Like most managers, I was promoted into the role because I had been a solid individual contributor, had a good reputation with my customers and colleagues, and probably most importantly, I put my hand up for the job. That company, a since-bankrupted private English school in Japan, operated more like a retail business, with a loose collection of connected schools with storefronts in prominent locations around Japan. My role as a regional HR manager wasn’t particularly well defined, and as each location was run by a school manager, there weren’t really any ties binding the staff at different schools. 

The school managers were heavily pressured to get new and renewal contracts from students, often months or even a full year before existing contracts concluded. This created an immense amount of conflict with the teachers, who were understandably less focused on revenue than delivering decent English lessons. This fueled distrust among the staff and ultimately made each school a microcosm of the entire company’s culture—one built around aggressive sales tactics, distrust of management at all levels, and a lack of transparency about the actual goals and vision of the organization.

As you have probably concluded, this was not sustainable and was both part-cause and part-effect of the company’s eventual downfall. As a manager, it was hard for me to create a positive environment when distrust was baked into the culture on an organizational level. 

The experience was humbling and formative. When interviewing for my next job, I paid careful attention to the interactions between people and how they spoke about their colleagues. When I again found myself in a management role, I made it a focus to bring people together for a common purpose. And while I still didn’t understand all the complexities of creating a culture of Psychological Safety (and it wasn’t really part of the business lexicon then), I had learned what didn’t work. 

It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve started to fully understand the importance of defining a business culture, and even more recently, the importance of Psychological Safety within that framework. I’ve also witnessed firsthand as businesses have become more aware of the cost of turnover. What was increasingly true before the pandemic has only intensified as a result—that the number of qualified people for any given job is incredibly finite, and the cost of keeping someone in a role for even an extra year or two versus hiring a brand new resource is measured financially, emotionally, and psychologically. 

With those things in mind, I want to share some of my hard-won lessons so that you can start thinking about how to improve the Psychological Safety of your team and organization.

Psychological Safety starts with 1-on-1s

The question isn’t whether or not you should have a 1-on-1 with each team member, but how often. Personally, I like to meet with each of my direct reports weekly, but for some businesses that might be too frequent. 

A good 1-on-1 has a clear agenda and follows a somewhat predictable pattern. Although it’s good to change things up from time to time, people generally want to feel confident that a 1-on-1 won’t be full of surprises. Having a clear agenda also allows you to ask questions and let the other person do most of the talking. 

While these are the very basic tenets of a good 1-on-1, they also help create Psychological Safety. To go deeper, you need a better understanding of Intrinsic Motivation, which can be provided using a tool like Attuned. One feature that I look at frequently are Motivator Gaps. As you can see from the screenshot, one of my direct reports (in purple) has high needs for Status and Security, while my scores for those motivators (in green) are at the opposite end of the spectrum. Security in this case really boils down to adherence to rules and processes… and I never met a rule I wasn’t happy to break if it wasn’t working. On the other hand, I know that my colleague needs the security of processes, so I have to be very cognizant of changing things halfway through a project. Since we both have a high need for Rationality, however, if I give a logical explanation as to why we need to change things, it’s usually well received. 

Since we both have this information, it creates an environment where we understand our motivations, and instead of butting heads over a change, we can easily find common ground and the best way to move forward.

Give everyone a voice in team meetings

If your 1-on-1s are great but your team meetings feel fraught, then it should be clear that the Psychological Safety of the group needs to be improved. The prescription should treat the diagnosis, so it’s essential to understand the dynamics at play. Are there personal conflicts? Competing interests for business or promotion? Or is it maybe more simply that in today’s remote environment people aren’t spending as much time together?

If you know the answer, or at least have an idea, then you can start working on a plan. In my experience, most conflicts come down to miscommunication. If you have two people who genuinely want to do well and are also keeping the best interests of the business in mind, any differences of opinion should be resolvable. If not, more drastic action is likely needed to deal with someone who clearly isn’t working for the betterment of the team. 

To create Psychological Safety in a group environment, you have to give everyone a voice and the ability to use that voice. One easy way to do this is to have different people lead the team meeting. Although it might be slightly awkward at first, after one rotation through you’ll generally find people are more comfortable speaking than they were before. 

Another way is to encourage open conversation around motivation. Again, Attuned is a great tool here. 

Team A

Team B

Team A has a lot of tightly grouped motivators and would relate closely on values like Financial Needs, Innovation, or Status. Team B is a lot more spread out, particularly in areas like Feedback and Financial Needs. Getting this information out in the open encourages transparency and conversation, ultimately leading to better communication and increased Psychological Safety.

By making sure your team meetings touch on core motivators while also addressing disparities between individuals that could be blockers to achieving team or individual goals, you will be coaching people on how to have more productive interactions both internally and externally.

The hard-won lesson

Early in my managerial career, I was largely putting out fires (and occasionally starting them accidentally) in an organization that didn’t care about the emotional stability of it’s staff (harsh, but true). It took leaving that job, and learning over the years the value of teamwork and real communication, that culture was linked to success… and failure. In the last few years, that view has become more sophisticated as my understanding of interpersonal dynamics and Intrinsic Motivation have impacted how I view team and culture building. 

The tools we have available to us now have significantly closed the gap. Now, any business that isn’t diving deep into these areas is at a significant disadvantage when it comes to hiring and retaining top talent. The global battle for talent isn’t letting up, and what employees want will continue to evolve. It’s important to remember though, that all the perks in the world can’t cover up an environment that doesn’t address a simple idea—that you have to feel safe to feel happy. 

More about ‘Leadership & Management’ & ‘Psychological safety‘

Chad Lafferty
VP, Global Sales

Intrinsic Motivator Report