Do your employees feel psychologically safe? These three tips can help

In a Harvard Business Review study, psychological safety was shown to enable the benefits of cognitive diversity— the inclusion of people who have different ways of thinking, different viewpoints, and different skill sets in a team or business group. A diversity of perspectives often brings new ideas that foster creativity and innovation. Having a variety of ideas among employees can reap great benefits. However, lack of a safe space for individuals to make mistakes or have respectful discourse can disrupt your team’s potential and harm employees.

Here are 3 ways to establish a safe space within your workplace

1. Celebrate differences as strengths

Everyone brings something to the table— in this TEDx Talk, Inaudy Esposito depicts the value of looking at diverse communities as a bowl of soup made of rich individual ingredients instead of a melting pot. Using this metaphor, she explains how differences are our strengths. 

Showing a genuine appreciation for the differences in ideas and perspectives is not only more effective by emphasizing each colleague’s unique strength, but it also shows you care about everyone on your team. This can help promote creativity and build a foundation of mutual understanding between all levels of employees.

Plus, when differences are appreciated, innovation thrives. Jonathan H. Westover, Ph.D., explains: “The best way to drive a sustainable innovation culture is to build a diverse and inclusive team, where every individual feels valued and safe to challenge the status quo, ask questions, and even dissent. Innovation doesn’t happen when people feel comfortable; it arises when we are wrestling within productive tensions, but our people also need to feel safe as they work to challenge and disrupt.”

S – Spot/label the strength
E – Explain by giving a short rationale of the behavior you observed
A – Appreciate or recognize the value of the person for the use of their strengths

2. Encourage speak up culture

We know from inclusion research that there are huge benefits to raising voices. Thought diversity can help counter groupthink and decrease power imbalances.

While creating diversity policies is important for having a baseline of expectations, being outspoken and openly advocating for an inclusive space can facilitate a sense of ease for others. The more you validate the act of speaking up, the more likely others are to also speak up. Whether that’s defending a coworker’s suggestions or offering support of a varying perspective, research has shown that a “speak-up culture” in companies is a sign of psychological safety and improves organizational effectiveness. Research has also shown that vocally endorsing the ideas of historically excluded perspectives—people of color, women, queer people, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people (the list goes on!)—increases the status of the individual whose idea was amplified.

Organizational psychology researchers, Subra Tangirala and Hemant Kakkar, investigated how company culture affects an individual’s willingness to speak up. They write, “This finding suggests that if you want employees to speak up, the work environment and the team’s social norms matter. Even people who are most inclined to raise ideas and suggestions may not do so if they fear being put down or penalized. On the flip side, encouraging and rewarding speaking up can help more people do so, even if their personality makes them more risk-averse.” With this in mind, Tangirala and Kakkar suggest that organizations make it clear, through their shared everyday habits, that people have more to gain than lose when they speak up.

3. Acknowledge that the same path to psychological safety is not equitably offered to all

Historically excluded groups (read: anyone not a straight, white man) face systemic barriers to psychological safety— many unique to their own identity. Intersectional identities add more layers to establishing psychological safety for the individual and may require additional support.

For example, Catalyst examined the impact of Emotional Tax on psychological safety for Black women and men. Emotional Tax stems from experiences like (but certainly not limited to) dealing with microaggressions, educating others, and navigating systemic bias. This study found Emotional Tax was linked to the “state of being on guard.” However, relief from Emotional Tax is associated with increased psychological safety.

To help foster equitable psychological safety, seek to learn from the perspectives of those who have different racial, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds than yours. It will help to check your own bias and privilege first. By self-checking, you can improve awareness of cultural barriers that many employees face each day. Being informed of systemic barriers and developing awareness of your own points of privilege can help to create a safe space and keep fellow employees accountable to do the same.

• When was the last time you had to think about your ethnicity, race, gender identity, ability level, religion, and/or sexual orientation? What provoked you to think about it or acknowledge it?
• How do you respond when others make negative statements towards individuals of a different ethnicity, race, gender, ability level, religion, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity than yourself?
• How diverse is the community in which you live?

Whether it’s a hybrid, in-person, or virtual workplace, every employee wants to feel respected and valued at work. Prioritizing psychological safety can help your organization recruit the best talent and influence the well-being of employees in all positions. Try incorporating these changes into your work life and see the positive impact on the entire team.