Why Creating & Nurturing the Right Environment is Good for Business

Appeared in Dr. Ruth’s monthly column, “Workforce & Leadership Development,” in the Independent Funeral Directors of Florida’s weekly e-newsletter, Independent Weekly, Vol 6 Iss 36, on September 15, 2023. www.ifdf.org

Have you ever worked in a business or organization where you were afraid to speak up or make mistakes, found it challenging to share your opinions, ideas, or concerns with co-workers or management, or just to be yourself? If you are a business owner, have you ever wondered why getting employees to be innovative, take the initiative, or boost their morale seems complicated? One possible answer to both questions could be that the work environment does not foster "psychological safety." Coined by Harvard Professor Amy C. Edmondson, psychological safety is "the confidence that candor and vulnerability are welcome" in the workplace.

What would a psychologically unsafe workplace look like?

It would include those conditions and behaviors that foster a sense of discomfort, lack of support, distrust, and fear of retaliation among employees. Some of the more common characteristics include:

Pervasive lack of trust for, or suspicion of, co-workers, employees, or managers, which hinders the sharing of information and collaboration;Managers micromanaging employees' work, causing employees to believe that their judgement, abilities, and knowledge are not trusted;Bullying and harassment;Lack of diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging;Lack of recognition of and constructive feedback on employees' work and contributions; andStress and burnout among employees.

A psychologically unsafe workplace creates a culture of fear, fostering those conditions and behaviors that can hurt employee morale, overall job satisfaction, well-being, productivity, and ability to be creative and innovative. Thus, a psychologically unsafe workplace can damage the organization's bottom line, quality of customer service, and community goodwill.

What would a psychologically safe workplace look like?

According to Dr. Edmondson in her book The Fearless Organization, "Creating an environment that values employees yields benefits in engagement, problem solving, and performance." Psychological safety:

Fosters trust in the free flow of communication, ideas, and collaboration;Nurtures an openness to share concerns, opinions, and disagreements with management and co-workers, allowing both to help solve the organization's complex problems, or brainstorm new solutions to those problems together; andAllows employees to take initiative and learn from their mistakes.

Here are some basic strategies that you could employ initially to create or foster a psychologically safe work environment:

Lead by example. Show your employees that engaging in open communication, sharing relevant work information, or owning mistakes (and learning from them) may make you vulnerable interpersonally, but that is okay. Model active listening. Show empathy and the ability to take the perspective of the other person;Communicate your organization's core values of respect for diversity, inclusivity, equity, belonging, open communication, and conflict resolution as well as your expectations for employees' adoption of those values;Focus on specific performances or behaviors that will create a psychologically safe environment, such as adopting anti-bullying, anti-discrimination, and anti-harassment policies;Provide training on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) to the organization;Demonstrate care for your employees by supporting their mental health, well-being, work-life balance, and worker safety;Recognize and express appreciation for employees' contributions and efforts. Help employees achieve excellence in their job performance by giving them constructive feedback; andInvite regular employee feedback on the organization and incorporate that feedback as appropriate.

If you have any questions regarding fostering psychological safety in your workplace, please feel free to contact me at Ruth.Bedell.LLC@gmail.com.

Dr. Ruth's Bio:

Dr. Ruth Bedell earned her Ph.D. in Industrial & Organizational Psychology from Keiser University in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. She is the founder of Bedell Consulting, LLC, "providing enterprises with exceptional people solutions" by applying evidence-based best practices and knowledge of workplace behaviors to effect positive change. Dr. Ruth is also the Associate Director for Outreach of the IFDF.