Autumn Institute Highlights Cultivating Psychological Safety in the Work Environment

The topics presented at this year’s Autumn Institute all rested on the underlying idea that an individual’s full potential cannot be unlocked when their safety feels threatened—whether in a homeless encampment or in a conversation with a coworker.

The 2022 Autumn Institute for Public Assistance Professionals was held virtually Nov. 8-10 for more than 100 attendees from across California. This year’s theme, Illuminating Our Full Potential, united workshops ranging in topics from emotional intelligence to intra-agency collaboration. Workshop presenters shared tools, techniques and insights to grow their capacity to better serve their communities.

While the importance of workplace safety is not a new concept, COVID-19 has drastically impacted an organization’s ability to understand and meet safety needs so that employees can be fully engaged and present in their role. Virtual and/or hybrid spaces present the challenge of creating engaging, inclusive and collaborative environments with limited in-person contact.

In her presentation at the Autumn Institute, UC Davis Workforce Development Coordinator Christine Ly tackled this idea and the question, “How do you create a virtual space where people feel comfortable unmuting themselves to interject an idea, challenge or concern?” The answer—or at least part of the answer—lies in cultivating psychological safety to gain collaboration, engagement and process improvement.

What is Psychological Safety?

The term psychological safety was coined in the 1990s by Amy Edmondson, Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, to describe the focus on “creating work environments that invite transparency, not being afraid to make mistakes, and to embrace vulnerability to maximize teams.” Psychological safety rewards vulnerability and sets the groundwork for meaningful engagement in four stages: inclusion safety, learner safety, contributor safety and challenger safety.

• Inclusion Safety is centered on the concept that “the need to be accepted precedes the need to be heard.” Establishing an attitude of acceptance begins with generating group agreements that go beyond the surface level. What do learners need from each other? What do learners need from the instructor? What does the instructor need from the learners? Gaining agreement on these important questions ensures that all the parties involved are clear on each other’s needs and are properly engaged to meet them.
• Learner Safety is rooted in the collective human need to learn and grow by making space and giving grace to make mistakes. In her Autumn Institute presentation, Christine Ly stated, “The most important signal in granting or withholding learner safety is the leader’s emotional response to dissent and bad news.” It is vital that individuals feel they can try something new—even with the risk of failing. Learning is both an intellectual and emotional activity. When a leader cultivates psychological safety, people feel empowered to learn new skills and grow in their role.
• Contributor Safety emphasizes the importance of giving people the chance to make a difference. One of the best things a leader can do to cultivate contributor safety is to think about what Ly called the “tell-to-ask ratio.” Telling, in contrast to asking, does not give individuals a chance to think creatively beyond their role. Asking, other the other hand, portrays a greater respect for the individual, their opinions and ideas. Leaders can build contributor safety by inviting feedback and collaboration from the entire team rather than a select few “high achievers.”
• Challenger Safety is the belief that team members should feel supported and confident enough to challenge the status quo and make things better. Cultivating challenger safety requires a leader to see themselves as a “curator of culture” who sets the tone from the very beginning. One of the best things a leader can do to establish challenger safety is to protect the team’s right to speak up by immediately calling out anyone that tries to silence others on the team. Ly warned: “Nothing can shut down curiosity and exploratory inquiry faster than a small dose of ridicule at just the right time.” By protecting an individual’s ability to speak up and challenge a process or idea, leaders are fostering an environment of innovation and improvement.

Return on Investment

While some might dismiss the cultivation of psychological safety as coddling overly sensitive employees, research shows that an investment in psychological safety results in organizational benefits that underline its validity and importance. For instance, workers are 50% more productive and 76% more engaged at work. Organizations that cultivate psychological safety also experience a 27% reduction in turnover and a 67% higher probability that workers will apply a newly learned skill on the job.

Once organizations understand what it takes to cultivate psychological safety and begin investing in it to the same degree as physical safety, employees will be empowered to achieve their full potential. On a team level, psychological safety can be fostered by addressing the needs of everyone present, encouraging the risk of new skill development, and giving people the chance to make a difference by protecting everyone’s right to speak up. Together, these steps bring the team and larger organization closer unlocking their full potential for engagement, collaboration and innovation.