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In today’s workplaces, psychological safety is a crucial yet often overlooked concern.
For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports an annual loss of 12 billion workdays to depression and anxiety — roughly equal to a loss of USD 1 trillion per year. An additional report finds 46% of employees face mental health risks, mainly due to work-life balance issues. And while 93% of executives feel psychologically safe at work, only 86% of individual contributors and managers share this sentiment. This discrepancy underlines the importance of creating an inclusive environment where every voice feels valued.
But how do you make psychological safety a priority? In this blog, we’ll help define what psychological safety is, why it’s important, provide examples of countries bringing it to the forefront of legislature, and give you tips on how to create a psychologically safe workplace. Let’s dive in!
What is psychological safety?
Psychological safety is the belief that one can express ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes without fear of negative consequences such as embarrassment, rejection, or punishment. It is a crucial element for fostering open communication, creativity, and team collaboration in various settings, particularly in workplaces and educational environments.
Examples of psychological safety include:
- Encouraging open dialogue: Team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and opinions during meetings without fearing judgment.
- Acknowledging mistakes: Employees can admit to errors without worrying about retribution, knowing that mistakes are seen as opportunities for learning and growth.
- Inclusive decision-making: Everyone’s input is valued and considered when making decisions, ensuring that all voices are heard and respected.
- Supportive leadership: Leaders provide a supportive environment where feedback is constructive and focused on improvement rather than blame.
- Encouraging innovation: Team members are motivated to propose new ideas and innovative solutions without fear of criticism or failure.
Why is psychological safety important?
Psychological safety is important because it enhances team performance through better problem-solving and decision-making, promotes innovation by encouraging creativity and risk-taking and improves employee well-being by lowering stress and increasing job satisfaction. It also facilitates continuous learning and growth, and reduces turnover by encouraging a supportive and inclusive work culture.
In recent years, psychological safety has become an increasingly recognized priority in various countries to enhance workplace safety standards, some of which carry heavy consequences.
For example, new Australian legislature shows the importance placed on psychological safety in the workplace. Effective July 2024, Australia will introduce industrial manslaughter as a new offence under the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act 2023. This law imposes severe penalties, including fines up to AUD 18 million for corporations and 25 years’ imprisonment for individuals, for deaths caused by psychological safety breaches in the workplace. Additionally, penalties for other offences have been significantly increased, aiming to bolster accountability and improve overall workplace psychological safety standards.
How to create psychological safety at work
Developing a culture of psychological safety at work is paramount to your business’s success. So, what are the steps to get there? Here are 11 ways to start creating a safe and prosperous workplace for every employee.
1. Meet each other’s needs
When interacting with your team members, be conscious of their preferences. Too often, managers make decisions without consulting their direct reports. Figure out what your employees want in terms of communication style, one-on-one meeting frequency, and feedback. Show that you care by asking what they need and acting based on what they share.
Keep in mind that asking for input once is not enough. Follow-up to ensure employee needs are constantly being met. Employee needs may change, depending on what they’re working on now. Although it seems relatively easy to check in with your employees and create a more positive work experience, Kincentric reports that 49% of organizations are not delivering the employee experience they promised.
This is why it’s so important to take the time to discover what motivates and creates a safe space for each of your employees. This can include receiving acknowledgement for hard work, sharing their voice in meetings, or getting professional growth opportunities 一 there’s no one-size-fits-all.
2. Have two-way dialogue
Two-way dialogue is very valuable in a company’s ability to succeed. Encourage a collaborative approach to feedback rather than a one-way street. Keep in mind that employers can’t ask for employee feedback without taking proper action on results. Without action, employees won’t feel as though they’re heard or motivated to communicate how they’re feeling. Support the value of openly discussing results and building action plans together.
When employees don’t feel heard, they become disengaged and no longer share feedback — this can lead to the death of an employee engagement program. This is especially true when you consider 62% of employees want to be able to have hard conversations at work but don’t feel safe doing so.
To bridge this gap, start with pulse surveys. They provide real-time feedback, making employees feel valued, and help combat recency bias — when recent events overshadow past ones. Unlike annual surveys, pulse surveys capture a comprehensive view of the past year, preventing oversights from becoming bigger problems.
3. Establish and build trust
Having a team climate with mutual respect and trust — and without blame — helps employees and managers to be themselves. But while 86% of executives claim they highly trust their employees, only 60% of employees feel this trust. To improve psychological safety at work, you need to strengthen employee trust.
