Psychological safety is a condition in which human beings feel included and safe to learn, contribute, and challenge the status quo. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important for leaders to create this sense of safety as employees return to the workplace.
How do you create psychological safety at work?
1. Consider Communication and Transparency
- Tell your employees about new procedures and what you are doing to keep them safe.
- Keep everyone informed of new protocols.
- Repeat the message in multiple ways for everyone to understand.
- Address the elephant in the room with open communication.
2. Be Empathetic
- While you may get pushback, accept that people’s fear will often be displayed with anger or defensive actions.
- Ask others why to understand their point of view.
- Listen to employee questions, comments, and concerns.
- Remind everyone of the resources available to them.
- Coordinate with your EAP to ensure you have counselors available to support those who are having difficulty functioning.
3. Train Management
- Managers need to constantly be on their toes, adapting and learning from every new challenge they face.
- Ensure managers know how to appropriately respond to employee concerns with training and leadership development.
- Set expectations for managers on how often they should check in with staff.
- Equip managers with resources to help employees who express concerns.
- Help them see their role in organizational success.
Resources For Creating Psychological Safety In The Workplace
Hear expert advice and guidance from National EAP on how businesses can communicate transparently, be more empathetic, train management to appropriately respond to employee concerns, and more.
