“Take risks’ , ‘explore yourself”, ‘ask questions’, ‘think outside the box’- every motivational video will have these one-liners that make us feel like going out of our way to do something new at work. Now, who does not want to be themselves but not everyone in their workplace ‘feels okay’ being these things.
Ever wondered why?
Abraham Maslow, in 1943, said that safety and security was one of the basic needs that humans require. Psychological safety is not a new concept and has been doing rounds in Organizational Psychology since the 1960s. But how often do we talk about it or how much awareness do we have about it?
Think about the best and the worst teams that you have been a part of. It could be a sports team, project group or anything else. You probably felt inspired, energised and motivated in the good team. In the bad team, you probably felt like you could not speak much or had to mask your thoughts almost all the time.
If you are a part of a team, you must be clear in expressing your thoughts. Psychological safety comes from the foundation of clarity. How many times do we come across people who do not voice their opinions because of the fear of being rejected or judged or made fun of! Organizations are now coming up with creative techniques to make their employees feel comfortable but the difference between comfortable and safe is a far fetched one.
Comfort zone versus the growth zone
They say that to grow personally and professionally, one has to get out of their comfort zone. However, being uncomfortable does not always mean that you are growing or that you are learning something positive. The first stage of psychological safety is called the Inclusion Safety. If you do not feel included in your workplace, there is no way you will feel the urge to be yourself or add to the company’s growth. If it is not yours, why bother, right? We all want to feel included. We all have the longing of belongingness. Hence, comfort zone is the first thing we need in our workplaces. One needs to be comfortable and accepted in their environment. It is always better to enlarge your comfort zone instead of leaving it behind. Behavioural Psychologists have experimented that new places, new environments and uncomfortable situations instil some anxiety in people and anxiety and performance are inversely proportionate to each other. Inflating your comfort zone simply means to own every place you go to. Here, the aspect of discrimination also plays a major role. As an authority figure, the leader needs to make sure the employees feel accepted and welcomed regardless of their age, sex, caste, social background, etc. In simple terms, they must feel comfortable and congenial by just being present.
Communication is the key
Collaboration, cooperation and engagementthree important things for organizational growth and many more are directly connected to effective communication in workplace. When we say communication is the key, it is the key to the locks of conflicts, disagreements, demotivation, experimentations and a lot more. The second stage of psychological safety is called the Learner Safety. When the employees are open to learning new things, they are also open to experimenting and making mistakes. If you’re afraid of making mistakes at your workplace, you’re not feeling safe. Humans make mistakes, that’s how we learn and that’s how we grow. Not to forget, some great inventions were results of mistakes. On the other hand, some great disasters took place because, unfortunately, there was no scope of communicating. Learner safety helps you feel safe in all aspects of growth and progress which are asking questions, giving and taking feedbacks, experimenting and goofing up when you do. All in all, feel free to express your thoughts as they are, without filter and without hesitation.
The Donor
One of the core foundations of any company’s growth is to use and execute what the employees have learned. If the introspection cannot be put to use, there is no way paved for new ideas. For instance, an intern is trained by someone experienced. Once the intern reaches a higher position in the company and gains enough experience, he/she is qualified to train a new intern for the same. This is a classic example of the next stage. The third stage of psychological safety is known as the Contributor Safety. Employees should feel safe contributing and giving what they know to their company for its benefits. Talking about experience, a new employee is not considered qualified or experienced enough to train an intern. This is why they say that contributor safety is not something that the company owes to its employees, it is something that they earn for themselves. An employee is successfully sailing through the contributor safety if they are able to participate in the company, give ideas and suggestions, expressing their own analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of anything without fear.
To stand against monotony – Dare to defy
There are times when one feels very safe at their workplace and that’s the time their emotions are at risk. This is the time when employees are at their highest level of exposure and their vulnerabilities are out in the open. The final stage of psychological safety is called the Challenger Safety and it is considered as the most delicate stage but yet, the most important one as well. There are questions that we all want to ask but we don’t for n number of reasons.
Questions like, ‘Why is this done in this manner?’, ‘What if you tried this other way?’ or ‘May I suggest an alternate way of doing this?’ These questions, if not asked, could end up bothering employees in the long run. They need to feel safe enough to ask these questions only to make things better for the organization and to challenge the system without being afraid of damaging their reputation or their standing. Being the last stage of psychological safety, challenger safety helps in individual as well as collective development. It boosts confidence, increases morale and motivation, reduces the pressure of conformity and enhances creativity. On the other hand, it breaks the patterns of failure and monotony, paving way for ideas and innovations.
When the work environment is safe enough for employees to function at their best, it creates a culture of risk-taking, interpersonal communications and transparency. The workplace becomes more sturdy, powerful and revolutionary where employees are not afraid of bringing their whole selves to work.
Work Cited:
- https://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/21201-psychological-safety-hot-concept-workplacesafety
- https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4136760
- https://psychsafety.co.uk/about-psychological-safety/ https://positivepsychology.com/comfort-zone/
- https://psychsafety.co.uk/the-four-stages-of-psychological-safety/
- https://www.betterup.com/blog/why-communication-is-key-to-workplace-and-how-to-improve-skills
- https://www.leaderfactor.com/post/stage-2-learner-safety
- https://www.inflectionpointcoaching.net/blog/contributor-safety-is-earned-not-owed
- https://www.leaderfactor.com/psychological-safety/challenger-safety
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