What do human beings crave for in life? Many psychologists have tried to answer this question. Many have attempted to explain the needs and wants of human beings through various motivational theories. Maslow’s motivational theory talks all about the progressive needs of a human. The first step, if you recall is – safety!

If we look at the evolution of mankind, starting from the primitive cave man, safety has been a primal need to ensure survival. The fight or flight response is one of the defense mechanisms to ward-off any danger.

Fast forward to current day, the outside dangers from wild animals have gone down. But these have been replaced by psychological dangers like losing job, being humiliated in public, not being included in the team. These are all situations that cause mental stress. This stress is almost akin to facing a physical hurt, causing as much pain, as a physical cut or bruise.

When we feel that we are under attack, the body responds with the same surge of hormones. Only in this case, there is no way to channelize this energy by running or fighting. In that mode, it is difficult to think objectively or creatively. The exact opposite to this is, to feel safe or to put it precisely, experience psychological safety.

Organizational behavioral scientist Amy Edmondson of Harvard first introduced the construct of “psychological safety” and defined it as “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking. It is a belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.” Creating an environment in which people feel comfortable to take risks is key to fostering innovation in the workplace. In addition, a 2017 Gallup report found that if organizations increase psychological safety, it makes employees more engaged in their work and can lead to a 12% increase in productivity.

When the data proves that psychological safety is so important, then why are so few companies able to ensure that? Surely, organizations can see that employees can focus on the company interests only when they feel safe and included in the team.

So, how can an organization create psychological safety at work? The first step is to explicitly talk about the importance of creating a psychologically safe work environment. The next step is, about connecting it to a higher purpose of promoting greater organizational innovation, team engagement, and a sense of inclusion. And the final step, is to model the behavior that needs to be embedded in the culture and encouraging people to speak up. Ultimately, it is all about … ‘talk the talk’ and then ‘walk the talk’!