Trust is an essential component of a healthy employee-manager relationship, directly impacting manager performance ratings. Employees who trust their manager are more committed, productive, and communicate better. Building a strong workplace culture rooted in trust and community is more important than ever.
For example, when employees trust their employers, they’re 260% more motivated, take 41% fewer sick days, and are 50% less likely to job hunt. But here’s the kicker: about 1 in 4 workers don’t trust their employer. Meanwhile, most employers think their workforce’s trust level is almost 40% higher than it actually is.
Establishing trust requires a combination of factors: integrity, authenticity, and empathy. By increasing employee autonomy and reducing hierarchical structures, organizations show — not just tell — employees that they’re trusted.
4. Focus on coaching
A fantastic way to build psychological safety at work and foster engagement is through coaching. But though 97% of employees say mentorship is valuable, only 37% of professionals have a mentor. Even more striking: 63% of women have never had a formal mentor in their career.
Managers should dedicate time to mentoring and connecting with their direct reports. Urge leadership to listen when they meet with employees and to provide their team members with opportunities that reflect their goals. Implementing a coaching approach nurtures a more collaborative environment and empowers employees. In the long run, this kind of workplace leads to increased employee performance and company loyalty.
5. Promote a growth mindset
Every employee — including those at the highest levels of leadership — can learn something new. Promoting a growth mindset in your workplace can convince your employees they can expand their abilities, EQ, and outcomes, in general.
A growth mindset sees learning opportunities, not failures, which inspires employees to take risks. If employees and managers feel comfortable sharing incomplete work or unsuccessful projects, everyone can learn and be inspired through further development together. This is especially true when you consider a lack of growth opportunities accounts for 37% of employee departures.
In a trusting and open team, employees can be vulnerable without the fear of backlash. This is key given psychological safety is all about ensuring employees feel safe and comfortable to share anything — both wins and areas to improve. As a result of a growth mindset, employees will be more open to tougher assignments, ask peers for help, and work more diligently to solve problems.
6. Encourage innovation
A growth mindset should naturally foster innovative thinking. This means encouraging employees and managers to bring radical ideas to the table and ensuring everyone feels welcome to respectfully challenge each other’s ideas. It’s crucial that everyone feels safe sharing their thoughts, no matter how unconventional or outlandish they may seem.
Creating a safe environment for idea sharing is particularly important given that fear of career impact is reported 3.6 times more often by people at average innovation companies than by those at leading innovators. This statistic underscores the need for organizations to cultivate a culture where employees are not afraid of negative repercussions when they propose bold or unconventional ideas.
Valuing innovation pushes the envelope and inspires employees to think outside the box, leading to groundbreaking innovations and creative solutions. When employees feel safe and encouraged to share their ideas, it drives a more dynamic and forward-thinking organization. This kind of environment not only boosts individual morale and engagement but also enhances the overall performance and competitiveness of the company.
7. Show frequent appreciation
A culture of recognition encourages inclusivity by making employees feel appreciated and connected. In fact, Achievers Workforce Institute (AWI) reports that 53% of employees who receive frequent recognition from their manager are more likely to report high trust, a sense of safety, and the ability to bring their whole self to work.
So, what’s the best way to guarantee that employees are getting recognized regularly? Leverage an engaging employee recognition platform. Most platforms have integrations with other popular HR software, such as Workday, making it easy to integrate recognition into your workforce’s everyday work flow.
Recognition software also makes it easy for employees to send and receive words of appreciation to one another in real-time. This instant feedback mechanism fosters a positive work environment by allowing team members to acknowledge each other’s efforts and accomplishments as they happen. The immediate nature of this recognition helps reinforce positive behaviors and boosts morale, making employees feel valued and appreciated.
8. Squash negativity
Based on a 2023 study, one in five workers reported experiencing harm to their mental health at work. Additionally, 22% of workers said they faced harassment at work in the past 12 months, up from 14% in 2022. This shows that, unfortunately, negativity can be just as contagious as recognition or positivity.
Team members working with someone who badmouths others may fear becoming the target themselves or perceive negativity as an acceptable outlet for frustration. Over time, this negativity can corrode psychological safety, so address it promptly.
If a team member speaks negatively, discuss it with them. Negative behavior might stem from communication challenges or personal issues. Work together to find solutions, focusing on constructive feedback and actionable steps.
