Psychological safety in the workplace unpacked

Psychological safety – feeling safe to speak up with questions, comments and concerns – is a crucial factor for organisational success, but many organisations struggle to create a psychological safe environment for employees to thrive in, tending to attribute blame when things go wrong rather than thinking of errors as a learning opportunity.

“The overall frame has got to be learning as we are here to get better, rather than ‘you messed up’” says Ben Hardy, Clinical Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School, who spoke on Dubai Eye’s Helen Farmer Show recently on the subject of psychological safety.

Leaders should come from a place of some humility. “For example, you can acknowledge your own fallibility and that you don’t have all the answers, invite challenge from others and ask questions” is the advice that Professor Hardy has for leaders looking to create psychological safety for their teams. It is also important to make sure that everyone in a group has a chance to contribute so you get these differing opinions, which might be the difference between success and failure.

You can listen to Professor Hardy’s insights into psychological safety from 35 minutes 25 seconds in his Dubai Eye interview.