Emotional safety

A healthy environment, regardless of whether it is a home or business environment, cannot be created without the complete emotional security of those who are in that environment. Thus, the importance of emotional security is unquestionable.

How to recognize that an environment is emotionally safe?

Here are some examples of family environments.

You find out that your child, playing at the table, knocked down your new iPhone, and broke his screen. The child begins his justification with an apology. Mom or Dad instead of saying - I can't believe you did that. There will be no games or ice cream tonight and for the next 7 days. The right approach was - ?Thank you for your honesty. Please be more careful next time.?

Or when your graduate has a dilemma to deal with - I am afraid that I will make a mistake in choosing the faculty and that I will quickly repent. Answer - You don't have much time yet. Stop hesitating and start preparing for the entrance exam. , is not a good answer. Free your teen from fear in choosing his own path. Say something like this - ?You can always change your mind. And through failure one learns. We believe in you!?

And what does that famous emotional security bring?

It brings a rather different life in which there is ?almost no fear, ?almost no anger, and there is life and freedom to act, to actively participate in creating the path you take as an individual and as part of an organization, family.

What does it mean when someone says they feel "emotionally safe" at work? Emotional safety, also known as psychological safety, is concerned with an individual's perceptions of the consequences of taking interpersonal risks at work. Essentially, it refers to an environment in which employees feel safe enough to freely share their thoughts and ideas without fear of being met with negative reactions.

Why is emotional safety important?

There’s been extensive research into the benefits of emotional safety. One of the pioneers in the field, Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, has shown it’s a critical factor for understanding phenomena such as employee voice, teamwork, and team and organizational learning.

Feeling emotionally safe means employees feel able to speak up and communicate openly. They aren’t held back by the fear that by voicing their views, they’re making themselves vulnerable to criticism. That’s vital for thriving businesses, particularly those that have safety-critical operations, such as in healthcare, where feeling unable to speak up could have devastating consequences.?

Innovation and creativity is so important for many organizations, yet when people feel they can’t share thoughts and ideas freely, it’s impaired significantly.?

Employees who feel emotionally safe, particularly around leaders, are more likely to innovate and speak up with suggestions for organizational improvements. They feel able to brainstorm ideas and put forward suggestions without feeling judged and will take a degree of measured risk because, even if the idea doesn’t fly, there will have been valuable learning happening during the process itself. They’re also more likely to be motivated to perform at their very best for the company.

Emotional safety goes hand in hand with a growth mindset, where cohesiveness and collaboration is valued and employees feel supported and cared about. There’s no sense of point-scoring going on. What really matters is everyone working together to try to get the results they need. As a consequence, people are far less likely to feel fearful about their jobs, which in turn enhances an overall culture of wellbeing.

Making emotional safety part of everyday culture is something every company should be working towards.

Researches show that variances in psychological safety in different teams is correlated with individual team performance.

These variances within a single organization highlight the important role that management has to play when it comes to the emotional safety felt by their direct reports.

Ok, psychological safety at work is important, how we can improve it??

?Make space and find time for positive feedback.

Creating a space for positive feedback is a powerful way for an organization to promote emotional safety. When done correctly, feedback can be a powerful tool for praising people and reinforcing specific positive behaviors.

?Show employees their contribution matters

Not many employers can guarantee the future, but reassuring employees that they are valued provides a stronger sense of security in their role.

? Give employees a voice in the organization.

Employees must have a voice and be able to freely express their ideas and opinions. They must believe it is acceptable to speak up and that they are being heard.

? Celebrate individualism

Everyone is unique, and this should be acknowledged and celebrated. Rather than focusing solely on results, ensure that there are opportunities to celebrate individualism and the various perspectives that exist within your organization.

? It’s OK to make a mistake and own up to it

Make the decision to actively embrace mistakes in your culture. It's how people learn; in fact, it's critical to long-term success. Many studies revealed that the best teams had the most recorded errors. Teams that are underperforming and lacking in psychological safety are more likely to dismiss minor mistakes, stay in the comfort zone, or even go with the flow to avoid a conflict with higher-ups.

? Focus on increasing trust

Genuine trust develops as people form authentic and supportive relationships with one other. It entails allowing people to be themselves and not being afraid to be vulnerable with one another - and this includes leaders. Levels of trust can be increased by spending time with one another and finding ways to express appreciation and support.

? Encourage compassion from management

Would you say your managers display compassion and empathy towards employees? It’s likely most of them do – but where it can sometimes fall down is when the pressure is on and people become so wrapped up in what they need to do, they’re less likely to register someone else’s needs. Given all the challenges managers face, that's understandable, but they need to hear from the organization that looking out for their employees is an important part of their role. It’s essential for emotional safety and for the bigger wellbeing picture too.

? Recognize employee efforts

Is silence good news? Not when it comes to appreciating others' efforts. People must be told that they are doing well. Employees must be told on a regular basis that their efforts and results are appreciated. That way, they'll know that what they're doing is being noticed, valued, and endorsed by those around them, whether it's their manager, peers, or subordinates. It makes people feel emotionally safer by assuring them that, even if the results aren't what they'd hoped for right away, they're doing a good job. As a result, they will be motivated to continue trying and contributing.

? Promote diversity

Employees who feel excluded for any reason are far less likely to feel emotionally safe. So look at steps you can take to promote greater diversity and inclusivity.

Start building trust, by building emotional literacy. It will take some time...