This document discusses how cultivating psychological safety and civility in the workplace can positively impact an organization's bottom line. It defines psychological safety as employees feeling comfortable speaking up without fear of negative consequences. The document outlines signs that psychological safety may be lacking, such as absenteeism and isolation. It also provides examples of leadership behaviors and organizational practices that can undermine psychological safety. Finally, it proposes conducting a psychological safety assessment through surveys and interviews in order to develop an action plan to improve workplace culture.

1. How Civility Impacts Your Organization’s Bottom Line
What is Psychological
Safety in the
Workplace?
Catherine Mattice
MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
Civility Partners, Inc

2. INDUSTRIES SERVED
• Aerospace
• Construction
• Banking & finance
• Healthcare
• Higher education
• IT
• K-12 schools
• Legal
• Manufacturing
• Technology
• U.S. Military
• Water authorities
• City, county & federal government
• Family owned
• Nonprofits, both large and small
• Privately held
• Union environments
Catherine
Mattice
MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
Info@CivilityPartners.com
www.CivilityPartners.com

3. Objectives
• Describe a variety of negative workplace
behaviors as intertwined and existing on
a spectrum
• Define civility and psychological safety,
and the benefits of focusing on them
• Identify areas where an organization
could be undermining psychological
safety
• Identify ways to measure, track and
analyze psychological safety data to
prevent future incidents

4. Policy
Culture
Training

5. Policy
Training
Culture
Leadership
Behavior

6. The Negative Behavior
Spectrum
I n c i v i l i t y
U n p r o f e s s i o n a l i s m
M i c r o a g r e s s i o n s
B u l l y i n g
( a b u s i v e c o n d u c t )
V i o l e n c e
P r o t e c t e d c l a s s
b u l l y i n g
( d i s c r i m i n a t i o n &
h a r a s s m e n t )
G r o u p b u l l y i n g
( e . g . h a z i n g )

7. Incivility
Disrespect or rudeness.
Small indicators that you are not valued
by the uncivil person.

8. Psychological Safety
The belief that one will not receive
negative consequences for speaking up
and/or showing their true self.

9. "A psychologically safe workplace begins with a
feeling of belonging. Like Maslow's hierarchy of
needs—which shows that all humans require their
basic needs to be met before they can reach their
full potential—employees must feel accepted
before they're able to improve their organizations."
-Center for Creative Leadership

10. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Self-actualization
Self esteem
Love and belonging
Safety
Physiological

11. 4 Stages of Psychological Safety
The Four Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation; Dr. Timothy Clark

12. W h e n w e f e e l s a f e . . . w e b r o a d e n a n d b u i l d
Positive
Emotions
Broaden
Inventory of
Possibilities
& Actions
Build
Repertoire
of
Resources
Transform
&
Grow,
Creating
More
Positive
Emotions

13. W h e n w e f e e l u n s a f e . . . w e f i g h t o r f l e e
Threat Anxiety Defense
Working
Through
Flight
Fight

14. S i g n s P s y c h o l o g i c a l S a f e t y M a y B e L a c k i n g
• Isolation; Emotional and/or physical distress
• Absenteeism; Voluntary resignations
• Low productivity
• Employees say that they aren’t comfortable
going to HR or their manager
• More anonymous submissions to your hotline
than employees raising complaints directly with
managers or HR
• Exit interview data hasn’t been analyzed and
shared with leaders

15. A n a l y z e O r g a n i z a t i o n a l R i s k
F a c t o r s
Organizational risk factors result from
policies, procedures, practices and culture.
It’s something the organization is doing or not
doing that creates opportunity for bad things to
happen – financial, legal liability, safety, etc.

16. Risk
8. Highly intelligent
staff
9. Bureaucracy
10. Internal
competition
11. Managers not
coaching employee
behavior
12. Top leaders not
taking a stand
Factors
1. Young workforces
2. Lack of diversity
3. "High value"
employees
4. Isolated workspaces
5. Monotonous work
6. Many tenured
employees together
7. High stress

17. E x a m p l e
Rev Up, Inc. manufactures parts for race car
engines all over the country. They’ve been in
business for over 50 years, and attract a lot of
male talent, many of whom are interested in
learning more about cars and are straight out
of high school. Rev Up, Inc. prides
themselves on mentoring these individuals.

