Psychological Safety in the workplace

Leaders rightfully spend a lot of time thinking about how to make the work environment a psychologically safe space.

Definition of Psychological Safety https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_safety

I wish when I had been a stockbroker this had been in my work place in the 80s and 90s, it was not even considered that we might be listened to (especially as a girl).

The UK Financial Services Regulator - The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had a fascinating Interview on line called Speak Up, where they also referred to Listen Up and they spoke about Psychological Safety as part of the FCA's Culture focus for Firms in Financial Services.

https://www.friday.app/p/what-is-psychological-safety - interesting link........

But in order to create psychological safety, it’s critical to start by understanding what — exactly — people in the work-space want to feel safe to do.

Feeling safe to take risks and make mistakes, speak up when others need to be challenged, and show up as your authentic self without feeling excluded are all important — and according to science — all meaningfully different.

I know that for years I was afraid that if I spoke at meetings I might be found out that maybe I did not know what I was actually trying to discuss, and I might be found out and so best to keep quiet. I love today to feel that my team can challenge and collaborate and be creative, not always easy to be challenged, but we all tend to feel better after it.......

In each case, psychological safety is coming from a slightly different source — and requires a different set of capabilities or interventions from leaders to facilitate.

3 kinds of psychological safety

Safety comes in interrelated varieties.

1. Safe to be yourself

Leaders can create psychological safety so that employees (consultants, those in the management team all the way down to the PA) feel free to express themselves authentically, without the need for “covering,” or the concealment of identity, to try to fit in.

Sometimes it is also good for the leader to show vulnerability that too is healthy not a sign of weakness but rather a sign of authenticity.

Research  suggests that it is the subtle signals of status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness that we receive in our everyday interactions with others that create the sense of inclusion that gives rise to this type of psychological safety. Leaders — and team members — can learn how to proactively send these rewarding signals in meetings, check-ins, and while communicating about team projects.

2. Safe to speak up

The sense of psychological safety that helps employees speak up more at work, when they need to challenge another person about their behavior or decision—making.

Specifically, they may worry about retribution (against themselves or others), or being less liked or valued by the person they are challenging, and feel a paralyzing sense of uncertainty and helplessness. If those that speak up — and their leaders — learn how to make speaking up conversations less threatening research has shown they are more likely to feel safe to do what is right, and best for the organization.

3. Safe to take risks and make mistakes

Last but not least, there is the sense of psychological safety that enables employees to see challenges as opportunities, experiment more, and recognize that skills are improvable — not set in stone. This is created when employees are encouraged to think with a growth mindset.

In a growth mindset organizational culture, risk-taking is encouraged since mistakes are seen as part of a larger learning and innovation trajectory. To foster growth mindset and the form psychological safety it supports, leaders can not only learn to practice growth mindset behaviors, like sharing mistakes and focusing on progress, but can publicly role model these behaviors their teams to encourage their broad adoption.

Taking the next step

These examples highlight how leaders can leverage different kinds of psychological safety for multiple end goals.

In management, as in medicine, the key is proper diagnosis. Once you’ve identified the safety you’re actually trying to solve for — whether around belonging, speaking up, or taking risks — then you’ll know which course of action to take.

Google conducted a research piece on this subject which was known as the Aristotle Project https://rework.withgoogle.com/print/guides/5721312655835136/

Great Ted Talk to listen to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhoLuui9gX8 on the subject by Amy Edmonston