Do Your Employees Feel Psychologically Safe?

A work culture where you believe you can bring your best self to work starts with trust.

Trust that you can share your ideas without rejection.

Trust that you can question assumptions and challenge established processes without repercussions.

Trust that you can offer a divergent opinion without embarrassment.

Psychological Safety

Psychological safety at work is the ability to take risks, ask difficult questions, or make mistakes coupled with the environments willingness to accept those actions without repercussion.  It’s a key partnership with both the individual action and the readiness of the culture.  When the culture isn’t ready it can come across as punishment.  Punishment can take the form of anything between the casual dismissal of you or your idea, to formal discipline for speaking up or speaking out.

This is a crucial concept for companies to understand because so many focus on creating a culture that encourages risk-taking, values difference and benefits from diversity of thought. That’s because diverse groups recognize issues faster and develop more creative solutions than groups of people with similar life experiences.

But what if some team members don’t feel comfortable speaking up?

When employees do not feel the sense of psychological safety at work, the company and its customers suffer. People might hesitate to talk about projects or processes that aren’t working and then a project destined for failure could launch. When employees aren’t engaged, the company is no longer able to fully benefit from its biggest differentiator: people, and their ideas.

Sense of Belonging

Psychological safety at work begins with a feeling of belonging.

As I discussed in this blog post, Managing Across Difference: A Leader’s Role, belonging is a fundamental human need. Belonging is being accepted for who you are. Fitting in is being accepted for being like everyone else.​ Belonging does not require you to change who you are.

To achieve their greatest potential, employees must feel accepted for who they are. That’s when they can achieve the greatest job satisfaction, and move from feeling included and engaged to feeling a sense of belonging, to knowing they have what they need to succeed.

Achieving psychological safety is not an all-or-nothing proposition. The stages can apply to a new team, company or role, and starts with inclusion. This is the minimum and addresses a person’s need to connect and belong. It’s also when an employee starts building the confidence to bring their best self to work.

During the learning and contributing stages, employees are able to experiment and make mistakes, ask questions, give and take feedback, and feel like their contributions matter.

The last stage is the hardest: employees feel like they can question or challenge the status quo to make things better.

Physical Versus Psychological Safety

While much has been said about physical safety at work, the importance of psychological safety lags in the discussion. Partly that’s because what makes one employee feel able to be their authentic self is much different than what works for another.

An older woman of color who is new to the company and supporting a family might not feel as comfortable offering her input and feedback if it means she could risk her job, income or potential for advancement.

A young, queer man might excel in one-on-one conversations but shut down in larger meetings with senior employees where he clearly is the minority both in age and sexual orientation.

It makes sense that we want employees to feel safe physically. But how do we prioritize psychological safety and ensure that employees are able to offer differing opinions, call out potential risks, and be their authentic selves?

1.       Encourage feedback. Ask questions, speak candidly, and be empathetic when employees offer feedback, challenge assumptions or propose ideas. Expect and demand respectful dialogue and model how to handle different perspectives.

2.       Establish a baseline for failure. Experimentation and risk-taking should be expected and rewarded, not punished. Model respect for the work and for people. Share lessons learned from mistakes, and move on. 

3.       Encourage new ideas. How much creativity can you tolerate? The more you accept, the better idea generation will become, especially from a diverse group that feels psychologically safe to offer their best, untested ideas.

4.       Model vulnerability. Be the example of leaning in and risk taking by you taking the risk first.  When having difficult conversations, lean in and share something vulnerable about yourself first.  In the spirit of “shadow of the leader” by demonstrating this skill it gives others permission to do the same.

Beyond Commitment

What employees see is what they know. If actions are incongruent with words, at best people will remain quiet when their opinions are most needed; at worst they will leave the team or the organization.

There are many reasons employees might not feel psychological safety. It’s important to remember that just because people have been invited to the decision-making table, doesn’t mean they feel equal, comfortable or psychologically safe in the seat.

Model Behavior, Create Trust

One of the biggest challenges for a leader is building an environment of trust. Talking about mistakes and vulnerabilities creates the space for others to do the same.

Model what you expect. Treat people more than equally – treat them equitably by recognizing that each person has different circumstances and offers the right resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

And finally, transparency is crucial. Be timely and honest in your communications. Accept feedback openly. Create that space of trust around the exchange of information on both sides.  

To pass beyond inclusion to a place where employees feel psychological safety, remember to:

• Share failures without repercussions, and position each as an opportunity to learn and grow.
• Find ways to express gratitude, and recognize that what makes an employee feel appreciated, and builds a feeling a psychological safety, might work for one employee and not another. Be creative and be more than equal – be equitable.   

A diverse, equitable and inclusive (DEI) culture creates space for employees to experience psychological safety more fully. Learn more about the DEI efforts at Rockwell Automation, and explore career opportunities.