18. L e a d e r s h i p b e h a v i o r s t h a t u n d e r m i n e s a f e t y
• Being quick to say “no” to a suggestion
• Not practicing active listening techniques
(e.g., looking at your phone or computer
when conversing with others)
• Postponing or continuously rescheduling a
meeting with a team member
• What else?

19. O r g a n i z a t i o n a l b e h a v i o r s t h a t u n d e r m i n e s a f e t y
• Encouraging employees to submit complaints
or feedback, but not acting on it
• Failure to embrace change
• Not driving a feedback-oriented culture
• What else?

20. Conduct an
assessment

21. Survey Question Examples
• I am currently getting all the information I
need to do my job well.
• Leadership has done a good job of
informing us about the status of the
organization.
• I trust leadership has my best interests at
heart.
• The amount of social connection I have
with my team is adequate.

22. Survey Question Examples
• I feel comfortable to be my true self when
I’m at work.
• If a person said or did something that hurt
me, I would feel comfortable to talk to them
about it.
• My manager is good at managing/resolving
exclusive behavior, conflict, incivility, etc.

23. Interviews
Randomly
selected
individuals
Open ended
questions
Place notes into
themes

24. Something to consider...
• How will we uncover and unravel the
systemic barriers to inclusivity and equity
within our organization?
• How is whiteness a norm in our
organization and how can we
expand “social norms” to include POC?
• What would POC employees say about
their experiences working for us?

25. Also consider...
Managers' ability to
influence culture is
grossly underestimated
Managers should be taught to
combat any negative behavior,
and also engage in activities
that create a positive
workplace culture.
Investigations
focus on the facts,
the perpetrator,
and the target—
and overlook the
fact that behavior
is a social
phenomenon

26. Everyone
• Setting expectations
• Managing incivility-
>bullying
• Coaching behavior and
performance
• Creating a positive
workplace in their work
team
Managers
• Conflict management
• Communication skills
• Stress management
• Internal customer service
• Self-care

27. Develop
Action Items

28. With an
action
team

29. Create a Strategic Plan
Objective 1: Build trust in
the process of change
Goal: Give employees
opportunities to heal
Goal: Increase transparency
and communication
Objective 3: Create equity in
people processes
Goal: Adjust performance
management systems to be
equitable and fair
Goal: Ensure diversity in hiring,
promotional opportunities, and
training opportunities
Objective 2: Build empathy and
respect into everyday behavior
Goal: Increase awareness and empathy
Goal: Hold Directors accountable to team
culture

30. O b j e c t i v e 3 : C r e a t e E q u i t y i n p e o p l e p r o c e s s e
• Core competency matrix tied to core
values, empathy, and respect
• Crowdsourced list of 40+ jobs to gain a
more diverse population of candidates
• Crowdsourced list of interview questions
that explore candidate's experience and
skill in creating inclusive teams.

31. 5 5 % o f
r e s p o n d e n t s
a g r e e d o r
s t r o n g l y a g r e e d
t h a t t h e y ' d s e e n
i m p r o v e m e n t
w i t h i n t h e f i r s t
y e a r

34. As an individual, you can:
Show employees they are valued with eye
contact, asking questions, taking their
suggestions.
Be transparent and communicative by
explaining the reasoning behind your
decisions, seeking feedback, and sharing as
much information as you can.

35. B e a n a l l y i n m e e t i n g s
A m p l i f y i d e a s a n d g i v e
c r e d i t t o p e o p l e
R e s p o n d t o s h o w b o a t i n g b y
p o i n t i n g o u t e x p e r t i s e a n d
e x p e r i e n c e o f o t h e r s
R o t a t e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e d u t i e s
K i c k q u e s t i o n s b a c k t o t h e
r i g h t p e r s o n

36. C r e a t e R o o m f o r
E m o t i o n s & Tr a u m a
• Be intentional about
reconnecting employees
• Share your own emotions
• Help employees remain
cognizant and aware of
their emotional states
• Appoint wellness
ambassadors
• Use your core values to
inspire ideas

37. Commit to Building a
Culture of Respect
Info@CivilityPartners.com

38. A BETTER WORKPLACE AWAITS
(619) 268-5055 Info@CivilityPartners.com www.CivilityPartners.com

39. T h a n k Y o u f o r
P a r t i c i p a t i n g
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