Psychological Safety; The Bedrock of Organizational Culture
October 16, 2024 – Research findings consistently reveal that a significant portion of the global workforce does not feel psychologically safe, leading to burnout, stress, and dissatisfaction, according to a report from TI Verbatim Consulting. In a 2023 study conducted by Workhuman, 48 percent of respondents reported experiencing burnout, 61 percent experienced elevated stress levels, and 32 percent felt lonely at work, all being associated with a lack of psychological safety in their jobs.
TIVC explains that psychological safety is the shared belief within an organization that individuals can take interpersonal risks without fear of punishment or exclusion, which makes them more likely to speak up with new ideas, ask questions, express concerns, and take ownership of mistakes. “A psychologically safe environment encourages, recognizes, and rewards individuals for their contributions and ideas,” the report said. “Psychological safety motivates employees to collaborate and share knowledge, boosts their confidence to speak up with suggestions for organizational improvements, and drives initiative toward innovation in developing new services. Research also suggests that psychological safety enables organizations and teams to learn more effectively and perform at high levels.”
Psychological safety is the bedrock of organizational excellence and the foundation of a healthy, thriving workplace, according to TIVC. The report explains that outcomes of psychologically safe workplaces include a sense of belonging, a feeling of being valued, and the ability to contribute to an environment where mistakes are seen as opportunities for growth. “In these environments, people can be authentic, innovate, and work together effectively, fostering team development and organizational excellence,” TIVC. said. “A lack of psychological safety hinders an organization’s ability to stay relevant and succeed in complex markets. An organization’s ability to innovate, develop new products, implement cutting-edge technologies, and formulate new strategies is critical to its’ survival in competitive environments.”
Psychological safety directly contributes to productive work environments by enabling teams to handle disagreements effectively and discuss difficult topics. “This openness encourages employees to share and experiment with new ideas, fostering innovation,” TIVC said. “The ability to constructively address conflicts creates opportunities for teams to enhance communication skills, develop resilience, and overcome challenges. In an ever-changing business landscape, psychological safety is essential for navigating uncertainties, facing challenges, and adopting new approaches. Fostering it enhances an organization’s ability to innovate, adapt, and excel in a continuously evolving market.”
TIVC’s psychological safety elements are built on empirical research and assessment data. At TIVC, they first consider current levels of psychological safety through (a) the lens of leadership and the workforce and (b) the alignment between practices and the people they aim to support. The company’s approach uses a four-element framework of psychological safety: inclusivity, trust, curiosity, and collaboration.
“Leaders play a critical role and need to first model these elements for the rest of the organization,” the TIVC report said. “This demonstrates and fosters a psychologically safe environment for the collective team to engage effectively in, increasing their own psychological safety. These elements are critical to the foundation of psychologically safe teams, and it is up to leadership to set expectations, model the behaviors, and hold others accountable for doing the same.”
Inclusivity
Inclusivity highlights behaviors and perceptions that align with a sense of belonging and a culture where people feel valued and empowered to engage, participate, and share their ideas, thoughts, and perspectives, according to the TIVC report. “Inclusion is a prerequisite for creating psychological safety, as it allows members to speak up, contribute, take risks, and be vulnerable in team settings,” it said. “Team members who are included and welcomed in group and team settings feel more wanted and appreciated. This sense of belonging encourages engagement and leads to individuals more comfortably suggesting creative solutions and approaches in ways that can increase an organization’s overall performance and adaptability. The effects also extend to individual-level employee satisfaction and personal growth by highlighting the value of their contributions.”
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TIVC notes that when leaders exhibit more openness, accessibility, and availability, employees’ psychological safety is significantly improved. “Inclusion promotes an atmosphere that enhances employees’ psychological safety and motivates both individual and group learning,” the report said. “The role of leadership in fostering such an environment is critical, as inclusive decision-making, active listening, and a commitment to diversity are key leadership behaviors that promote psychological safety. Understanding the intersectionality and diversity of teams is a crucial part of creating an inclusive environment that accounts for the varied backgrounds and identities of team members, further enhancing overall psychological safety.”
Psychological Safety: A Foundation for an Inclusive Workplace
Many business leaders are referring to the past year as “The Great DEI Resignation” as hordes of chief diversity officers and DEI leaders are quitting their roles or being pushed out – a result of insufficient buy in from colleagues and other leaders, or budget constraints. As a result, it is important to reassess the approach companies are taking to DEI and, more importantly, consider how they plan to build DEI efforts with a foundation of psychological safety.
At its core, psychological safety refers to an environment where individuals feel safe to express their opinions and ideas without fear of negative consequences such as ridicule or punishment, and instead create an environment that encourages open communication, risk-taking, growth and learning from mistakes and setbacks. When employees feel psychologically safe at work, they are more likely to contribute their unique perspectives and experiences. This sense of safety fosters creativity, innovation, and ultimately leads to better decision-making processes. “When talking about diversity, something that often gets missed is being inclusive of it,” said Saul Gomez, director of IDEA at TI Verbatim Consulting.
