Psychological safety: a recipe for success in the best workplaces

The secret to success in the modern knowledge economy lies in new, bold ideas and continuous learning. To enable people to ask questions, think out loud and share their doubts and unformulated ideas, we need a safe working environment where they dare to take risks and even make mistakes. The book on this summarized "psychological safety" is written by Amy C. Edmondson, who teaches management and leadership training at Harvard University Business School and has been researching the topic for 20 years. Now, in collaboration with the Mindwell Psychology Center and HVG, her book has been published in English under the title "Psychological Safety at Work". We attended the informal launch of the book, which included a professional discussion.  

4 elements of psychological safety

In her introduction, Mónika Dura, Head of Mindwell Psychology Centre, listed the four elements of psychological safety: making mistakes, which are not perceived as a scapegoating or shame, but as part of the learning process. The opportunity to ask for feedback from team members and leaders alike. Self-representation, i.e. employees daring to bring their own ideas and points of view to the collective work. The fourth is vulnerability, i.e. the leader can openly admit that he or she does not know something or has made a mistake. All this without stress, as it is not a sign of weakness but of courage in the organisation. Such an environment gives employees stability and security.

"Psychological safety in the workplace has a lasting effect: turnover is reduced, sick leave is reduced," adds Éva Pollák, the company's professional manager.

It was discussed how the author, Amy C. Edmondson, began researching the topic based on her experiences. Early in her career, the author studied the organizational functioning of hospitals. Her hypothesis was that where the fewest mistakes are made, the team works best. It turns out that the reverse is true. The best teams were the ones where they did not make the fewest mistakes, but where they were open about it, analysed and new protocols were put in place. That's when he started to look more closely at the causes and got to psychological safety.

According to the expert, the Hungarian workplace is characterised by silence, reluctance to talk about mistakes, reluctance to contradict, and a tendency to be an enforcer. Éva Pollák believes that psychological safety is not the domain of multi-companies, it can be implemented in any workplace. You are free to step out of your comfort zone in these organisations.

Éva Pollák said that it needs to be introduced at management level and made part of the organisational culture. And if we want to make the culture of blame part of the corporate DNA, it is important that processing does not consist of blaming, but of analysing and learning from the mistake.

Borbála Czakó, President of the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum, also shared a negative example. In the 1980s, she left one of her first jobs because she was forced to lie. Zsuzsa Tóth, HR Director at Magyar Telekom, also gave an example from a former job as a McKinsey economic consultant, where the organisational culture included an "obligation to be decent" if you disagreed with an idea. That's how the best solutions were found.

Rezső Rózsai, CEO of KPMG, said that psychological safety is a core value of a well-functioning company. The status quo must always be challenged. "If an actuary, an IT professional and a strategy consultant are put on a project team, they are likely to agree on little at the beginning. To bring their views together and create the best product and answer for the client, you need to create the right environment in which they dare to put their point of view," he notes.

Krisztina Kárpát, managing director of Bayer Hungária, sees the reasons in the Hungarian school system, where questioning, making mistakes and opposing opinions are punished, so young people prefer to remain silent. This attitude is even reflected in those who enter the world of work, who dare not ask questions at the end of meetings. And the leader has a role to play in easing this.

Borbála Czakó experienced the benefits of this culture at the World Bank, and took it further when she became head of Ernst & Young's Hungarian subsidiary in the early 2000s. According to her, she created a family atmosphere that was not typical of large audit firms at the time, making sure that everyone could speak their mind, paying attention to the work-life balance of her colleagues, and only expecting office presence when there was work to be done.

Psychological safety is not slackness and chaos

Mónika Dura noted that to create psychological safety, the first thing you need is commitment from the first line manager, and from there the rest of the staff will follow suit. This can be introduced into the organisation through tests, sensitisation and workshops.

The expert also dispelled a misconception: it's not about being nice, being easy-going, making the same mistake over and over again. Rather, it is about business, learning, setting a framework that everyone can stick to and build on. No matter how flexible an organisation is about deadlines, high customer service and meeting business goals cannot be compromised.

Creating this is a long process, and it is the responsibility of all leaders - added Rezső Rózsai. For example, it is not enough to find the cause of the failure, because the customer is not interested in that, but in the perfect end product. You have to get to the root of the problem. If we do this, the focus is no longer on the person who made the mistake, but on the learning process and the opportunity for improvement.

Don't be afraid to criticise the leader

Zsuzsa Tóth said that Magyar Telekom switched to agile operations 6 years ago. To generate the best ideas and solutions in a rapidly changing market environment, an empowering corporate culture is needed. If colleagues cannot make decisions at lower levels, the product cannot get to market. An important part of the transition to agile is leadership development, process improvement and conscious communication. Zsuzsa Tóth said that you can make progress by creating rituals. In agile operations, a "sprint" is always analysed afterwards: what was done well, what was done badly, how could it be better. So it becomes embedded in the company culture.

So-called "assimilation talks" helped the Deputy HR Director to settle into his current job. In the first part of this, the HR Business Partner interviewed his prospective direct colleagues, and then her, about their expectations, goals and concerns. This was summarised by the HR Business Partner and discussed together at an external location shortly afterwards. He said that this method was a powerful tool for a quick and smooth integration.

According to Rezső Rózsai, CEO of KPMG, it is also important for managers to dare to express their opinion about the employee, not to be afraid that their colleague will be offended by the criticism, quit and find it difficult to replace him/her in the tight labour market.

Zita Erős, Head of HR at KPMG, pointed out that HR also has a big role to play in educating managers to spot when employees are afraid to ask questions or feel stressed. Zsuzsa Tóth added that leadership development also has its limitations. There are situations where hiring a new manager instead of training is the solution.

Experts noted that psychological safety is not a static state, even leading organisations need to work on it continuously, and 100 per cent is never achieved.

The original article can be read here, in Hungarian.