DEIB is fulfilled as a core value only when all employees feel safe speaking up in the workplace. Psychological safety means people can be candid about everything, from new ideas to biases experienced in the workplace. -BY Joseph Warren

Amplifying all voices in the workplace will produce advantages for both the organization and its people. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) cannot become a full reality when employees fear retribution or ridicule and are afraid to speak up about events that impact their ability to succeed in their roles or ask questions. People must have opportunities and be willing to express their concerns, ideas, challenges, and workplace experiences for organizations to make progress in DEIB. The connection between psychological safety and true DEIB is strong, and its strength is critical to the kind of culture an organization creates and maintains. Organizational leaders can employ different tactics and behaviors to create an environment where employees are comfortable speaking up.

CONSEQUENCES WHEN PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFET DOES NOT EXIST

How does a lack of psychological safety as an element of the organization’s culture impact DEIB? When employees do not feel mentally and emotionally safe, they usually leave their jobs, due to experiencing bias or fear of expressing their authentic selves. They usually turn to social media and organizational review sites such as Glassdoor to discourage other diverse people from applying for jobs. Some of the most qualified and innovative diverse talent is lost because of the inability to attract women and minorities as job candidates.

Psychological safety also impacts the ability to achieve true equity. For example, a Black employee is reluctant to speak up about accepting new job responsibilities that eventually turn the current position into a higher level one. The person deserves a new job title and more pay, compared to what others earn at the new position level. She is afraid to speak up, because of worries that she would be viewed as “another minority making demands” or would get poor performance reviews to justify not paying her more. The supervisor has made disparaging remarks to her in the past about her ability to do specific work, so her fears of retaliation are justified. Retaliation remains common. The EEOC reported 73,485 new discrimination charges for 2022, and 37,898 (51.6%) involved retaliation.

A lack of psychological safety also impacts inclusion and belonging. A woman wants to join a project team but is bypassed. She remains silent, rather than speak to the manager or project team leader to explain her desire to join the team and the skills and new ideas she can bring as contributions. Diversity does not automatically translate to inclusion. When employees are excluded from important discussions because their perspectives are not valued, inclusion does not exist. In some cases, diverse employees are included in meetings or on teams, but their ideas are always brushed off, even when they speak up. They may be included but do not feel belonging.

These scenes are playing out in workplaces around the globe, and there are many consequences. New ideas are not expressed, collaboration is stifled, organizational learning is inhibited, and turnover is higher than expected. The organization’s culture hinders employee satisfaction and happiness, and encourages continued bias through example. Without discussion in the workplace about life experiences, different perspectives, equity and inclusion issues, and a lack of belonging, trust in leadership and employee engagement are harmed.

CREATING A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL EMPLOYEES

Which comes first: psychological safety or DEIB principles? They work together simultaneously to create a safe environment for employee voice. Psychological safety is a principle that says employees feel safe from ridicule or retaliation when being authentic at work. They feel free to express new ideas and different perspectives to coworkers and managers, or start difficult conversations about things like microaggressions and discrimination. In a psychologically safe work environment, people of different backgrounds and life experiences express themselves, elevating organizational learning. Research on the impact of uncertainty found that the level of psychological safety directly predicts team learning, which then impacts team performance. This is especially true in knowledge-intensive tasks involving creativity, complexity, and sense-making.

Amy Edmondson, Ph.D., Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School is recognized worldwide for her work on organizational learning, leadership, and teaming. One of the critical points she makes is that psychological safety is needed to progress toward DEIB goals. The reason is that management does not know if something like belonging, a subjective perception, is improving without honest and broad input from people in all the different employee groups. Psychological safety and DEIB are interconnected. Edmondson also reminds leaders that building psychological safety is only one element of an effective learning organization. It works in tandem with other goals for activities, including hiring, training, and promotion processes.

ASSESSING COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE

A study of 62 drug development teams at six large pharmaceutical companies set out to test the theory that psychological safety is the key to diversity. The results were that teams with the highest psychological safety also had a positive association between diversity and performance. There was a negative association between diversity and team performance in teams with lower psychological safety. The researchers also found that teams with high levels of psychological safety had more diverse teams, and team members were more satisfied compared to diverse teams in an organization with low psychological safety. The researchers, Henrik Bresman and Amy C. Edmondson, made three recommendations to build psychologically safe environments. First is framing, which includes framing meetings as information-sharing opportunities and framing differences in opinion or perspective as a source of value. Inquiry is another recommendation, and this refers to helping people contribute their thoughts by asking open questions that build causality and ownership. It sounds so simple, but people often do not ask questions about things they are unfamiliar with or lack understanding of - or do not even know to ask. Open questions do not have a predetermined answer and are asked out of a genuine desire to listen and learn.

The third recommendation is learning tactics to bridge background and expertise boundaries. Team members, employees, and leaders can seek information from others that explores where objectives, expertise, and challenges intersect. This is how collaboration is improved. Ask questions about hopes and goals, resources and skills, and obstacles and concerns. Answers to these questions establish a foundation for moving forward with better understanding.

FEARLESS VOICES CREATE A WORKPLACE DEFINED BY DEIB

Psychological safety is an essential component of creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. It is the belief that one can speak up, voice their opinions, and take risks without fear of negative consequences. In a workplace that values psychological safety, employees feel comfortable sharing their experiences and perspectives, which leads to a deeper understanding of their colleagues' diverse backgrounds and identities. This understanding allows for more inclusive decision-making and problem-solving, creating a more diverse and equitable workplace. Employees may feel excluded or marginalized without psychological safety, leading to a lack of trust and disengagement in the workplace. Therefore, creating a psychologically safe workplace is critical to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.