Psychological safety in a governance infused public sector

Have a look at this painting (on the top), why do you think the monks are carrying an umbrella? Is it because they feel psychologically safe from the blowing winds? 

The buzz word today when we speak about workplace psychology is psychological safety. But have you ever wondered what exactly it denotes to for a public sector officer? Is there an umbrella that could be an armour of shared safeness for them? 

Psychological safety 

Something that’s not as simple as it sounds. 

Amy Edmondson, who coined the phrase describes it as “felt permission for candour” — a shared belief held by members of a team that it’s okay to take risks, to express their ideas and concerns, to speak up with questions, and to admit mistakes — all without fear of negative social or professional consequences.  

In other words, psychological safety is a group norm that facilitates high trust working environment by offering an individual the space to be just themselves and to have their voice heard with no strings of judgement attached. 

Having acknowledged the earnest goal it represents, cultivating psychological safety in a governance infused public sector work environment can be a daunting task for most leaders.  

Why?  

Simply because due to the emphasis of respect and obedience — abide by the governance belief system which has been a practice over the years.  

It can be pricky and tricky to share upward feedback with seniors, admit mistakes and to speak truth against power — as vulnerability may not be viewed as a strength of endurance, since public sector officers are regarded as the representatives of a well-balanced and level-headed institutionalised setting.  

This often triggers silence, a culture where there are many ideas and concerns afloat, but people fear the consequences of speaking candidly. 

With this, critical debates and innovate questioning get hidden away in the closet. 

People tend to become reluctant to share new ideas, raise concerns about inefficiencies, or challenge flawed strategies.  

Over time, the organisation suffers, not just in terms of morale but also in making better decisions and soaring better performance.

And this may result in bubbled diaspora of discontentment, which is not addressed, and which could further grapevine into negativity that could adversely affect the trust and reliance one has towards the organisation. 

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Two questions in making psychological safety work 

Q1: Have you thought about a belief philosophy? 

The glare at hindsight is: How can a belief philosophy be created and implemented for it?

And my answer would be: It ties back to the core values of the organisation. 

Many times, the cliché core values of public sector organisations include teamwork, integrity and transparency — and these are in fact elements that are closely related to the emphasis of respect and obedience (abiding to the governance belief system).  

To co-exist psychological safety as a belief philosophy, it is time to consider incorporating Voice & Inspire Change as a core value to build a foundational mechanism for an upheld habitual practice that is modelled as part of one’s day to day work.

No matter the title, no matter the age, everyone is connected to it, and it is connected to the purpose and vision embodied by an organisation.  

Q2: What are some psychological safety skills that could be practised day-in day-out in a team? 

There is no one size that fits all situation to this. The four simple ways of nurturing a supportive and safe team climate which have been my guiding compass include:  

Open dialogues where disagreements can be voiced freely and frictions present in teams can be talked through with a team spirit of tackling the matter at heart. 

Dialogues as these provides the window to leaders and teams to explore one another’s thought processes and analysis in deriving conclusions that maybe triggered by unconscious biasness that could be altered unanimously. And one way to open the space to voice is simply by asking: “Tell me more…”. 

Another way is inducing behavioural change through daily reflection.  

Start meetings with a reflection moment on what were the mistakes made previously and what were its learnings. This triggers a safe platform with a goal-like mindset to voice matters once thought to be sensitive or fearsome.  

And it becomes a norm to consider mistakes as lessons learned through the opportune window of vulnerability and personal introspection that goes along with it. 

Express compassionate humility. By doing so, leaders and teammates can play a significant role modelling in fostering belonging, and they can exercise this by connecting meaning to what is felt by them and their teams especially in times of crisis or uncertainties.  

A doable way to enable the expression of compassionate humility is by listening without analysing what is said — purely listen.  

By doing this, one receives another’s emotions and words with unconditional regard, welcoming self-expression and encouraging a sense of care by making sure people feel heard and accepted for what they say. This can be the core for their bounce-back healing from a crisis or discomfort at work. 

Asking the right triggering questions persistently. Try kick starting and deliberating conversations with open-ended question that has no link to any desired outcome. 

This unframes the tendency of seeing a matter from the same angle to a wholesome string of different angles — promoting a deep dive resonance, that encourages people to voice their ideas and concerns for better choices of decision making. Some questions that may do the trick include:  

• So, what’s the matter?  

• Are there any different views we could experiment? 

• Is there something similar you had encountered previously? 

• Got anything that seem to be not in place? 

And, when someone responds to these questions, do give them the space to reflect and respond — this may provide them the chance to ask themselves of what they know and what they don’t know. 

Through these, a perceptively inclusive, trustworthy and immersive conditioning can be experienced in making psychological safety work. And it is an experiential learning that creates moments of realisation and personal-growth mindset. 

End note 

Psychological safety is a fundamental in today’s workplace culture and for public sector organisations, it is an onus to governance to reassess what is holding their people from speaking up and consider the right steps to build a culture of trust, openness, and growth for a better today and tomorrow. 

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The author is an expert in Organisational Change Management with nearly 15 years of experience leading innovation, acculturation, and digital transformation across Fortune 500 companies and government institutions. Her work is dedicated to shaping a forward-thinking, customer-centric service excellence.