Create a psychologically safe workplace

There are many elements to creating an organisation that supports a diverse workforce. One of the most important things you must achieve is to create a psychologically safe space that allows all staff members regardless of background or position to speak out against bullying and harassment.

As we see from research published by Ibec, most Irish business intend to implement a hybrid model of working for the foreseeable future. While there are many positives that come with this it might also mean there is an increased chance bullying could go undetected.

Despite many businesses having bullying and harassment policies that encourage staff to speak out if they feel they are being bullied many experiences still go unreported. This is usually out of fear of retaliation. Those who have reported mistreatment fear it could impact on their employment. We see this happening frequently internationally. In America, the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found 68% of sexual harassment allegations and 42% of LGBTQ+ discrimination allegations made, were reported to have been met with employer retaliation. It is therefore vital to remember how many of your employees might have experienced a negative response or know someone who has had a negative response to victimisation.

How do you ensure that your organisation is a place where employees know that they will not be punished, or side lined if they come forward with an issue? A psychologically safe space should not only allow employees to speak out but encourage them to do so.

The first step in this journey is accepting that your systems and processes might be flawed. You must be committed to exposing and fixing any failures that you uncover. While employers must be aware of the two codes of practice that set out how to prevent and deal with bullying and harassment, throughout this article we will look at how you can ensure you don’t just do what’s expected but create an open and transparent environment committed to zero tolerance of bullying or harassment.

Design a process not just a policy
While a robust policy on speaking out is a great first step, you cannot stop there. It must also be clear who is responsible for each stage once a complaint has been made.

Invest in training for everyone involved in the process to understand how to respond and support through those initial critical conversations, how to investigate bullying and harassment and how to decide on outcomes.

Ibec Management Training run a number of courses which can support you on this journey such as Bullying & Harassment – Investigating & Dealing with a complaint, Support Contact Person and critical conversations.

Our Ibec Knowledge Centre are also on hand to support your employment law queries throughout your journey.

Connect with employees
You will have people in your organisation who have experienced reporting bullying and harassment whether that was in your organisation or with a previous employer. Proactively encourage people to share their experience confidentially with you, find out what worked and what made their experience more difficult and take this on board.

As you collect your feedback and experiences it is vital that you do not shoot the messenger, understand that it is these very issues you want to know about so you can create something better. Instead thank people for being open and candid.

By putting lived experience at the forefront of your planning stages it will showcase your true commitment to creating a system of support.

Be people-centric
A common issue expressed by employees is reporting systems and responses seem cold and legalistic. Some organisations can fall foul of this by over focusing on the steps required to lower the risk of a lawsuit therefore losing sight of the people and the distress at the heart of claims.

Find a way to balance understanding and empathy while ensuring the correct steps are taken.

Have an open door policy

Let employees speak to HR and Management about the smaller things. If they are uncertain or something is bothering them, create an environment where they can speak and build trust. This rapport will stand to all parties if larger issues occur. Perhaps as important as creating a space where employees can share is for them to trust they can do so in confidence. If you engage in gossip and breach trust your lines of communication will go from actual support to a box ticking exercise.

Culture of commitment
Instilling a culture of support, respect and understanding will take time. This cannot be achieved with a policy announcement and a once off workshop. You will need to revisit, remind and respond when necessary. Implement practices to support your culture.

You will need commitment from leadership. Leadership teams and management must be vulnerable and accept that they may have made mistakes in the past and may make them in the future. By being open and taking ownership it will set an example for others.

Everyone from the top down should be committed to the behaviour that creates a safe space. People managers therefore need to keep this at the forefront of their management, during 1-1’s encourage open conversation, while safeguarding the continued values of respect and trust.

Anonymity
Understand that while a full and formal complaint is best for your investigation you might need to be more flexible with your processes. Understand that in creating a safe space you need to allow for different personalities and experiences. Even if you create a safe reporting environment some employees might still prefer an anonymous informal reporting route.

There are a wide range of tools you can use to support this including, external phone lines, website forms and apps.

By not putting pressure on anyone to come forward you will become aware of issues happening that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. You might also be able to catch situations before they become a more significant issue.

Communication
Once you receive a report from an employee you need to respond in a timely, professional and sensitive manner. Show that this is important and that your organisation is committed to your zero bullying policy.

If you need to carry out an investigation the reporter should be the first person you tell. Share how the process works, give them as much information and support as necessary.

Offer additional support that might be required at this time such as occupational health or employee assistance programmes. Let them know these are neutral resources that are completely confidential and are there simply to offer support.

Creating a safe space can be hard work. It won’t come without challenges and push back. It may take longer than you expect but it will bring huge benefits to your organisation.

Benefits of psychological safety in the workplace

Staff who believe their organisation respect and value them are more engaged in their organisations. This lowers absenteeism, turn-over, accidents and mistakes. By creating an engaged workforce you will breed loyalty which saves costs on recruiting and training new staff as well as increasing the productivity of your current employees.

One study looking at work behavioural science across a wide variety of industries found psychological safety related in higher levels of learning, knowledge sharing and creation of new solutions. By creating a safe work environment people work more effectively together. This supportive relationship meant people were more willing to ask questions and admit when they had made mistakes.

It is clear that by creating an environment that encourages interpersonal respect your organisation and employees are more likely to flourish. Psychological safety means creating a safe and respectful work environment for all regardless of background, gender or sexual orientation.

Samantha Owens
Ibec Executive
samantha.owens@ibec.ie