Psychological Safety in the Workplace

Are your employees comfortable sharing their ideas?

Hey there, welcome to this week’s edition of the Safety First Journal.

This week I want to talk a bit about a subject that is often underestimated in the world of EHS, psychological safety.

Psychological safety refers to the perceived ability of employees to speak their mind, take risks and make mistakes without the fear of censure by their managers and colleagues. When employees feel this way, it paves the way for creativity, innovation and learning. Psychological safety can be a key business advantage for your company.

And yet we’ve all known or heard of companies who don’t operate this way.

Businesses that are overly hierarchical tend to discourage input from workers further down the food chain, or worse, censure employees for speaking up in a way that doesn’t tow the company line. As a result, these companies miss opportunities when employees are afraid to speak up and often have problems with employee morale and retention.

Not only that, but they are definitely not the kind of places talented employees want to work.

So how do we nurture psychological safety in our workforce?

Here are 3 ways you can build a culture of trust and openness – starting today:

1. Normalize mistakes and frame them as learning opportunities.

Look, I get it, nobody likes mistakes. They’re costly and lead to additional stress, lost productivity or worse. But we all make them. And often, it’s not so much the mistake that hurts us, it’s missing out on the lesson and then continuing to make the same mistakes over and over. That’s where the real damage is done.

If employees feel that they’ll be punished or embarrassed for mistakes, they will play it safe or try to hide errors. This only leads to bigger problems down the road.

Instead, you can make employees feel safe to admit a mistake by doing more of this:

· Model it yourself – when leaders are willing to admit mistakes, understand the lesson and make course corrections, it gives employees the security to do the same.

· Take a constructive view – “Fix the problem, not the blame” is a bit of a cliché, but the key here is to always look for the lesson and how you can improve, rather than finding a scapegoat. In the long run, you’ll improve your systems much more than blaming the person who made the mistake.

· Celebrate smart risks – When an employee takes a calculated risk, be sure to highlight it whether or not it works out. Too often leaders, or consciously or subconsciously encourage employees to play it safe and the result is that they stunt their organization’s growth. Of course, risk for the sake of risk is not the goal, but intelligent risks can move your company forward, either through the success of the initiative or through learning what didn’t work.

2. Make is safe for employees to speak up.

Often employees feel that by speaking up, they either won’t be heard, make themselves a target for ridicule or embarrassment or, even worse, limit their opportunities for advancement in the company. The problem is that silent teams often miss key opportunities for vital feedback or early warnings that something isn’t right.

Instead, try this approach:

· Ask for input and give it due consideration. Not all ideas will be adopted and implemented, nor should they, but listening closely to employee feedback and talking through potential roadblocks and pitfalls, allows the employee to be heard and encourages future input, which may be better suited. Talking it through also helps get employee buy-in on initiatives. People support what they help to create.

· Respond with gratitude. When someone brings up an idea, thank them for raising the issue, whether you agree with it or not. Responding with gratitude rather than being dismissive encourages future input and allows employees to be heard.

· Invite the quieter voices first. Some employees may need a bit of encouragement to speak up. Often the quieter people are thoughtful and may have great ideas but are reluctant to bring them forward. While senior management always will, and should, have the final say, allowing them to dominate the conversation from the beginning limits your options.

3. Build trust through consistency and transparency.

Psychological safety is built on trust. If employees don’t know what to expect from you, they become more closed off and harder to reach.

Here’s what you can do:

· Treat everyone the same. When employees perceive others as receiving special treatment it kills morale and motivation. If the team feels that some members will be treated differently, it builds resentment and can lead to a toxic workplace.

· Be transparent. The more information you can give your team the better. If they understand why decisions are being made, it’s much easier to get buy-in. Transparency also helps builds trust and a team first attitude.

· Check in regularly. Regular communication with employees is crucial to bringing your team closer together and ensuring that everyone is on the same page. Make sure you include employees who are less likely to speak up, they can get lost in the mix if you’re not careful. Regular “one on one” meetings with each member of your team can go a long way.

It’s important to remember that building psychological safety for your team isn’t a one-off quick fix solution. It requires building trust and establishing honest and direct lines of communication, which takes time. As long as you understand that going in, the investment in time will pay significant dividends in communication, innovation and early problem detection over time.

If you’d like to read more on this topic, here are some additional resources curated for you:

PHS: Training and Assessment Program - Opening Minds - Workplace Mental Health Training

What is psychological safety at work? Here’s how to start creating it

The Four Stages of Psychological Safety - Psych Safety

That’s it for this week. As always, thanks for reading.

If you enjoyed this content, please share with anyone who would benefit. I’d also love to hear what safety problems you’re struggling with in your business, if there’s a topic you’d like to know more about, send me a DM.

In addition to the Safety First Journal, I ghostwrite newsletter content and educational email courses for safety professionals.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out my free 5 day Educational Email Course for EHS professionals

For more information, email dmoriarity@keystrokecommunications.com I’m always happy to help.

Cheers,

Dan.