5 steps to psychological safety when crafting DEI programs

Companies that want to attract a diverse workforce often are unsure where to begin. Establishing a diversity, equity and inclusion program is a good start, though a solid foundation must be laid for any DEI initiative to be successful. 

Corporate culture experts say the cornerstone of a diverse workforce is psychological safety, which enables everyone to feel appreciated and respected, regardless of individual differences. While not a new concept, DEI-conscious workplaces are driving more organizations to develop psychological safety training programs to address diversity challenges. It's a ripe topic of discussion between employers and their benefit advisers given the growing importance of mental health benefits and resilience, along with DEI programs, in a challenging labor market. 

Google spent two years studying the dynamics of successful teams and determined that psychological safety is the most essential factor in any high-performing group. One key finding is that people who feel greater psychological safety are more likely to stay, more open to teammates' ideas and have higher effectiveness ratings.

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Harvard professor and author Amy Edmondson first coined the term in 1999. "Psychological safety means an absence of interpersonal fear," she wrote in her book, The Fearless Organization. In a recent Harvard Business Review article on drug development teams, Edmondson observed that "in teams with high psychological safety, diversity was positively associated with performance."

Our health and wellness advertising and marketing agency, AbelsonTaylor, adopted psychological safety training as a central part of the approach to attain diversity. It has become the foundation of our company's diverse, unifying, new work culture and the nucleus of our DEI initiatives. 

Late last year, we made a significant commitment to a psychological safety program to ensure that our people feel respected, accepted and valued. The aim was to foster greater cultural diversity where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and is empowered to thrive, regardless of gender, race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability or religion.

The first-level goal of workplace psychological safety is to achieve an environment that is a sanctuary of inclusion and incubator of innovation. Every staff member should feel confident voicing ideas, questions and concerns, without fear of humiliation or punishment, taking risks or making mistakes. 

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AbelsonTaylor's DEI and HR team worked with LeaderFactor, a psychological safety training and consulting organization, to develop our program based on LeaderFactor CEO Timothy R. Clark's model. Every staff member participates in this multifaceted effort, which includes four training stages.

The first is inclusion safety. It satisfies the basic human need to connect and belong, while also helping promote diversity. The second is learner safety, which allows people to feel safe as they engage in all aspects of learning, including asking questions, giving and receiving feedback, experimenting and making mistakes. The third is contributor safety, also known as rewarded vulnerability, which empowers individuals with autonomy, guidance, and encouragement in exchange for effort and results. The fourth is challenger safety, which gives team members permission to dissent and disagree productively. Without it, they will tend to stay silent for fear of being punished for their candor. 

For organizations that are interested in embarking on a psychological safety program, we recommend the following steps: 

1. Identify the psychological safety need.
As director of DEI, I was given the mandate to evaluate various components of the employee experience. I examined agency practices and procedures, as well as conducted a listening tour. This included reviewing the employee engagement survey data and exit interview data, followed by several small focus groups and one-on-one interviews. I also relied on demographic information and recommendations from consultants who preceded me. Based on the data and these inputs, I determined that psychological safety training could enhance team dynamics.

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2. Secure management buy-in.
Management agreed to make a significant investment of time and resources based on the information presented. As a first step, we initiated a 14-week team transformation program with 35 members of our leadership team. Their initial training and participation in modeling psychological safety behaviors was critical to move forward on an agency-wide program. 

3. Develop benchmarking and feedback parameters.
It is important to conduct professional baseline research just prior to launching the program. Ideally, an assessment using a follow-up survey should be done once the organization is trained and has had six or more months to practice intentional psychological safety behaviors. In addition, there should be an ongoing feedback mechanism to collect and evaluate employee responses.

4. Design for specific issues.
Every program is designed to address specific needs and workplace issues. Our senior management completed the team transformation training program using self-guided online modules in phase one. This includes a combination of surveys, micro-training, team check-ins, reflections and action planning designed to help teams and individuals operate with a higher level of psychological safety. Phase two is the agency-wide training rollout that mirrors the senior management training component.

5. Incorporate feedback and make modifications.
Anecdotal feedback is key and actionable long before tabulating benchmark data surveys or other measurements. For example, some of our transformation team members thought the program was "not long enough" and preferred more time to make practice behaviors more habitual. Despite the significant time commitment among busy agency managers, other feedback was extremely positive.

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Once this initial agency wide program is completed, it is important to continue to implement activities to maintain the psychological safety progress. These include incorporating psychological safety metrics into performance reviews and developing specific goals for teams and departments based on survey results. Other steps involve implementing manager-specific psychological safety training and re-evaluating post-training with the survey, as well as introducing vendors and clients to the psychological safety philosophy.

Behavioral change takes time and commitment. But with the tools that psychological safety provides, teams can foster a more inclusive and innovative environment. Individually, people who are engaged and invested in the process not only become psychological safety advocates, but also appreciate the organization for the program's enlightening benefits.