Psychologically unsafe workplaces are paying a safety tax – one that is largely hidden. What do I mean? A product’s final cost doesn’t disclose the taxes paid by the producer, but they are included in the price we pay. The safety tax I'm talking about is much the same. The difference is that we can influence the size of this safety tax once we see it and take it seriously.
A safety tax is what your organization pays when people don’t feel safe to speak up.
There are plenty of definitions of psychological safety, and most of them include the idea of anticipated consequences. If people see those consequences as safe, they will act. If not, their inaction could be one of the safety taxes.
Eight Safety Taxes
Here are eight safety taxes. Consider how much of each of these you observe on your teams.
The Silence Tax
People have ideas, insights, and process improvements. They are ready to be heard and applied. But if left unspoken, no change or improvement can be realized.
The Discretionary Effort Tax
You get compliance and base effort, but nothing more. If it requires someone sticking their neck out, or trying something new, good luck.
The Difference Tax
You recruit for a variety of backgrounds, opinions and experiences. But a differing view may be the most interpersonally risky thing to offer. So low safety silences precisely the voices you added for their difference.
The Newcomer Tax
New people ramp up more slowly because they are afraid to admit they don’t know or don’t quite get it. So, they guess or wait or suboptimize. And the longer they are doing this, the longer you aren’t getting the return you are paying for in their output and quality.
The Speed Tax
Work progress slows down because every decision requires the safety of consensus, or near consensus. After all, if it is a consensus, no one must own the decision or outcome.
The Shadow Meeting Tax
Ever worked where the real conversation happens in the hallway or chat channel after the meeting? There are real time and clarity costs here.
The Filtering Tax
Not everyone tells their boss the full truth. The higher information travels, the more sanitized and filtered it becomes. Sometimes to the point where the information senior leaders have is a far cry from what is happening at the front line.
The Learning Tax
If people don’t share their mistakes, others may make the same one. So, the organization buys that lesson over and over. This was a key lesson from Amy Edmondson’s research with hospital teams that she writes about in her book, The Fearless Organization – better teams reported more errors, not fewer.
Seven Ways to Reduce Your Safety Taxes
These taxes get paid in moments, so that's where you lower them.
Go first.
You can't ask for a risk you haven't taken. Say "I don't know" or "I was wrong about that" out loud, in front of people, when it costs you something.
Ask real questions, then be quiet.
"Any questions?" gets you silence. "What am I missing?" gets you answers. Then stop talking and let the pause do its work. The sooner you talk, the more you teach them they don’t need to.
Watch your face.
Your team is reading your eyebrows when the first person brings you bad news. Start with thank you and mean it.
Notice who isn't talking.
Safety isn't spread evenly. The newest person, the one on the far end of the video call, and the one who sees it differently may feel the least safe. Carefully and expectantly ask for their input.
Close the loop.
People speak up once. If nothing visible comes of it, they don't speak up twice; so tell them what you did with what they gave you. Even if the answer is no, they will realize their input was valued, and the tax is reduced just a bit.
Consider your meeting flow.
If the most senior person always talks first, it is less safe for others to share. Apply this practice: talk less and talk later.
Make it a practice.
Do something once and people notice. Do it for six months and your tax bill is reduced.
Act first on two of these: the one you think you already do (ask your team if you are right), and the one that seems hardest to you. Then keep doing them and add others, one action, one moment at a time.
Who Sets the Tax Rate
We need to stop teaching leaders that psychological safety is a kindness campaign. And we need to stop telling ourselves it's localized to certain people or groups. These taxes are pure costs. Unlike a gasoline tax that maintains or builds roads, all we get from these taxes is less output and poorer results.
Ask yourself how you are thinking about, teaching and acting on low psychological safety. And know that leaders of people and teams set the tax rate. If you want to lower that rate, develop and hold your leaders accountable for reducing the safety taxes.
Remember the tax rate is owned by leaders, like you. What will you do to lower it today?
Several of our expert guests at last year’s Virtual LeaderCon independently talked about psychological safety, why it is important, and what leaders need to do to improve it. This is one example of how valuable the event was last year. Want to gain wisdom from world-class experts in real time and interact with them directly this year? Join us this month for Virtual LeaderCon. Learn more and register for free here.
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