Psychological Safety
While no one can say for sure that the pandemic is truly behind us, folks in organizations have begun to execute plans for moving their enterprise into the post-pandemic stage. For employers with workers who formerly toiled in-office, a lot of consideration is focused on the needs of workers who are being called back to on-site work. One of the key terms being tossed around a lot is “psychological safety.”
What does that phrase mean and why is it important now? Employers have been reaching out to their workers---or subscribing to studies by firms who survey the labor pool---to assess employee attitudes. The term “psychological safety” is one of the most often cited responses from employees when they have been asked what they need to make them comfortable returning to the office.
There are numerous interpretations of the meaning of “psychological safety” at work. Most are centered around employees feeling able to show and employ their true selves without fear of negative work-related consequences (Kahn, 1990.) The Mental Health Commission of Canada emphasizes the role of organizational culture in setting a tone that stresses elements such as civility, respect, trust, honesty, recognition and fairness. The Center for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction concludes that psychological safety “promotes employees’ psychological well-being and actively works to prevent harm to employees’ psychological health due to negligent, reckless or intentional acts.”
Why is psychological safety popping onto our radar screens now? Many aspects of the pandemic have prompted high levels of anxiety within the population. Some psychologists are identifying the event as sufficiently traumatic to some people to prompt PTSD. Mental health issues are being reported at well-above-normal rates across all demographic groups. Causes cited include contracting Covid-19, anxiety over the decision to get/not get vaccinated, sadness over the deaths of friends or loved ones or worry due to job loss. Without question, the pandemic has subjected people to unusually high levels of stress, and, for some, that continues. Even individuals who report that they did not experience high levels of anxiety themselves often note that dealing with family members (including children) who have or are suffering greatly, has created emotional stress for them.
Some employees report being fearful of returning to their workplace; others are seeking to minimize future stress by asking for greater options in scheduling and performing their work. These logistical concerns can be dealt with tactically, and smart organizations are trying out multiple approaches to managing employee working arrangements, often as pilot initiatives. This is a good way to test the waters: SmarterWisdom predicts that these initiatives will demonstrate how varied employee expectations and preferences are on these issues.
On the most extreme end of the spectrum are workers who experienced the pandemic and its attendant features as traumatic. As the country approaches a post-pandemic phase, these workers may be finding re-entry a steep challenge. To understand their experience, it may be helpful to envision the circumstances of stroke survivors. Just as some stroke victims emerge from their experience facing the need to relearn basic life skills, such as walking, feeding themselves and even speaking, our workplaces have segments of their populations who have suffered significant emotional damage as a result of their pandemic experience. Assuming that these employees will simply step back into their old ways of working---flying to meet with customers or colleagues, eating at restaurants, staying in hotels, taking public transportation, etc., may be unrealistic; these formerly routine activities may present real challenges for them, especially initially. They may need time and flexibility to ease back into a new work regimen, as well as empathy and understanding from their managers to support them in their reintegration. Managers should also be aware that even employees who seem to simply “get back in the saddle,” while appearing to require less accommodation, may have needs that may be more different than absent. It may take a bit of probing, such as “Is there anything I can do to help make this transition easier?” to elicit those needs. With other employees, needs may surface later and managers should continue to monitor and check in to assess if anyone is struggling.
With the intense pandemic focus on disease contagion, everyone’s antennae were keenly attuned to issues of physical safety. At this stage, however, especially in terms of the need for psychological safety, physical safety/logistics are only a portion of the equation. SmarterWisdom believes that the accommodations that many employees are seeking, in the guise of work from home requests or alternate schedules, is a pressure valve: these options offer a mechanism for employees to re-enter the post-pandemic work world with a safety net of psychological safety in the form of customizable logistics that can permit lower levels of emotional and logistical stress. For many, the ability to have enhanced flexibility in their working arrangements also signals the regard in which they are held in their organization and a recognition of the heroic efforts they demonstrated during the crisis. Employees may also read these options as signs that their employers do not view them as fungible entities. Psychological safety includes a sense of belonging, of esteem, and of being valued. While these do not make an employee “bulletproof” to all negative experiences at work, they do provide workers with a sense of empowerment and regard, in addition to real-world logistical support.
The keys to really providing psychological safety will lie with how employees are led and managed. Those who make an enterprise’s people policies will need to provide greater opportunities for input from the individuals they employ. Transparency will continue to be a critical element in managing and leading the organization’s workforce. Management and labor will need to work in partnership, where a sense of mutuality pervades policies and strategies.
This will also need to be evident in the tone of interpersonal relationships between bosses and subordinates. Demonstrating that employees are viewed as distinct individuals will be a management requirement. Proactive recognition of potential stressors, such as inquiries about personal well-being (“I know you took some sick days last week. How are you feeling?”) implies concern for employees that goes beyond an inquiry about physical health. To shaky workers, a sense of being noted as individuals with full lives and as people who matter and about whom the organization cares will go a long way toward building a sense of support and community. Ensuring a work culture features these orientations is particularly important during times of duress. Helping leaders and managers recognize that generating these cultural characteristics is now among the performance goals for which they will be accountable, creating/aligning organizational policies and structures to support achieving them and providing training and coaching for leaders and managers on how to deliver on these goals, will be key to creating optimal post-pandemic work environments.