WHY WE NEED TO FEEL SAFE AT WORK

Humans haven’t always been at the top of the food chain. In fact, until fairly recently (in relation to the age of the earth) Homo Sapiens were right in the middle. Our ancestors would eat smaller mammals, and at the same time would be a target for larger predators. Since then, much has changed. We now not only sit atop the food chain, but we have constructed a world that could never have been imagined before. We live by systems of currency, trade and work, and we never question why we do, or what purpose they serve. Our entire existence is different to the point that the world is now unrecognisable to how it appeared merely 15,000 years ago.

However, one thing has remained the same. Danger is everywhere and it always has been. In the days of early Homo Sapiens, the dangers were threats from rival tribes, wild animals and indeed starvation brought on by drought, or flooding. In today’s world, these threats are far reduced. However, danger persists. We are now threatened by disease, wars, weapons, cars, and many other parts of modern day society. Danger is inescapable, and takes the form of something that has the potential to end your life and your existence.

We experience the same at work. Except, in a work setting, danger isn’t there to end your existence, it’s there to end your employment – your salary, your job, your lifestyle. These dangers come in many forms. A downturn in the economy, an up and coming competitor, a pivot in the market, a hike in the price of much needed resources, or the collapse of a valued partner. All of these are examples of forces that we cannot control, that can control us. These forces can turn our businesses into nothing, and make our jobs non-existent.

However, the point here is exactly that – we can’t control them. The best businesses and the best leaders understand this. Instead of focussing on protecting against their uncontrollable market forces, the best companies and leaders focus on ways to make themselves as strong and high performing as they can be. They focus on themselves, and how to extract their best performance. The side-effect that this often has is it often primes them to be strong enough to fight off the uncontrollable forces when they come knocking at the door.

The best leaders also do something else that helps their teams to perform the best they can. The protect them from the potential effects of any outside danger. A true example of this is a company call Next Jump. Next Jump was propelled into the spotlight by best-selling author, Simon Sinek. Sinek made a TED talk in 2014, entitled “Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe”. In it he poses the question:

“If you have hard times with your family, would you ever consider laying off one of your children? We would never do it. Then why do we consider laying off people inside our organisations?”

He raises a good point… Then he references Next Jump, who offer their employees lifetime employment. They actively look for alternatives to firing, and are heavily invested in training for all employees. This doesn’t mean that working for Next Jump is easy by the way! When you review their employee satisfaction ratings on Glass Door, you can see that they expect hard work. However, the point here is not to show you the perfect place to work. The point is to illustrate how leaders and companies can shut out the danger – how they can create, in Sinek’s words “A circle of safety”.

Why is this so important?

Ultimately it comes down to fear, and how damaging fear can be to an organisation. Fear is totally destructive to top performance because it creates a culture of no risks, no communication and no confidence.

No risk, no progress

For people, teams and businesses to flourish, they need to be constantly experimenting with new ways of working, and trying new approaches. Whereas this used to be a luxury for businesses, innovation is now a pre-requisite to success and even staying afloat in the current market. When you have a team of people who are scared, you will have a team of people that never take any risks, or try anything new.. This is because they fear the ramifications of a mistake, or failure. Risk-taking and general experimentation will only happen when you create a rock-solid culture of safety, without this, your company and your team will fall behind.

No communication, no teamwork

When people are scared, they cling onto the small power that they still have. Often, in a business case, this power comes in the form of information. When you have a team of people that are clinging onto their information, and aren’t sharing you have nothing short of a disaster. Teamwork and collaboration is the essence of all good team performance, without it, you merely have a group of individuals. In short, when people are scared, nothing gets shared – this is not something you can afford in your team.

No confidence, no performance

The final damaging effect of fear is it drains people’s confidence. The presence of fear means that someone is scared of something they perceive is bigger and more powerful than them. Feeling this presence destroys confidence, especially if it’s an every day feeling. When your team are low on confidence, they are not performing. They are making ‘safe’ decisions, sticking to things they know will work and are not giving the company the full potential that they are paying for. Eliminating fear is a very quick way to boost people’s confidence, and with this you will see a sharp increase in motivation and engagement.

All in all, fear is destructive. As a leader, it’s your job to remove it, and the best way to do this is by creating a genuine culture of safety. We can’t remove the ever-present danger that surrounds us. Instead, we must focus on ourselves to become as strong as we can, so when danger does come knocking, we are ready.

About the author

Oliver is a passionate leadership blogger who believes in the power of people. Through his content, he expresses the view that happy people perform the best, and coaches leaders to create an environment of happiness that delivers results.

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