Create a Psychologically Safe Workplace to Foster Inclusiveness

Fostering a workplace environment where individuals feel comfortable sharing their points of view openly and respectfully is the foundation of creating an inclusive workplace. That starts with a psychologically safe workplace, according to Claudia Schabel, founder, president, and CEO of Schabel Solutions based in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Often, we have polite workplaces, we have safe workplaces, but not quite [ones that are] psychologically safe,” where individuals are free to make mistakes without the fear of being shamed, she said during her concurrent session titled “Enhance the Dialogue: How to Foster Inclusive Conversations” at SHRM INCLUSION 2024 outside of Denver on Nov. 7.

“Mistakes are going to happen. This doesn’t give us permission to be sloppy, unprofessional, or not be careful with the work we do,” she said. However, there is room for discretion in making individuals aware of their missteps in how they interact with others.

When leaders make a mistake, “they have to be transparent about what [they] did wrong and what [they] learned from it, and [tell workers], ‘I encourage you to learn together from my own
mistakes,’ ” she added.

Leaders also should:

• Speak less and listen more “to make room for different voices, different perspectives,” to ask questions.
• Implement mechanisms for people to be heard.
• Recognize and reward individuals who raise uncomfortable issues or different approaches to a problem.

When HR brings the message of psychological safety to senior leaders, they should share the research behind it and how it supports best practices, as well as the positive impact it can have on their own teams, Schabel told conference attendees.

“Your team is going to perform better, faster, in a more innovative way if you are consistent and intentional about having psychological safety at a team level,” she said. “It’s you coaching [leaders]on building psychological safety for their teams” and knowing how to address mistakes, she told the attendees.

But building psychological safety does not rest solely with the leader.

“It’s created by each one of us in our teams,” Schabel said.

She outlined the following key communication steps to deploy when something goes wrong that can help foster psychological safety and inclusiveness:

Assess the situation: What happened and what is the impact? Determine whether addressing it in the moment puts your safety at risk. If so, deescalate the situation by deflecting or exiting the conversation. When you are ready to broach the topic, the intent should be to have a constructive, productive conversation.

Ask clarifying questions: Respectfully approach the individual with curiosity, not judgment.

Respond with empathy: Tell the person in a factual manner what you observed; this can be a teachable moment. For example, you might tell the individual you witnessed them saying ‘xyz’ but you don’t think they realize how that came across, Schabel noted.

“This is not a monologue,” Schabel said. “We have to listen to understand.”

4. Share the effects: Make the individual aware of their action’s impact on others and share your thoughts and feelings about what happened. One attendee shared how he was quietly made aware that a comment he intended as a joke was offensive to a colleague. At a previous workplace, it would not have raised an eyebrow.

When the injured party is uncomfortable handling the matter on their own, an ally—including HR—can step in by making the other individual aware of the effect their words or actions had on a colleague..

5. Determine the next steps: Is a follow-up conversation necessary? Do you need to talk more about this? It’s important, Schabel said, to be honest with yourself about the purpose of the conversation.

If it’s to address the issue, what outcome are you expecting? If a conversation is warranted, Schabel advised HR professionals to consider potential scenarios, practice what to say, and always use inclusive language.