Promoting psychological safety to mitigate workforce stress

There’s no doubt that between COVID and its aftershocks, the war in Ukraine, and a potentially softening economy, many in the U.S. are feeling a low-level, ongoing stress across the board right now.

While society as a whole appears to be becoming more conscious and caring about mental health & wellbeing, actual action from employers isn’t matching up. A February 2023 survey of 10,243 global workers by think-tank Future Forum reported that 42% of U.S. workers say they feel burnout — its highest figure since May 2021.

It’s important to recognize that this is very likely affecting your workplace colleagues. That said, company leaders can take some simple steps to minimize the chance of stress becoming acute in their people, and help them become truly productive and creative instead.

Create psychological safety

Psychological safety is the belief that you won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes, and it has to be actively cultivated to create a workplace environment where employees are free of the danger of acute stress and burnout.

At Torch, we regularly run group coaching sessions with senior people at household-name companies on how to create psychological safety, and we find these sessions ultimately boil down to 6 key areas:

1. Build diverse teams and encourage and reward diverse ideas.
2. Foster a culture of respectful debate.
3. Model vulnerability and share personal stories.
4. Reward risk-taking and courage.
5. Model openness to feedback and criticism and make sure people are not afraid to admit mistakes.
6. Develop shared norms that promote contribution from all team members.

The way you approach these at your organization will vary based on your culture, but above all else they should be treated holistically as a journey you’ll never finish, rather than a box-ticking endeavor.

At an individual level, relational (also called ‘soft’) skills training can also support people to become more self-aware and receptive to feedback, recognizing unconscious biases and practicing responses to being challenged.

Promoting wellbeing

Employers and people managers can also promote wellbeing through mindfulness, exercise and encouraging people to take time off. While these three pillars of wellbeing are often touted for personal practice, they are just as relevant – if not more so – in a corporate setting as effective tools for managing stress and burnout.

I’m a huge fan of meditation, and have been proselytizing about it for many years as I’ve seen the benefits in my own life. Why not encourage your team to try one of the many great mindfulness apps or courses, and share your experiences and recommendations with each other? Meanwhile, encouraging lunchtime walking, jogging, or in-office yoga can all help to spark a more energetic team lifestyle, which will pay off both for physical and mental stress level reduction.

Crucially, making sure employees use their holiday entitlement is a huge issue, particularly in the technology sector. On paper, a policy of unlimited vacation time sounds amazing, yet in practice, people take no time off at all. Employees think it’s a trap — and that the real message is that to get ahead in business you have to work 80-100 hours a week with no vacations at all. Yet the truth is, employees who take time out of work are more refreshed and creative. It is important for leaders to model the right behavior by taking vacations themselves, as a starting point to create a culture where everyone sees that taking time off regularly to disconnect from work is healthy.

The practical tools of meditation, exercise, and real vacation time may feel like the ‘obvious’ answers. But think about it, do you and your team really put these ideas into practice?

Check stress levels

It’s also absolutely imperative to check, regularly, how well you are doing with stress reduction measures. Seek feedback to measure stress levels and perceptions of psychological safety within your teams, perhaps by carrying out anonymous surveys of team members regarding how safe they feel to express ideas and take risks, how fairly they feel policies are implemented across the company, and what they think would increase their sense of trust and psychological safety.

Many people are having a tougher time than usual right now, and managers are being called on more often to help their teams navigate challenges like work-life balance and burnout. Companies should review their leadership development programs to ensure managers are supported to develop the relational skills required to be successful.

Related: How to promote psychological safety with HR tools

The benefits to your business’ productivity and innovation will become clear as employees work without stress or burnout holding them back. Picasso didn’t feel he could sit down to paint his next masterpiece when he was being hassled about the rent; why are you and your team going to be any different?

Cameron Yarbrough is co-founder and CEO of people development platform Torch.