Whilst the phrase ‘psychological safety’ can be cited back to Harvard’s Amy Edmondson in 1999, the concept of feeling emotionally secure in the workplace has been around for as long as great businesses have been. 

Edmondson defined it as ‘a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.’ Put simply, your people feel secure enough to share ideas, thoughts and, perhaps most importantly, concerns. 

Recent research shows how workforces that enjoy higher psychological safety tend to be the most successful, more creative and increasingly productive. Edmonton’s own research has shown have it’s a critical factor for understanding employee voice, teamwork, and learning. 

All these factors are vital for businesses to thrive, innovate, collaborate and reduce risk. And in an age where more of us are working away from offices and financial + job security continues to be an everyday worry for millions, working to improve the psychological safety of our workspaces should be one of the top priorities. 

So how can we help deliver a more emotionally secure way of working?

Much of the research in this space hones in on communication within our organisations, and it starts from the top. Information must flow in a clear, accurate and precise way with a focus on empathy, humility and good humour. Psychological safety develops when people have faith in their leaders which requires trust and credibility. 

Transparent and effective comms have a huge part to play here. I wrote here about a range of employee comms examples that you can think about using in your organisation, from an overall strategy to enabling a two-way conversation. 

That last point about being open and two-way with your comms is also critical. Feeling able to share worries and sometimes negative feedback without fear of reprimand is a core element of emotional safety at work, and it’s key feedback that organiastions should be paying attention too. 

Having an open-door policy or creating channels for what could be anonymous feedback and suggestions are good options here.

But to end this article, I think we should go back to the start of beginning to assess the psychology safety in your workplace. We need to be asking our people, and including questions designed to gauge the emotional security of our workers within employee surveys. Do they feel confident to speak up without fear of criticism or ridicule? Do they feel they’re able to take calculated risks in the name of innovation? 

If you don’t like what they tell you, it’s time to make some positive changes.