TIVC has found that building psychological safety through inclusion creates an environment where differing opinions and perspectives are valued and leveraged to give organizations a competitive edge.
Trust
Trust is the degree to which individuals, teams, and leaders exhibit strong mutual confidence and participate in positive, respectful interactions, fostering an environment where psychological safety is prioritized, the TIVC report explains. “It’s closely tied to the belief that one’s colleagues and leaders will support rather than undermine, respect rather than dismiss, and value one’s contributions,” the study said. “Trust cultivates empathy and instills a mindset of positive intent, reducing power imbalances and encouraging honest communication. This, in turn, contributes to a more authentic and psychologically safe environment. Leaders and team members who trust one another are more likely to freely express thoughts, ideas, and suggestions without fear of being embarrassed, judged, or retaliated against. In doing so, they actively contribute to the foundation of psychological safety.”
The report also notes that when a trusting team is more willing to be vulnerable with others, has confidence that they will not be harmed or put at risk by the actions of others, and is assured that their vulnerabilities will not be exploited. When trust serves as a core principle for group relationships, it strongly impacts the promotion of psychological safety. Compared with members at low-trust organizations, people in high-trust organizations reported 74 percent less stress, 50 percent higher work productivity, 13 percent fewer sick days, 76 percent more engagement, and 40 percent less burnout.
Curiosity
Curiosity is driven by motivation for continuous learning, openness to innovation, and commitment to valuing feedback, the TIVC report says. “This requires a willingness to take risks, embrace uncertainty, and engage with both intrinsic and extrinsic sources of motivation,” the study said. “It also thrives on social interactions including collaborations, peer influence, and other social feedback loops. Environments that foster curiosity challenge conventional thinking and reject complacency, promoting a culture with healthy levels of dissent where questioning the status quo is a welcomed strategy for problem-solving and process improvement. By cultivating curiosity, organizations can fully leverage the innovation and creativity of their talent pool.”
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When leaders purposefully demonstrate curiosity, TIVC says that they set a powerful example that encourages other members of the team and organization to follow suit. In these environments, team members feel comfortable and motivated to ask questions and are more open to others’ suggestions, which contributes to more effective collaborations. “Asking questions with genuine curiosity invites others who might otherwise be more cautious to do the same,” the report said. The adage there are no stupid questions captures the importance of curiosity in making the workplace more psychologically safe. When leaders foster psychological safety and team members freely ask questions, they can more easily uncover insights and solutions that drive organizational success. This kind of leadership can transform organizational culture by cultivating an environment where curiosity thrives, leading to enhanced innovation, problem solving, and employee engagement.”
Collaboration
Collaboration supports psychological safety within teams and across the broader talent pool. “By promoting open communication and mutual respect, it aims to break down silos, encourage engagement, and optimize the use of resources toward shared objectives,” the TIVC report said. “Many researchers use the terms, cooperation, and ,collaboration, interchangeably when describing climates that support dynamic relationships and psychological safety in organizational settings, but there are important differences between cooperation and collaboration. Cooperation is generally defined as working together to complete tasks.”
Collaboration has more to do with individuals being intentional about the act of working with others, where there is collective ownership over the outcomes, and the collaboration leverages collective talents and differences to achieve optimal results, according to TIVC. “Cooperation is less intentional, while collaboration requires a deliberate focus,” the study said. “Collaboration fosters psychological safety by valuing individual contributions and encouraging diverse perspectives within the team. This enables teams to work together more effectively and overcome barriers to effective collaboration. The relationship between collaboration and psychological safety is bidirectional. They influence each other, as collaboration fosters psychological safety, which in turn enables teams to collaborate more effectively.” TIVC has found that when employees collaborate well, organizations experience higher employee engagement, lower turnover, improved performance, and increased organizational learning.
The psychological safety elements TIVC outlines involve intentional acts from all stakeholders within an organization. “Leaders and managers model desired behaviors and hold others accountable for maintaining a psychologically safe environment,” the report said. “All members of an organization are responsible for contributing to and restoring psychological safety when it’s lacking. When the work environment threatens organizational psychological safety, a team that collaborates effectively will be more resilient, and it is leaders and managers who set the tone and establish the necessary standards. By demonstrating inclusive behaviors, encouraging open communication, and addressing conflicts constructively, they can model and create a supportive atmosphere that enables teams to thrive. When leaders and management commit to maintaining psychological safety, it ensures that teams can remain resilient and sustain a positive work environment, even in the face of challenges.”
To read the full report and view TIVC’s proposed solutions, click here!
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
