Diverse teams need psychological safety to thrive

Workplace diversity

In the modern workplace, diversity is a crucial element of success. When it comes to their workforce, we’re seeing more organisations recognise just how key diverse teams really are. Employing individuals from different cultural backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, genders and cognitive abilities is a significant asset for a workplace, and active promotion of diversity and inclusion allows businesses to thrive.

Teams that are diverse in race, gender or cultural background have unique advantages over homogenous teams: they fuel innovation, foster empathy and can help all employees improve their cultural competency by encouraging them to reflect critically on any inherent biases they may hold. Companies that make an effort to hire and support their diverse workers also benefit from increased diversity in skillset, as well as different, unique ways of thinking and problem-solving.

Benefits of diverse teams:

All these benefits sound great — and they are — but companies cannot expect diverse teams to reach their full potential without support.

Challenges faced by diverse teams

Diversity does not automatically result in better performance. It requires conscious and deliberate action to optimise diverse teams. Without this, diverse teams are likely to underperform in comparison to homogenous teams.

This is because diverse employees may face additional challenges that teams with individuals from similar backgrounds do not. Some researchers suggest that diversity within a team can result in poor communication and conflict, impact teamwork and cohesion, and lead to higher turnover rates.

These researchers use the similarity-attraction paradigm and social identity theory to understand the potential negative effect of diversity within teams. Similarity-attraction and social identity theories predict that individuals hold a preference for working with those who have similar attitudes, behaviours, and characteristics to themselves. They suggest that homogenous teams are more productive and less argumentative than diverse teams. ?

?When it comes to communication, individuals with similar backgrounds may have shared ideas about behaviour, teamwork and the nature of the work itself— for example, identifying priorities and carrying out tasks. Employees from different backgrounds may not share these same expectations and this is when team conflict, confusion or discomfort can ensue.

?Importantly, the amount of conflict occurring in diverse teams is often vastly overestimated by individuals. Diverse teams, if properly supported, are also not likely to result in less productivity or greater resignation rates. In fact, much research suggests the opposite — that diverse teams create more harmony, which in turn enhances productivity and broadens perspectives.

When diverse teams are adequately supported, that’s when companies will reap the benefits. So, how do organisations ensure diverse teams are reaching their full potential? One of the single most effective ways to support diverse teams is through psychological safety. ?

What is psychological safety?

Psychological safety is when employees feel safe to be themselves at work. They feel able to voice their opinions or ideas without fear of judgement, shame or negative consequences. When a person feels psychologically safe at work, they’ll also feel comfortable making mistakes, taking risks and showing their vulnerabilities. In many workplaces, interpersonal risk-taking may be encouraged on paper, but when it comes down to it employees don’t always feel comfortable asking questions or sharing ideas that may be a little outside the box. Often, this is due to a fear of looking silly or appearing incompetent. Psychological safety means employees do feel safe taking interpersonal risks and go to work each day knowing they won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up.

Psychological safety for diverse teams

Fostering psychological safety is important in any workplace, but workplaces with greater diversity need to pay particular attention when it comes to building a psychologically safe environment. Psychological safety allows all employees to thrive equally, no matter their gender, race, ethnicity or background.

Psychological safety can improve communication, one of the key challenges diverse teams may face. It also means employees feel comfortable being open and honest about their identities at work. Employees who feel able to bring their whole selves to work means that they can express their cultural backgrounds, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity or other elements of their identity without discrimination or judgement.

Other benefits of psychological safety for diverse teams:

Importantly, a psychologically safe working environment also helps employees recognise the value of diversity within their workplace. In workplaces with high levels of psychological safety, research indicates that employees are more satisfied with the diversity of their teams. In fact, in teams with higher levels of psychologically safety, greater diversity made for happier employees.?

How do workplaces support the psychological safety of diverse teams?

• See differences as a source of value.
• Openly invite people with different perspectives, backgrounds and experiences to provide input.
• Ensure diversity management practices are diverse themselves (i.e. they should represent the diversity of teams). The focus of diversity management practices should go beyond age, gender or race and consider things like language differences, and factors such as LGBTIQ or disability.
• Ask open-ended questions (and practise active listening). For example, ‘What are the problems/solutions/challenges you’ve noticed?’, ‘What feedback have you received from clients?’
• Reach out and ask employees for their opinions on the state of psychological safety. Do so anonymously, and include questions like: ‘Are different or unusual ideas quickly dismissed?', ?‘Do you feel comfortable raising problems or difficult issues with your team?’
• If you are a leader, foster a pro-diversity mindset by making it clear that diversity is an advantage. Put this into practice by hiring a diverse range of employees and establishing diverse teams.
• Acknowledge or reward contributions made by diverse team members, and highlight the competencies of diverse team members.

If they’re not already, diverse teams will soon become a permanent fixture of the workforce. Psychological safety is important for these diverse teams to thrive.

Sometimes, extra support is needed to establish a psychological safe workplace that looks after the wellbeing of all team members. At Mentally Well Workplaces, we can provide mental health training tailored to suit the unique needs of your diverse teams. Have a look at the mental health workshops and MHFA training we offer,?or contact our team today.

You can also download our free Psychological Health & Safety E-book here: https://www.mentallywellworkplaces.com.au/psychological-health-and-safety-ebook/