Psychological safety, a concept that has existed in the sphere of management and organisational behaviour for over half a century, is a foundational stone of workplaces relying on knowledge workers. When psychological safety is high, people speak up fearlessly whether it is to ask questions, share thoughts or give creative feedback. Psychological safety is linked to better outcomes in a range of organisational and individual level factors such as performance, engagement, and job satisfaction. Therefore, to better leverage from the knowledge of your people and create conditions where they can readily collaborate with each other, focusing on enhancing psychological safety at work, is imperative.

Combating second-generation gender bias (SGGB) is essential for creating workplaces that leverage diversity. Organisations must educate, challenge norms, foster self-awareness, redefine leadership, and reassess recruitment processes to address subtle inequalities resulting from SGGB. Perhaps one day, competence and amiability will no longer sit on opposite sides of one spectrum for women. Perhaps one day, nurturing and collaborative leadership styles will be accepted and rewarded, and strong and confident women will not be labelled as ‘bossy’.

Psychological safety is about creating an environment where individuals feel comfortable taking interpersonal risks and expressing themselves without fear of judgment or other negative consequences. It's a workplace culture that encourages open communication, collaboration, and risk-taking, ultimately fostering innovation and performance. In this article, we will de-mystify the concept comparing it to psychosocial risks, workplace health and safety and psychological wellbeing at work.

From work that predominantly focused on production where the interest was related to how to make things as efficient as possible, while avoiding physical injury to workers, we’ve now moved to a world relying increasingly on knowledge workers. In this context, engaging at work, sharing ideas, giving feedback, collaborating with one another and creative input are all vital ingredients that enable organisations to perform well. Particularly with the increasing focus on employee-centric work, organisational leaders now understand the importance of taking care of their people and creating environments where people can participate, share ideas and work in teams effectively.