THE IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY ON AN ORGANIZATION

“Psychological Safety is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.” – Amy Edmondson (Harvard Business School) 

She was the one who coined the term and told me that psychological safety is crucial for developing productive teams. Productive teams will achieve the targets within the set time. 

This concept gained popularity when Google did extensive research on psychological safety and concluded that in order for the teams to work efficiently, they have to feel psychologically safe. It also helps the organization to be more innovative and generate more revenue because employees feel safe and they work better. 

WHAT IMPACT DOES IT CREATE ON AN ORGANIZATION? 

Psychological Safety is extremely important for an organization because its employees become open-minded, resilient, creative, and motivated. One thinks that others won’t judge him. This is why these things happen. This increases the productivity of employees and ultimately the organization grows. 

It helps in developing trust among teams because they don’t blame each other for a mistake instead they talk about it and work together towards solving it. Team members give feedback about each other’s tasks and work cohesively towards achieving a particular goal. 

It reduces turnover rates because employees feel safe and happy at the workplace. In addition, employees are happy and motivated to work in the organization’s culture 

Psychological Safety leads to accelerated productivity because people don’t feel threatened to make mistakes and implement new ideas to achieve their goals. If the idea works, it’s good and if it doesn’t, they find a better way to do it. This happens because people want to work together and find a solution. 

Psychological Safety gives a competitive advantage to the organization in comparison to the organization which doesn’t practice this phenomenon because it helps employees to be creative and take educated risks. This ultimately keeps an organization at par with others. 

HOW TO CREATE A PSYCHOLOGICALLY SAFE WORKPLACE? 

 1- Don’t Blame Others 

One of the most essential things for psychological safety is people should feel comfortable voicing their opinions. One should not worry that others will judge him. This can happen when everyone understands each other and doesn’t blame anyone for their opinions, thoughts, actions, etc. Being empathetic to others is a must for creating a psychologically safe workplace. 

2- Management Should Practice Active Listening 

People in higher positions should practice active listening and encourage it so that people feel valued and heard. People feel safe to voice out their opinions when their concerns are addressed properly and solved logically. Management should ask for feedback from employees, always acknowledge and accept their mistakes, be open to different opinions, and should implement the appropriate ones. 

3- Developing an Open and Learning Mindset 

It’s important for everyone in the organization to have an open mindset where there is encouragement and acceptance for new ideas. People learn from each other’s mistakes and grow from them. Management should not punish for being wrong or committing mistakes. Everyone should give constructive feedback so that people can learn from it. 

4- Lead by Example 

People who are in management should create a safe environment for colleagues. They should listen to each other, accept each other’s views, and work together. When this happens, employees see managers creating a safe environment. This motivates them to do the same. 

5- Promote Healthy Conflict 

Each employee comes with different experiences and has a different viewpoint toward any situation. It is possible that when different people put their points, conflict can arise. Management should promote this so that every person can come forward and raise the point. At the end of the discussion, management should take a reasonable decision.