The Importance of Psychological Safety at Work

Are you managing a company? Do you feel that your workers are stagnating and their productivity seems to be slowing down? If you’re not fostering psychological safety at work, you need to revisit employee management strategies.

Psychological safety is the idea that one can speak without fearing humiliation or punishment. Workers can ask questions and bring up concerns or ideas without negative consequences.

There are different reasons why employees hold back their ideas. If you wish to know why you need it in your business, continue reading below for a comprehensive guide.

Psychological Safety at Work: Why It’s Essential

Why is psychological safety at work important? An employee’s well-being shouldn’t only cover the physical aspect.

An employee may be in good health, but it won’t guarantee that he’ll perform at an optimal level. If he keeps all his thoughts and concerns to himself, it will affect his performance sooner or later. What’s worse is he may lose his joy in working and burn out mentally.

Thus, psychological safety is an integral part of employee mental health. However, you may wonder how exactly psychological safety benefits your company. For starters, it increases your workers’ productivity by 12%.

It also fosters a culture of inclusiveness. This means everyone in the company will have a sense of belongingness. Your age, race, religion, color, and political inclinations will not hinder you in an inclusive workplace.

Promoting Psychological Safety Begins with Respect

Now you have an idea about psychological safety in the workplace. Your next concern should be how to implement it. For starters, you need to begin with respect.

Respect everyone who wishes to share something. Make no room for shaming and undermining comments and behavior. Ingrain in everyone’s minds that such a behavior has no place in the company.

Embrace Your Shortcomings

Everyone should learn to accept the fact that they don’t know everything. This applies to everyone in the company, from top to bottom. For leaders, don’t pretend that you know all the answers.

Instead, be humble and admit the challenges that you cannot face alone. Be honest if you need help. Ask for the opinion of others regardless of their rank in the company.

Lead by Example

You cannot develop a culture of psychological safety without leading by example. Thus, be humble enough to apologize whenever you make mistakes.

Always show empathy to your workers if they’re struggling with anything. On the flip side, don’t hesitate to ask for help when you’re the one struggling.

Metrics Count

Last but not least, always measure psychological safety at work. Track the progress of your company by sending out surveys to your employees.

Your HR department should be in charge of preparing and sending out the surveys. Thereafter, they will also analyze the results and provide recommendations.

Take Your Business to the Next Level

By improving psychological safety at work, your employees will become happier and more productive. You will also improve on certain weaknesses that you might be unaware of. However, you shouldn’t stop at psychological safety.

We encourage you to read our other articles on business management. We discuss topics that will help take your business to the next level.