The Importance of Psychological Safety in The Workplace

 The Importance of Psychological Safety in The Workplace

Often when you hear the term “psychological safety,” you may not think it applies to you.  We often have the perception that the term is reserved for war veterans or people who have experienced significant trauma. However, I encourage you to ponder the following statements regarding your place of employment.

1.     I can use my critical thinking skills without fear of reprisal.

2.     I receive positive and timely, feedback about the value I add to the organization.

3.     I am confident about the training and knowledge I have received that help me understand the rules and accomplish my duties.

4.     I feel I can bring my ideas to leadership, and I will feel heard, even if the ideas are not implemented.

5.     My leaders respond to my emails or phone calls promptly and don’t ignore me.

6.     I am provided the opportunity for mandatory training and given the tools I need to manage the tasks of my job.

7.     I can approach anyone in leadership with a question or concern, without fear of retaliation, and trust I will receive an answer or will be directed to the appropriate person for the answer.

 

If you resonate an astounding, “YES” to these statements, that’s fantastic! 

If “heck, no” comes to mind for two or more of these statements, you are likely to experience an elevated level of job security anxiety.  Or possibly, feelings of ambiguity about your specific job functions, tasks, and abilities. This anxiety often pours over to being mentally distracted at home. Constant thinking about the dysfunctional dynamics at work reduces your likelihood of bringing innovation to the workplace and can give the impression of being irrelevant to the company. 

 

Upon starting your position at a company, you were likely encouraged when you heard collaboration and communication were key elements in the culture of the organization. This truly is the case for many organizations, when positive space for input is provided, along with each team member being consistently coached to use strong team-building skills. 

 

However, there is also the need to hold team members accountable when they demonstrate apathy, continued defensiveness, excuse-making behaviors, or hostility. The old saying, “One bad apple can ruin the whole bunch,” absolutely applies to workplace culture. 

 

Sadly, the source of rot can come from a person at any level of the organization when their behavior is based on bullying or power plays. The responsibility to create Psychological Safety in the workplace applies to all members of a company from the front-line workers to the VPs or Partners.

 

Ask yourself what happens when your direct leader doesn’t communicate task-essential information with you, or consistently expresses disappointment in your work, or won’t take the time to dialog with you to avoid anger or frustration on either’s part? 

 

How do you truly feel? 

 

How does that impact your ability to promote the product, interact with clients, or support the mission, vision, and values of the organization?  

 

It is natural to resort to internal animal instinct reactions when threats are perceived. That’s right, we all turn to flight or fight mode. We can get defensive, offer up excuses for our behavior, or just start looking for another job. The last action can cost the current company tens of thousands of dollars for each employee turnover. More importantly, it costs us added stress, delays in career advancement, and is a lost opportunity to learn communication skills.

 

For the organization, this may mean losing extremely valuable team members when leadership has not been mentored to guide and direct them in a healthy manner. Perhaps a specific leader tends to operate from a place of defensiveness when others come up with process improvement ideas. As hard as it is to watch a child take on the parental role for their parent, it’s just as hard to watch a team member exhibit more maturity than their leadership when it comes to tough conversations. This should not be the case, even leaders need coaching, accountability, and a culture of safety. 

 

Another issue is the double standard set by leaders when any behavior on their part is permissible, however, they feel the need to micromanage the behaviors of others. That is not to say frank performance improvement conversations should not occur. Conversations to review and improve performance, need to happen in a consistent and outlined manner.  Even the most unmotivated or disorganized team member deserves honest feedback and coaching from their leaders. 

 

Now consider this scenario if you are in a leadership role at your organization. Your number one job is to provide healthy communication with your team. That’s it! Throw out the rest of your job description right now. 

 

As I reflect on my most impactful leadership mentor, I was confused when she first instructed me to just spend a few weeks being present with my team and getting to know them. I didn’t jump into tasks, look at metrics, or try to learn processes. I just observed and talked to my team on a personal level. In retrospect, I can see that spending time with my team provided the biggest value to my career. I learned how to provide a healthy team dynamic for a safe workplace: psychologically and physically.

 

How else can leaders provide for Psychological Safety in the workplace? The mission, vision, and values of an organization exist for a reason, use these elements as the stepping stones for team members to experience space to create, make mistakes, and collaborate while growing through experiences.  Punishing or humiliating team members, when they speak up about issues or bring new ideas to the table, will never build a solid work environment. As a leader, check your own tendency towards insecurity or defensiveness. Recognize, that every team member brings something of value. Recognizing their talents does not diminish your leadership role. True collaboration magnifies the success of an organization.

 

This article focused on topics that can trigger thoughts or harming yourself or others, if you experience any of those thoughts please call or text the National Suicide Hotline at 988.