Five Ways to Increase Psychological Safety in Your Workplace

Productivity, profits,?and?employee retention rates ?all increase when companies focus on fostering safety, trust, and a sense of community. But how can we translate these theories into practice??

If there was ever an ‘apple-a-day’ for the health of corporate culture, it is psychological safety.?Simply put, a person feels psychologically safe?when?they know that?they can?make a mistake or ask for help?without risking?punishment.Studies ?show that when companies focus on?fostering this kind of trust and?security, they see a 50% increase in productivity, 76% more engagement and a 40% drop in burnout rates. Hence, boardrooms could?almost?eliminate theever-present?pandemic-induced burnout rates ?if they focused on?ensuring psychological safety in the workplace.

With?over 16+ years as a thought leader in the financial and mental health sectors, I have seen numerous?companies?implement?(and fail to?implement)?a sense of safety in the workplace. In my experience, the most?impactful?methodsinclude:?

1.?????Promoting Self-Awareness in the C-Suite?

Creating safety means removing the fear of punishment. Thus, the most effective means of doing so is by examining how you (and your company’s other?executives) respond to mistakes, failures, and errors. For example, if an employee calls in sick to work, do you immediately assume they are slacking?

If yes, your team will pick up on?that?distrust.?In assuming the worst, you implicitly tell your team that you do not believe they want to be there. As a result, they?might?feel like they need to ‘prove’ their loyalty to you. This?could?spike their anxiety levels and create a culture of fear?instead of trust.?

To combat these pessimistic assumptions, focus on increasing your self-awareness?and?reframing?your perspective to avoid any?punishment-inducing patterns?of behaviour. To start, administer various behavioural assessments or cognitive reframing exercises amongst your higher management. Ideally, try to organise one or two executive-wide coaching sessions.

2.?????Creating a Sense of Community?

We feel safe around people we know, but we feel even safer within a community that we know respects and accepts us. So, if we want to create a safe work environment, we first need to provide our team with a sense of community.?To do that, organise informal social events as often as possible, especially when onboarding a new employee.?

Then,?try to?focus on?creating a shared sense of purpose and support amongst your team. For example, verbally acknowledge the traits you value in your team members. Then, remind your team as often as possible that their work matters, and their teamwork makes a difference.?

3.?????Supporting Your Team

If you want your team to feel confident enough to speak up and share their ideas, you need to let them know that you are confident in their abilities. If you are not sure how to do that, ask about your employees’ personal or professional goals and actively help them achieve those milestones.??

Further, try to ask for help as often as possible. When leaders ask for guidance, it shows your team that you trust them to help you. In so doing, they will feel more respected and valued, which boosts a sense of community (and thus safety).

4.?????Practising Empathetic Leadership?

Empathetic leadership means using vulnerability and compassion as your guiding light. To lead with empathy, focus on transparency and positivity. For instance, when giving feedback, have a ratio of three positive comments for every negative.?

Then, try to practice active listening. To do that, focus on separating?how you would feel in someone else’s shoes and how?they?feel.?Instead of?trying to fix their problem, try to?acknowledge that their situation must be difficult, and?ask them directly how you can support them.?

If empathetic leadership does not come naturally to you, you can find some tips I used to cultivate my own empathetic leadership style?here .??

5.?????Leading by Example?

That said, being empathetic to those around us means very little if we cannot practice self-compassion.?Your actions speak much louder than your words. So, you need to lead by example when it comes to boundaries, self-care and feeling comfortable sharing your issues and vulnerabilities.?

For example, how you respond to feedback will set the stage for how comfortable your employees feel speaking up. When our employees feel safe, they feel empowered to provide feedback across the board. So, invite your team to challenge your perspective. While it might be uncomfortable at first, healthy and mild conflict will increase vulnerability. Thus, it can help your team develop deeper relationships and create a stronger sense of safety.?

Finally, I remind the reader of how you feel when you would learn that the Covid-19 virus could be in the air around you. That loss of safety makes our anxiety levels spike while our productivity, wellbeing, and concentration levels plummet. A similar situation occurs when we lack psychological safety. To that end, making sure our workplace is as secure as possible is one of the most impactful decisions a leader can make.?