Psychological safety is the oil to drive engagement and high performance. It's the foundation to innovation and team performance. Its often the missing link to trust and communication. If building diverse, inclusive and engaged teams is important to you, psychological safety needs to be your pri
Let's start with what it isn't
- It’s not about absolving accountability and compromised performance by being "nice"
- It’s not about avoiding healthy conflict and challenge
- It’s not about over protection and holding space for people who are dependent
- It's not fully consensus decision making
- It's not a free reign to un earned autonomy
- It’s not about improving engagement with perks like free gym passes
So what is it ?
What is psychological safety? A culture which...
- Is led with a clear purpose, vision and aligned values
- Has clear expectations with challenge and support
- Sets the culture for innovation and agility to adapt to the speed of change
- Fosters inclusion and allows everyone to speak without the fear of humiliation or negative impact
- Has candor ( Openness and honesty, getting to the core of issues )
- People feel safe to be vulnerable
- Invites open and honest feedback from all levels
- Makes decisions with inclusiveness
- Shares the belief that its ok to take risks, express ideas, concerns, speak up and admit mistakes without the fear of negative consequences
- Has an absence of interpersonal fear
- Encourages open, courageous conversations with debate and challenge
- Fosters an environment for inclusion where employees feel heard, valued with a sense of belonging
- Builds people's capacity for growth, learning and resilience
What are the benefits?
Growth
Innovation
Engagement
Engagement
Innovation
Engagement
Innovation
Innovation
Innovation
Retention
Retention
Innovation
Wellbeing
Retention
Wellbeing
Inclusion
Retention
Wellbeing