Towards a Culture of Psychological Safety

A term which is receiving an increasing amount of use across many occupational areas is "Psychological Safety". This can be defined asØ actions taken within an organisational setting to ensure the mental and emotional well-being of individuals within the work-group. Around Australia and New Zealand, the concept of Psychological Safety has great importance for OSH and "duty of care" perspectives.

There are a number of steps which can be taken to enhance Psychological Safety, both from an individual supervisory or management and organisational perspective.

WHAT CAN SUPERVISORS AND MANAGERS DO?

1. Put time and effort into the job selection process. A key stress prevention initiative is having the right person in the job.
2. Use appropriate management and supervisory skills, which enhance good team-work, rather than creating division and conflict.
3. When stress issues are raised, acknowledge and act on these in any way possible.
4. Encourage members of the work group to participate in their own stress management initiatives and provide the necessary support to assist them to do so.
5. Be a good model of effective stress management and ensure you do the things which encourage the work group to see stress as a personal safety issue.

WHAT CAN THE ORGANISATION DO?

1. Supervisor training and development is crucial. The supervisory role is increasingly becoming more about interpersonal skills, rather than technical expertise. Supervisors need a good understanding of stress and how to recognise and deal with stress issues in their work-group. This is enhanced when supervisors have developed good skills in communication, conflict management, performance feedback and team development.
2. Foster a stress-minimisation culture. This approach sees stress as an organisational issue in which all personnel are encouraged to take some responsibility, rather than a "clinical problem" belonging to individuals.
3. Use stress awareness training to provide personnel with ideas and strategies for addressing risk factors in the work environment.
4. Develop a supportive organisational climate. This includes recognition of people, building good communication channels, reviewing the psychosocial aspects of various work-roles, management of grievances and ensuring organisational change takes into account the needs of the people involved, not just the technical requirements.
5. Develop an effective "Employee Assistance" system. An Employee Assistance Program can include a range of resources such as advisory support on grievance and equity issues, in-house and external counselling services, peer support and critical incident response programs, channels for conflict mediation and resources for training and personal skill development.
6. As the concept of Psychological Safety is one that is here to stay in our organisations and work groups, it deserves some serious consideration. Regardless of any individual's opinion about stress, its causes and cures, it's a concept which not only cannot be ignored, but one which needs to be addressed in a systematic manner.