety meets the desire to learn and progress. At this point, you are comfortable exchanging information in the learning process by asking questions, providing and receiving feedback, trying, and making mistakes.
#Stage 3 — Contributor Safety
The need to make a difference is satisfied by contributor safety. You are confident in your ability to contribute meaningfully with your talents and abilities.
#Stage 4 — Challenger Safety
Challenger safety meets the need to improve things. When you believe there is a chance to change or improve, you feel confident speaking up and challenging the status quo.
Leaders should cultivate and encourage their team’s sense of psychological safety in the workplace to enable employees to progress through the four stages and eventually land in a place where they feel comfortable with interpersonal risk-taking and speaking up.
When a team or organizational climate is defined by interpersonal trust, respect, and a sense of belonging at work, members feel free to cooperate and take risks, allowing them to drive innovation more successfully.
The Importance Of Psychological Safety
Dr. Amy Edmondson of Harvard University created the term “psychological safety” in a 1999 article. Edmondson’s later studies evolved to define psychological safety as the “absence of interpersonal fear.”
When there is fear in the workplace, it is often ubiquitous. Employees that are hesitant to express their ideas will not do so. Trust deteriorates, creativity suffers, and “groupthink” takes hold. Fear, if allowed to persist, creates a hostile work climate in which one person’s decisions trump all others. When it happens, people leave.
Psychological safety is essential for preventing all of the above and ensuring a pleasant and engaged workplace.
How Can You Know If Your Team Has Professional Safety?
This is most certainly the question on the minds of many leaders. Edmondson has created a short 7-item questionnaire to test the feeling of psychological safety.
How people respond to these questions will give you an idea of how secure they feel psychologically:
- On this squad, making a mistake is not held against you.
- Members of this team are capable of bringing up challenges and difficult matters.
- People on this team occasionally accept others’ differences.
- It is safe to gamble on this team.
- It is not tough to get assistance from other members of this team.
- No one on this team would purposefully act in a way that would hinder my efforts.
- My unique abilities and talents are acknowledged and exploited while working with members of this team.
However, Edmondson warns that the ratings are not final; what matters is the variance. “Anyone filling out a survey is doing so in a way that is relative to their expectations,” she explains. “For instance, if I say, ‘Yes, I can ask for help,’ I’m doing so in relation to what I believe it ‘ought’ to be.” She advises managers to utilize the survey results to reflect on their team’s experience and to be interested about what they may alter to improve that experience. This raises another key question: what can be done to promote psychological safety?
How to Create Workplace Psychological Safety
You must hold employees accountable for performance measures as a leader, but your work does not end there. You must also maintain employee engagement by making individuals feel at ease and creating a shared idea that the team is risk-free. Here are some suggestions on how to create workplace psychological safety:
#1. Demonstrate your commitment to your team.
If your employees believe you are not paying attention when they talk, or that you do not value their ideas and opinions, they will go.
Being present throughout meetings demonstrates engagement. Making eye contact and closing your laptop are examples of this. During a meeting, it’s simple to become distracted by emails, text messages, or Slack—but even minor acts of disengagement can have a severe influence on your team’s psychological safety.
Listening to what others have to say is also part of engagement. Active listening should be practiced. In order to ensure that you comprehend the other person’s ideas or opinions, ask questions. By actively participating, you create an environment in which individuals feel it is not only acceptable but also encouraged to speak up.
#2. Demonstrate to your team that you understand.
People feel psychologically safe when they know you care enough to comprehend and consider their point of view.
Show comprehension by recapping what has been said. “What I heard you say is __,” for example. Is that right?” This demonstrates your desire to comprehend their point of view. It also allows your team members to clarify if you misinterpreted something they stated.
Body language can also be used to demonstrate comprehension. During talks, nod your head to recognize what an employee is saying. Lean forward to demonstrate interest. Keep an eye on your facial expressions. Your employees will notice if you appear exhausted, bored, or dissatisfied. Employees may internalize the message you’re conveying with your face, even if you don’t mean it: I don’t like this concept.
#3. Avoid blaming in order to establish trust.
When anything goes wrong, it’s natural to look for someone to blame. However, in order to create and sustain psychological safety in the workplace, focus on solutions.
Instead of asking, “What happened and why?” ask, “How can we make this better the next time?” Take note of the emphasis on collaborative language: How can we ensure that this happens easily the next time? Instead of singling out an individual for a mistake, we statement convert blame into a group endeavor.
#4. Be self-aware—and demand it of your team.
People bring their entire selves to work, including their distinct personalities, interests, and work styles. Increase self-awareness on your team by discussing how you prefer to work, communicate, and be recognized. Encourage your teammates to follow suit.
High-performing organizations use behavioral tests to help employees develop self-awareness. Assessments can also be used to improve workplace psychological safety. For example, at PI, we use the Relationship Guide function in our software to ensure that we respect the other person’s working and communication preferences.
#5. Put a stop to negativity.
Talk to a team member if they are speaking adversely about others. Make it obvious that you work as a team and that negativity will not be tolerated.
Negativity may become contagious and spread to others when leaders allow it to fester. Employees will believe that they are either expected to speak negatively about others or that others are presumably talking negatively about them. It’s a psychological safety killer in either situation.
#6. Bring your staff into the decision-making process.
Consult your team before making any major decisions. Inquire about their ideas, views, and feedback. This will not only make individuals feel included in decision-making, but it will also develop psychological safety and contribute to better outcomes.
Explain your explanation for your decision once you’ve made it. How did their input influence the decision? What other factors were considered? Even if your employees disagree, they will value the honesty and candor with which the choice was reached.
Being inclusive and open is especially important if you are a senior leader in the firm. According to the 2022 State of Talent Optimization Report, trust in senior leadership is the third most important driver of employee retention.
When discussing decisions, make sure to highlight team members’ efforts. Recognize and praise an employee’s contribution if a specific suggestion or piece of feedback led to a decision or a successful outcome.
#7. Be receptive to feedback.
It is your obligation as a leader to make the final choice on a variety of issues. Your staff needs to know that you are confident in this role, but also that you are adaptable and open to their comments.
Employees who feel psychologically comfortable are more likely to provide feedback—up, down, and across the board. This means they are confident enough to knock on the CEO’s door when crucial information needs to be shared.
Invite your team to disagree with you and push back. While this may be unsettling at first, healthy confrontation leads to better judgments and increased accountability, making it a win-win situation. You can also set a good example by taking interpersonal risks and exposing your shortcomings. Try stepping up at the next all-company meeting and giving a presentation about a failure—and what you learnt from it.
#8. Be a champion for your team.
Finally, it is critical to back up and represent your team. Show them you’re on their side by assisting with their personal and professional development. To boost visibility into what your team is accomplishing, share the team’s work with senior leadership—and offer credit to teammates when deserved.
What Does a Lack of Psychological Safety Look Like?
Employees might not feel comfortable admitting mistakes or blaming others when they occur. The team avoids difficult conversations and contentious issues. Meeting talks are typically dominated by executives and team leaders.
What Is The Difference Between Mental Health And Psychological Safety?
We feel psychologically safe to do or say anything regarded “risky” in an atmosphere of trust and respect. Mental health, on the other hand, is more about the individual and their particular mental condition.
In Conclusion,
At the end of the day, building a psychologically secure workplace will boost employee performance. Furthermore, employees who feel comfortable and engaged at work are less likely to leave. Try one — or all — of these eight workplace psychological safety practices and observe how it affects your team.
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