Is your organization pushing back or resisting embracing institutionalizing psychological safety? 

I feel strongly that psychological safety is a key ingredient of a strong, empathetic, non-threatening, organizational culture. It is necessary to perpetuate employee engagement and retain desired talent for a sustainable business. 

Absence of psychological safety threatens feelings of inclusion and belonging. That has become apparent during pandemic conditions, adding to burnout and turnover or reshuffling in countless organizations and industries. 

In my March 2022 blog and e-tip, I laid out a case for creating a strong sense of psychological safety at meetings among teams and in cross-generational and cross-cultural environments. But as much as it is necessary for lasting employee engagement and sustainable diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), there has been reluctance on a policy or core values level to integrating it institutionally. Let’s explore why and what management and individuals can do. 

Every hot concept has some downsides, especially if it is perceived as a buzzword(phrase) rather than a guiding principle. Tim Clark, a strong advocate and author of The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety, from exclusion to inclusionhas pointed out cautions when jumping into psychological safety with both feet.

Based on Clark’s and my research, here are useful tips to minimize risks. 

7 TO DOs

1. Patience required: Realize an acceptance of or behavior change to psychological safety culture is not an overnight conversion.

2. Make psychological safety a responsibility of every individual as well as a discussion leader’s responsibility

3. Set ground rules at the start of every meeting for specific expectations.

4. Decide whether to require or simply invite full participation.Consider whether everyone at the table should be required to speak up. However, give everyone a voice. Consider rotating discussion leaders.

5. Reflect on the emotions of the speaker, and listen thoughtfully in team meetings.

6. To avoid or lessen conflict, clarify common goals.

7. Measure psychological safety and “return on emotion” (ROE) to maintain it. Realize it is difficult in some instances to separate the home environment from the work environment for some people on some days and be empathetic.

Call to Action: Incorporate psychological safety into the values for every discussion in teams and challenging and crucial conversations. Use the tips above to encourage fairness, empathy and compassion, and avoid the downsides.

© Phyllis Weiss Haserot,  2022