2023 Voice of the Workforce
Psychological safety, as defined by researcher Amy Edmondson, exists when people feel their workplace is an environment where they can speak up, offer ideas, and ask questions without fear of being punished or embarrassed (Edmondson, 2019). Employees may have good ideas about how to improve work processes or products but won’t speak up and offer suggestions unless they feel psychologically safe. We used an adapted version of Edmondson’s scale of psychological safety and two items were added “I feel comfortable speaking up at work if something is wrong” and “my company provides a positive and supportive work environment.” Overall, respondents agreed somewhat with the statements. The two areas where respondents tended to disagree were “making a mistake isn’t held against me” and “it is safe for me to take risks at work.” Psychological Safety
Figure 23. Source: OSU Center for the Future of Work, 2023 Voice of the Workforce study
WorkTrends 2024
29
Powered by FlippingBook