Psychological safety: Role of leaders in ensuring a psychologically safe workplace

The concept of psychological safety has been gaining traction in recent years as more and more leaders can be seen realising its benefits. When an employee feels safe enough to speak their mind and not hold back, they significantly contribute to driving innovation at work.

A company that has high-walled, closed-off spaces is highly compliance-oriented, and doesn’t offer many opportunities to go beyond set instructions, is usually the one where employees are low on engagement and fear stepping outside their lines, he explains.

Adding to these, Neelabh Shukla, CBO, Careernet, lists fear of speaking up, prevalent blame culture when mistakes occur, lack of diverse opinions in meetings, micromanagement, hesitation to share new ideas, and frequent miscommunication or information hoarding as the signs of workplaces that are not psychologically safe. At a place of work like this, he says employees may avoid asking questions, challenging ideas, or admitting errors, leading to a stifled work environment where innovation and growth are hindered.

Read more