Why do we need psychological safety?
Psychological safety is a fundamental aspect of having a healthy, effective work environment, allowing employees to feel secure enough to take risks, express their ideas, and admit mistakes without fear of negative consequences. It ensures that team members can be nimble, inventive, and satisfied, which cultivates a setting conducive to innovation.
When determining a team’s success, psychological safety is crucial. Viva People Science research shows that psychological safety is one of the most important factors in determining a team’s success. This concept is crucial for managers to cultivate within their teams for four reasons.
- Psychological safety fosters creativity. Unfortunately, defensiveness and a scarcity mindset often stifle creativity. When team members don’t fear negative repercussions, they’re more inclined to think outside the box and contribute innovative ideas. This openness to creativity and innovation isn’t only beneficial for the individual’s growth but also for the organization’s progress and ability to adapt to changing markets and customer needs.
- Psychological safety increases individual professional development. When employees feel safe, they’re more likely to engage in learning behaviors, such as asking for feedback, sharing information, and experimenting with new ideas. To put it succinctly, people need to feel safe to have a growth mindset.
- Psychological safety reduces attrition. Employees who feel safe are more likely to remain with the company and grow their careers with coworkers and leaders who care about them as people. People want to feel free to be fully present at work, to share the things that scare, frustrate or excite them. If they’re nervous of personal backlash or retaliation, they often hold back and end up feeling disconnected from their peers. When people feel a sense of belonging or connection to their coworkers, however, they’re more inclined to stay.
- Psychological safety helps employees navigate change successfully. When employees are navigating changing expectations, new information or training in new skills, it’s important for them to know there is room to make mistakes and time for them to grow. Psychological safety is a key tool for effective change management.
Psychological safety and AI Case Study:
While AI has unlocked incredible potential for employee efficiency and productivity, it has also introduced an entirely new concept for how employees work. This raises a whole host of questions for employees: When will they be expected to use AI? Are they going to be required to produce more work now that they have an AI assistant? If they use AI efficiently, will AI eventually take over their jobs? While training can help with the logistical implementation of AI, it does not address the human mental/emotional component present in this change. Psychological safety helps make the unknowns and pitfalls less scary because employees trust they’ll be cared for along the way. By laying a foundation of psychological safety where each person feels safe making mistakes and asking for help, managers can successfully lead their teams through an AI transition.
In summary, psychological safety is a must-have for teams that want to excel in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing work environment. It’s especially important as teams navigate changing habits and expectations such as those that come with AI’s introduction to the daily workplace. It’s about creating a culture where teams are engaged and everyone feels safe to contribute their best work, which ultimately leads to better outcomes for the team and the organization as a whole.
While each person helps cultivate psychological safety, our research shows that managers play a crucial role in establishing it on a team. The first step is being able to recognize signs it’s present, which we’ll explore in our next unit: How do we know if psychological safety is present?