Are you training Psychological Safety at work?

Google say that psychological safety is the key to any successful team.

Firstly, let’s look at what psychological safety is. The HSE Network (2021) define psychological safety at work as being a process of managing psychological risks to enable the fulfilment of employees whilst at work:

Managing Psychosocial risks is defined as— “fulfilment of the physical, mental and cognitive needs and expectations of a worker related to their work”.

Fulfilment can be defined as “the achievement of something desired, promised, or predicted”.

HSE say psychological safety at work is now a business requirement and cannot simply be ignored by employers. Psychological safety is governed by the ISO 45003. The ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organisation with a membership of 166 national standards bodies. Through its members it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges. The ISO 45003 has been established by all 166 national bodies as a global standard intended to give practical steps to managing psychological health within the workplace (ISO 2021). It comes under the remit of occupational health at work and currently the UK government are considering making the requirement for psychological safety a legislative requirement in a similar way that health and safety in the workplace.

HSE (2021) also say psychological health at work encapsulates physical, mental, and cognitive needs as well as protecting employee’s capacity to learn, develop and flourish. What is especially powerful is that employees live outside of work and the need to have a suitable balance between the two is also protected. The ISO (2021) affirm this position by stating employers cannot dismiss the psychological effects of trauma, long term illness, or bereavement, as not work-related. They impact on people’s ability to work effectively. Equally, an organisation’s approach to getting people back to work and how they are expected to work will impact their well-being outside of work – making the cycle of ill-health continue.

Interestingly, Google (2015) ran Project Aristotle which was research specifically looking into what creates a high performing team. Google found that the number one attribute that all high performing teams had was a high degree of psychological safety. Google (2015) defined psychological safety as being able to take risks on as a team without feeling insecure or embarrassed. They showed over many teams that the ones who performed the best felt safe to fail because they had the support of their team. Google (2015) champions psychological safety as the leading characteristic that all team training should focus itself around.

Psychological safety is now standard which companies must meet through governance by the ISO. This helps recruitment and retention of staff because those coming into the organisation know they will be supported. Through Google’s work psychological safety has been shown to be a KPI of success that all teams should aspire towards rather than just a tool to ensure health. The world of training has now evolved to develop skills in psychological safety management as the industry recognises this is fundamental to health and success of people, teams and organisations. The trend for more training in this arena is only likely to grow further.

What training is your company offering in psychological safety and if the answer is none then question the reason why.

Article written by John Earls – Goodfoot Director

References

Google (2015) The Five Keys to a Successful Google Team [online] https://rework.withgoogle.com/blog/five-keys-to-a-successful-google-team/

HSE (2021) health and Safety Network [online] website: https://www.hse-network.com/about-hse-network/

ISO (2021) International Standards Organisation [online] website: https://www.iso.org/about-us.html