Maintaining Psychological Safety: A Leader's Guide to Navigating Organizational Crisis

Time to read
3 minutes
Read so far

Maintaining Psychological Safety: A Leader's Guide to Navigating Organizational Crisis

Posted in:

Every business leader faces pivotal moments that challenge their mettle, whether from internal organizational issues or global crises. In many instances, the fallout from these events can often cascade to employees, triggering uncertainty and anxiety. 

During such exigencies, the role of management becomes crucial — both in managing the issues and ensuring workers feel safe, valued and heard. Delve into how to step up and provide psychological safety for your teams while navigating critical situations. 

Psychological Safety in Crisis Leadership

Workplace events profoundly impact conversations and dynamics, shaping how employees interact and collaborate. In times of crisis, such as an in-office scandal or a severe cybersecurity breach, the need for psychological safety becomes heightened. 

Imagine your team members hearing about an executive being sacked for embezzlement. Such jarring news will undoubtedly impact their psyche and may even cause some tension. The focus must shift toward supporting colleagues, adapting to new challenges and unearthing creative solutions. 

External Factors

In many cases, the crisis could originate from external issues, like health pandemics and natural disasters. Consider the February 2021 Great Texas Freeze, an extraordinary winter storm that resulted in widespread power outages and extensive infrastructure damage. The severe weather caused empty shelves and restocking delays at grocery stores. 

While the national media extensively covered the storm's physical impacts, less attention was given to the collective trauma workers and customers experienced. Store employees worked tirelessly under challenging conditions to manage closures and enforce safety protocols. 

The sudden scarcity of necessities heightened anxiety and stress for everyone who struggled to secure food and water amid the devastation. The event also underscored that even the strongest organizations can be vulnerable to disruption.

Collective Trauma Is a Massive Problem

Workers enduring emotional and psychological stress without remedy can lead to significant long-term problems. During an organizational crisis, rather than coming together, team members will likely distance themselves and seek emotional and psychological security elsewhere. This has pretty much been the case for companies with a globally dispersed workforce. 

The effect of this disconnection undermines communication and trust, leading to strained interpersonal relationships and lowered morale. In the case of office-related disputes, employees may feel compelled to take sides, further damaging the already fragile workplace culture. 

Business leaders who fail to take action to prevent or overcome these issues may struggle to engage staff, eventually making them feel undervalued and overburdened. 

Rising to the Challenge 

Maintaining psychological safety when the organization is going through agitating times is incredibly nuanced. For one, many people don't even know what it entails. 

Behave's recent survey involving over 200 senior HR leaders sheds light on prevalent misconceptions. Remarkably, only 16% of respondents fully understood what it truly means to create a psychologically safe workplace, despite 89% saying it was essential. 

The common perception of psychological safety involves creating a safe space where employees feel secure and protected. However, it’s more aptly put as cultivating an environment where people can express their thoughts, take risks and share concerns without backlash. It’s the kind of workplace that encourages staff to disagree openly and speak up confidently, creating a stronger, more connected community. 

6 Action Steps for Leaders Navigating Organizational Crisis

Achieving this goal while addressing the crisis behind it can be tricky. Use these strategies as a starting guide.

1. Plan With Flexibility

Acting swiftly and decisively during a high-pressure situation is vital to prevent escalation. However, taking quick action doesn’t equate to being reckless. The more prudent approach is to assess the problem with your team, develop initial strategies and stay open to adjusting those plans as new information emerges. Flexibility allows you to pivot as needed and navigate inevitable setbacks with a forward-thinking mindset.

2. Prioritize Clear and Early Communication

Misinformation can quickly proliferate when a crisis occurs, underscoring the need to maintain clear and speedy communication with your teams. Keeping everyone informed helps prevent misunderstandings and facilitates smoother problem-solving as newer issues arise. Moreover, the lack of on-time updates already accounts for 30% of workplace dissatisfaction, making it more imperative. 

3. Encourage Team Members to Speak Up 

It’s one thing to communicate with employees promptly, but it’s another thing to empower them to express themselves, especially when it's an opposing view. Research by McChrystal Group shows only 37% of business leaders actively promote an environment where staff feel comfortable voicing dissenting opinions. This statistic needs to go up, more so during turbulent times. Learn to see these different viewpoints as a sign of intellectual rigor and embrace them. 

4. Address Concerns Promptly

Acknowledge feedback and take immediate action on issues raised during challenging situations. Doing so demonstrates your dedication to psychological safety and enhances the effectiveness of resolving urgent problems.

5. Work on Your People Skills 

Active listening, empathy and conflict resolution are just a few of the core interpersonal skills of every successful leader. In fact, 80% of the reason new managers struggle or fail is because they lack these proficiencies. The key is cultivating a genuine desire to understand employees’ intentions and desired outcomes and then elaborating your responses authentically and respectfully.

6. Provide Support for Risk-Taking

The infamous “chaos is a ladder” comment may apply here. Organizational crises often present a golden opportunity for team members to take the initiative, whether by taking responsibility for something or suggesting innovative solutions. Offer guidance and resources to support workers in taking well-calibrated risks and exploring new ideas. Even if the suggestion doesn't pan out, the gesture builds trust and improves workplace resilience. 

The Value of a Psychologically Safe Workforce

Workplace anxiety lowers productivity by a whopping 56% and the quality of co-worker relationships by 51%. It’s not just the organization that suffers. Stressed employees are more likely to resort to harmful coping strategies like alcohol and tobacco abuse. 

Conversely, psychologically safe workers exhibit more adaptability during organizational crises. The increased trust in their leaders makes them 2.6 times more likely to respond to change favorably. This dynamic easily translates into enhanced engagement, performance and retention.  

Create Conditions to Thrive During Crises

Business-related upheavals are challenging, but they also present an opportunity to step up and showcase your leadership capacity for managing organizational behavior effectively. Ultimately, your ability to foster psychological safety during turbulent times will make a substantial difference in the outcome. Build your strategy around these key considerations and best practices.