What is Psychological Safety and Why is it Critical for The Workplace?

What is Psychological Safety and Why is it Critical for Your Workplace?

As a mental health therapist who is also a Mindset & Emotional Intelligence Coach for founders & CEOs- I'm always paying attention to how our emotional wellbeing impacts the work environments we are apart of. For instance- when youre a business owner, your ability to feel psychologically safe in feeling, expressing and coping with your emotions directly impacts the way you perform in your business.

But what does this look like, realistically, inside of corporate environments? How can employees and those in management, support employees in feeling psychologically safe to feel & express their worries or struggles that are impacting their ability to do great work?

I know that this is a complex topic to tackle. There's no way I can adequately address all of the difficulties, nuances, and barriers there could be to fostering it in the workplace. But in this blog post, I'll start the conversation by explaining what psychological safety is, and the 3 reasons why I believe that its critical for the workplace.

Lets jump in.

What is Psychological Safety?

The term Psychological Safety was coined by Dr. Amy Edmondson.

She defined it as: "A belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, concerns, or mistakes-and that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.” William Kahn, who was a professor of Organizational Behavior, first coined the term psychological safety in 1990. He described it as “being able to show and employ one’s self without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status or career."?

Harvard Business School Professor- Dr. Amy Edmondson, is also credited with contributing to the ongoing research and awareness around the necessity of this in organizations and workplace environments.

Other Models of Psychological Safety

There have also been other bodies of work that have been published that have developed other models of psychological safety- such as the work of Dr. Dan Radecki, who created the S.A.F.E.T.Y. Model.

This model is based on neuroscience research, and it intended to describe the social motivators of human behavior, that also serve as triggers to our experiences of psychological safety.

These triggers influence our experience of psychological safety. The idea of this model is that when youre able to better understand and respect others' needs for safety (and our own)- thats when we learn how to create a collaborative environment thats rooted in respect and consideration for the other person.

For the purposes of this blog post- I will refer you here to read more about this model of psychological safety.

3 Reasons Why Psychological Safety is Necessary for the Workplace

In this section, Im going to share the 3 reasons that I believe that psychological safety is important to foster and encourage inside of the workplace.

It enhances performance.

When employees feel psychologically safe to contribute, speak their mind, and share what ideas or concerns that they have- theyre able to better build trust with one another and the company.

?According to 2 year study that was done at Google on team performance, they found that the ability for team members to:

-take risks;

-speak their mind;

-and be creative, without fear of retaliation-

?..allowed for them perform well. Having the creative freedom to express yourself fully, allows for employees to not only foster intrapreneurial skills- but also supports the intrinsic desire that many have in the workplace to feel autonomous and trusted.

Prevents Negative Media Attention

You probably weren't expecting me to provide this as one of the reasons, right? But it's true. When companies are able to create environments where psychological safety is encouraged- that hopefully also means that the culture of the workplace is one of high integrity.?

This means that in a workplace where psychological safety is being fostered,? employees and management should theoretically feel comfortable sharing their ethical concerns with administration, without fear of retribution or punishment.?

And ideally- there should also be appropriate action taken if this matter is properly investigated. When employees don't feel safe to share their ethical concerns occurring in the workplace, such as:

racism,

sexism,

ageism,

discrimination

sexual harassment-

The likelihood of media attention and external reports to media outlets increases- because the problem wasn’t solved in house.

According to the Harvard Business Review, they quoted that “55% of all tips about workplace fraud came from employees.” ?This statistic is exactly why the Department of Labor protected whistleblower rights. So- from this data, its safe to say that if companies can pay attention to the warning signs and take sufficient and appropriate steps to rectify the issues occurring in house- the need for media attention could be mitigated.?

Improves Mental Health of Employees in the Workplace

According to the S.A.F.E.T.Y. Model coined by Dr. Radecki, The “E” stands for “Esteem.” This refers to how we view ourselves, others, and how we believe that others view us. Its safe to assume that if employees don’t feel like they are:

• Recognized;
• Valued;
• Praised
• Encouraged;

Then that can contribute to:

• feelings of isolation;
• Being overlooked;
• Low self image;
• and insignificant.?

These feelings are directly correlated with impacting a persons mental health and wellbeing. These are all examples of the impact it has when an employer doesn’t see or express that they value the contributions that you have.?

But when an employer is able to recognize and express the impact that your talents and skills contribute to the workplace- this can significantly improve an employees overall mental wellbeing and esteem in a work environment.?

Conclusion

I hope that from this blog post- you have a better understanding of what psychological safety is, why its important, and how it can transform your company culture. Its important to note that in this blog post, I referenced just one model of psychological safety- but there are several.?The key point is that when companies are aware of what contributes to an environment of psychological safety- it transforms company culture.