Psychological Safety: The Bedrock of Organizational Culture
This white paper explores the critical role of psychological safety in building healthy organizational cultures and enhancing collaboration. TIVC, an organization specializing in culture and climate assessments, has identified psychological safety as a key contributor to collegiality, teamwork, and mission success. Through data collection and research, we highlight the importance of psychological safety in fostering environments where individuals feel secure in sharing ideas, asking questions, and challenging the status quo. In contrast, a lack of psychological safety is shown to have detrimental effects on workplace dynamics, employee well-being, and organizational performance.
Research findings reveal that a significant portion of the global workforce does not feel psychologically safe at work, leading to burnout, stress, and dissatisfaction. The lack of psychological safety poses risks to organizational innovation, creativity, and adaptability, ultimately affecting an organization’s bottom line. TIVC’s psychological safety assessment, a five-element diagnostic tool comprised to measure elements of inclusivity, curiosity, trust, collaboration, and resilience, addresses these challenges. The assessment assists organizations in understanding their current psychological safety levels and offers recommendations to create and enhance psychological safety through intentional leadership, inclusivity, curiosity, trust-building, collaboration, and resilience-building strategies.
TIVC’s approach provides a roadmap for organizations to assess, establish, and sustain psychological safety, fostering an environment where individuals can contribute, collaborate, and thrive. Through this comprehensive framework, organizations can enhance their performance, innovation, and overall well-being.
TIVC Founder, Jean Kay Ibañez-Payne on a Dream of Business and a Culture of Purpose.