Engaging with disgruntled employees demonstrates care for their well-being and psychological safety, while also considering the impact on others. Avoid jumping to conclusions, blaming individuals, or triggering defensive reactions, which can hinder performance improvement.
9. Show empathy
Empathy is often hailed as a crucial soft skill, yet it’s underutilized in many workplaces. Taking the time to understand others’ perspectives can yield significant benefits. However, a 2023 EY study shows that 52% of employees feel that their company’s empathy efforts lack sincerity.
To enhance empathy in the workplace, start by summarizing what you’ve heard when communicating with others. This simple act signals your commitment to understanding and getting things right. Additionally, be mindful of your nonverbal cues; maintaining an attentive posture and showing genuine interest through facial expressions and body language can convey respect and receptiveness.
Express gratitude for others’ ideas and feedback, fostering a culture of appreciation and mutual understanding. When employees demonstrate empathy towards one another, it strengthens teamwork and encourages continued collaboration in the future.
10. Include teams in decision-making
Psychological safety is highly valued by employees, with 84% ranking it among their top three workplace priorities, closely following pay raises and flexible work options. Without a culture of inclusion and flexibility, the team-centric model is likely to underperform.
But how do you do this? Collaborate with your team when making decisions for better outcomes, gather continuous feedback, and review it together. This inclusive approach fosters a sense of belonging and contributes to a more inclusive environment, a significant advantage for any company.
Additionally, team decision-making enhances transparency, which is vital for a safe culture. Poor internal communication can negatively impact an organization’s performance. To develop a safe, transparent space, companies must make sure that information is sufficient and accessible.
11. Empower managers
While 89% of business leaders recognize the importance of psychological safety, only 27% of managers feel adequately trained in conducting difficult conversations with their direct reports. Addressing this gap is crucial for creating a psychologically safe workplace. Without proper training, managers may struggle to facilitate meaningful dialogue, leading to employees feeling unheard or undervalued.
Investing in manager development programs focused on communication, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence can significantly enhance their ability to nurture psychological safety. By prioritizing manager empowerment, organizations can cultivate an environment where psychological safety thrives, enabling teams to collaborate effectively and achieve greater levels of performance and engagement.
Managers also need to learn how to create an environment where their team feels comfortable asking for clarification and brainstorming ideas together without judgment. Each team member needs to believe that his or her suggestions, comments, and questions are perceived as valuable.
Empower managers by equipping them with pulse surveys or anonymous feedback tools that can help them quickly identify and address any problems. Likewise, team members will feel safer knowing that their perspectives are being considered.
How do you evaluate your team’s psychological safety?
Evaluating your team’s psychological safety involves a systematic approach to understanding the environment and experiences within the team. Here’s a list of steps to follow:
- Understand psychological safety: Research and define the concept for your team.
- Create a safe environment for evaluation: Ensure confidentiality and foster open dialogue.
- Develop evaluation criteria and tools: Identify key indicators and choose evaluation methods (surveys, interviews, observations).
- Conduct surveys and assessments: Use anonymous surveys and standardized instruments like the Psychological Safety Index.
- Hold interviews: Conduct one-on-one and group interviews with open-ended questions.
- Observe team dynamics: Watch interactions and look for non-verbal cues.
- Analyze data: Aggregate responses and identify patterns.
- Provide feedback and discuss findings: Share results and facilitate team discussions on strengths and areas for improvement.
- Develop and implement action plans: Collaborate with the team to create and execute action plans.
- Monitor progress: Schedule regular check-ins and maintain a continuous feedback loop.
- Provide training and resources: Offer training and support resources.
- Foster a culture of psychological safety: Lead by example and recognize behaviors that promote psychological safety.
Enhance your culture with psychological safety
Top performers look for companies that promote employee growth and provide an unbeatable employee experience. Companies with a culture of psychological safety will improve your workplace—including building trust and a sense of connection and belonging, as well as improving mental, psychical, and emotional well-being. Given the current times, focusing on employee psychological safety is more important now than ever.
You need a way to ensure your company has an inclusive culture that provides psychological safety at work for every employee. Achievers Listen and Achievers Recognize can do just that. Both tools help build psychological safety in the workplace by instilling feedback and recognition in every aspect of your employee’s workday. Achievers Listen allows employees to comfortably share employee feedback at any time and Achievers Recognize helps build a culture of appreciation so that employees feel valued every day for their hard work and uniqueness.
Make your company a place where everyone wants to work by requesting a free demo of Achievers’ award-winning platform today.
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