One of the most significant issues in the workplace is the fear of speaking up. Employees often hesitate to share their ideas, concerns, or feedback due to:
- Fear of being belittled by managers or colleagues.
- Fear of having their ideas ignored or ridiculed.
- Fear of thinking differently from the majority.
This fear can stifle innovation and prevent the organisation from benefiting from diverse perspectives.
Google’s Project Aristotle
To understand what makes a successful team, Google conducted an extensive study known as Project Aristotle. The research, which involved analysing 180 teams, revealed that the most critical factor for team success was psychological safety. Teams that felt safe to take risks and be vulnerable with each other were the most successful.
Key Elements for Thriving Work Environments
For employees to thrive, workplaces must respect and enable them to:
- Feel Included: Employees should feel like they are part of the team, and their presence is valued.
- Feel Safe to Learn: There should be an environment that encourages learning from mistakes without fear of retribution.
- Feel Safe to Contribute: Employees need to feel confident that their contributions are valued and will not be dismissed.
- Feel Safe to Challenge the Status Quo: Encouraging critical thinking and questioning existing processes can lead to innovation.
Impact of Psychological Safety
If these conditions are not met and if speaking up becomes emotionally taxing, fear can shut down communication and creativity.
The Four Stages of Psychological Safety
Creating a culture of psychological safety involves progressing through four interconnected stages:
- Inclusion Safety: Ensures that individuals feel accepted and included. It’s the foundation of psychological safety where everyone feels they belong.
- Learner Safety: Allows individuals to feel safe engaging in the learning process. This involves asking questions, experimenting, and admitting mistakes without fear of negative consequences.
- Contributor Safety: Provides individuals with the confidence to contribute their ideas and work to the team. They feel their input is valued and necessary.
- Challenger Safety: Encourages individuals to challenge the status quo without fear of reprisal. It promotes innovation by allowing team members to question existing practices and suggest improvements.
When these stages are established, they build upon each other to create a robust foundation for a culture that values inclusion, fosters innovation, and drives high performance. By addressing the fear of speaking up and promoting psychological safety, organisations can unlock the full potential of their teams, leading to greater success and fulfillment.
In the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2020, a key term introduced is ‘psychosocial hazard’. This term is central to addressing mental health risks in the workplace.
Psychosocial Hazard: Definition
A psychosocial hazard is defined as a risk to the health and safety of employees arising from:
- Work design (e.g., high job demands, lack of role clarity)
- Organisation of work (e.g., shift work, excessive workload)
- Management of work (e.g., lack of support, poor communication)
- Social factors (e.g., bullying, harassment, poor workplace relationships)
- Environmental factors (e.g., workplace violence, unsafe work conditions)
Key Points about Psychosocial Hazards
- Health Impact: These hazards can affect both mental and physical health.
- Assessment: Employers are required to identify, assess, and control psychosocial hazards.
- Risk Management: Implementing strategies to manage these risks is crucial for compliance with the WHS Act.
Legislative Context
The WHS Act 2020 mandates that employers must provide a safe working environment, which includes addressing psychosocial risks. This reflects a growing recognition of the importance of mental health in workplace safety standards.
For more information, you can refer to resources from Safe Work Australia or your local WHS regulatory body, which offer guidelines on managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
Need help with your Psychosocial Risk Assessment Plan?
Future Institute of Australia offer two very different workshops to assist depending on where you are at with assessing your hazards and educating your team.
- For those who have established their Psychosocial Risk Assessment Plan, we conduct half or full day workshops to train your leaders on what psychosocial hazards are and how to use your Psychosocial Risk Assessment Plan to educate their teams.
- We conduct a full day facilitated workshop for your leadership team to identify your organisations psychosocial hazards and develop your draft Psychosocial Risk Assessment Plan.
