Psychological Safety @ Work: Programs for Leaders and Teams

LeaderLab Directors Linda Manaena and Nicole Stafford have long-lived and breathed all things in this space, with years spent working with clients, corporates, businesses, government and community organisations This, coupled with their own lived experiences, led them on a pathway of discovery and solutions – and so felt compelled to bring PS@W to market.

Inclusive Innovations Tasmania quickly identified the purpose and values synergies with LeaderLab and this Program as it aligns to their vision of making inclusion mainstream. So together they saw the opportunity to champion human-centered workplace practices, and thus the Psychological Safety @Work Program came to life!

Psychological safety is defined as feeling able to be yourself without fear . It’s about not being embarrassed, marginalized, or punished in some way that negatively impacts you whilst you’re at work.

A psychologically safe workplace means you won’t hear things like:

“I fear sticking my neck out without having it cut off. If I rock the boat, I’ll be struck off the Xmas party list or thrown to the sharks!”.

When you are empowered with the knowledge and tools of the Psychological Safety @ Work program, accelerated learning happens – so you won’t feel things like:

“I want to feel respected, valued, and have meaningful opportunities, but I often feel left out like I don’t matter.”

When psychological safety is active, innovative behaviors and creativity are stimulated and collaboration soars – so you won’t hear things like:

“I like to be creative and share ideas without judgment, but my leader only values thoughts that are consistent with theirs.”

Undertaking the PS@W Program, you’ll feel confident to be heard and actively encouraged to speak and be given a voice – so you won’t experience things like:

“They say ‘let’s learn from mistakes’, except we don’t dare make any or ask questions.”

Psychological safety shapes how you feel and perform in your role. It means you’re supported and able to take risks and ask questions without your team beating you up – and that’s a recipe for success!

There are many reasons that psychological safety at work is critical, a few of which are outlined below.

Firstly, in today’s contemporary world it’s becoming increasingly expected to be able to show psychological safety is valued from both an employee and organization perspective, and the community as a whole.

And, although increasingly we live in a virtual world, our current workforce from a cost perspective is still substantially comprised of humans! Therefore our investment in these critical drivers of work makes sense. The more engaged people and teams are as a ‘well-oiled machine’, the more satisfied they’ll be. And that’s good for the individual and the business’ productivity and profitability too.

Thirdly, the old framework of the Occupational Health and Safety framework is shifting and the new rules incorporate a new chapter on psychological wellbeing, which means you need to show compliance to these requirements to avoid unwanted legal action. The PS@W Program will give you insight and access to resources to ensure you’re up-to-date and not at risk due to lack of understanding.

Lastly, the PS@W Program will help develop and improve your business in many ways including;

• increasing staff retention and lowering staff turnover as well as reducing ‘sickies’;
• staff are more motivated, resilient, and committed and therefore they are more interested in getting the work done;
• more and better communication which means more collaboration (fewer silos), idea sharing, and better-quality decision-making, which in turn results in increased productivity and efficiencies.

Simply put, psychological safety is good for business!

Psychological safety is endorsed by some pretty impressive research gurus like Timothy Clark and Amy C. Edmondson. Tim – from authoring a book on the subject along with completing a P.H.D. at Oxford University, and, being a British Research Scholar. Amy – from authoring The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth and being a highly regarded Professor at Harvard Business School.

This academic backing, coupled with LeaderLab’s subject matter experts and born facilitators Linda Manaena and Nicole Stafford, your in good hands to guide you along a customised Program to suit your needs and budget.

The PS@W Program follows a measured approach and is based on your workplace’s real and current psychological state. Through a specifically curated tailored questionnaire, you will have a baseline and know where you’re at and where you need to head to achieve optimal psychological safety.

The nitty-gritty of the PS@W Program is split up into four modules that you’ll be led through step by step. You can read all about the four stages of psychological safety below by downloading the information booklet

These modules, brought together, give you a clear picture and pathway to transform your working environment. The PS@W Program delivers education, empowerment, and an action plan to embed learnings that will make positive change in your leadership skills and workplace for the long term. The result is a culture where people enjoy going to work and feel valued, seen, and respected.

The PS@W Program is ideally suited for any Corporate, Business, Government, or Community Organization wanting to lift the bar in their workplace environments by empowering their employees with knowledge and tools for supreme workplace culture.

The PS@W Program creates an ‘uplift’ in any workplace, redefining any sticking points that have been established over time. Are you a leader keen on stepping up your team’s engagement levels; boosting employee morale, and interested in professional development and growth? Then the The PS@W Program is for you!

LeaderLab’s Directors, Linda Manaena and Nicole Stafford will customize a coaching experience to suit your unique needs to enhance positive culture, behaviors, and productivity, including insight into new national legislated requirements.

There are three streams of the Program you can tap into:

1 Base PSYCH Masterclass

A decent introduction to what PS@W is all about whereby, at the end, you’ll know where you are and the work you’ll need to do to improve your PS@W; (You’ll all be on the same ‘page’).

1 Built PSYCH Masterclass plus More

A face-face and review to alleviate any hiccups you may have found or met, and touch-up any knowledge gaps and insights missed.

3 Fully PSYCHed @ Work & Diagnostic Leader

Basics plus all the trimmings as well as set you up to lead it yourself and share the hidden gems of PS@W you’ve discovered within your networks, organizations, and community at large.

See the training modules’ pricing by downloading the information booklet