The Importance of Psychological Safety in Adult Learning in Organizations

Leaders, consultants, researchers, and publications are abuzz with findings on the importance of Psychological Safety . It is a critical component of a healthy organizational culture, high-performing teams, job satisfaction, decision making, and engagement. But it is also critical for enabling both individual and organizational learning.

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Adult learning in the workplace, also known as andragogy, has become increasingly important as organizations seek to develop and upskill their workforces. However, creating effective learning environments for adults can be challenging without establishing psychological safety. According to the research of Malcolm Knowles, there are key principles of adult learning which must be considered, including the learner's need to feel respected, the role of experience, and the learner's readiness to learn. Violating these principles and failing to establish psychological safety can undermine learning and retention.?

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Knowles emphasized that adult learners need to feel safe enough to take risks, ask questions, and not fear embarrassment if they make mistakes during the learning process. Adults bring a wealth of life and work experience with them, which must be valued and leveraged for learning. Without psychological safety, adults can feel insecure about their skills or threatened by the learning process, activating their fight-or-flight response. Once stress hormones are released, cognitive function and neuroplasticity decline dramatically, severely impeding new learning and development.

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Establishing psychological safety requires instructors and facilitators to be aware of the following key practices:

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- Fostering a welcoming, respectful, and supportive learning environment where participants feel heard and included. This allows adult learners to feel secure enough to actively engage in the learning experience.

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- Ensuring positive communication patterns that are free from sarcasm, cynicism, and judgment. Adults need to know their voices matter and they can speak openly.

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- Providing constructive feedback focused on behaviors rather than personal criticism. Feedback should inspire growth, not feelings of failure or incompetence.

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- Intentionally designing activities that encourage adults to share their experiences and leverage their existing strengths. This validates their prior knowledge.

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- Promoting collaboration over competition. Adults learn better together in a community oriented toward collective growth and purpose.

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- Cultivating emotional intelligence and empathy in instructors and facilitators. The ability to read the room and respond appropriately helps keep learners at ease.

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Psychological safety fundamentally impacts how adults experience workplace learning programs. The absence of psychological safety activates the sympathetic nervous system, increases cortisol production, clouds thinking, and impairs cognition, memory, and social skills. When adults feel comfortable, respected, and supported, they can access higher reasoning, make deeper connections, and develop new skills more effectively. Organizations that prioritize psychological safety are not only benefiting adult learning, but modeling the kind of supportive culture that unlocks growth, innovation and performance gains across the entire company.