Psychological Safety: A Foundation for an Inclusive Workplace
November 30, 2023 – “When talking about diversity, something that often gets missed is being inclusive of it,” said Saul Gomez, director of IDEA at TI Verbatim Consulting. “If we’re not being inclusive of our diversity, then how are we leveraging it? How are we capitalizing on it? It’s worth asking, ‘Are we maximizing what our talent pool has to offer?’ At the end of the day, people want to feel included… and in order to truly leverage the diverse talent that organizations have, individuals need to feel included, seen, heard, and valued.”
When people feel safe being themselves at work – regardless of their race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other aspect of their identity – they are more likely to thrive professionally
and propose innovative and creative ideas that can benefit the organization. Furthermore, they are more likely to be open to carrying out broader DEI initiatives set forth by the organization. A viable DEI strategy can be traced back to the first three elements of psychological safety: inclusivity, curiosity, and trust. When leveraged, they can work to build a culture in which a sense of belonging and respect for people’s differences is deeply integrated into an organization, which allows everything else to follow.
Sustaining DEI in the Workplace
As companies have continued to find that the DEI goals set forth
to achieve have failed to come to fruition, it is important to leverage the foundation that psychological safety provides in order to restart the momentum. Then, to sustain these efforts, the final two pillars of psychological safety come into place: collaboration and resilience.
“Psychological safety is foundational to the success of a DEI strategy, and it starts at the top. Leaders and managers, first and foremost, need to be keenly aware of and familiar with what psychological safety is.”
“You have to ask, do people at this organization feel valued and supported? Do they feel like they have the latitude and autonomy to explore, ideate, innovate, be creative and break a couple eggs to make an omelet?” asked Mr. Gomez. “These are important questions in probing beyond DEI as a check in the box, and instead, leveraging psychological safety to collaborate, learn and grow from mistakes and setbacks, and in turn, build resilience across the organization.”
“More importantly, psychological safety is foundational to the success of a DEI strategy, and it starts at the top,” Mr. Gomez said. “Leaders and managers, first and foremost, need to be keenly aware of and familiar with what psychological safety is – what it looks like, what it sounds like, and what it feels like. That way, they’re able to model the behaviors and practices that help cultivate and sustain it throughout the organization.”
