Key Takeaways:

• Psychological safety is an integral part of creating a healthy work environment. It is the belief that one’s team is a place where inter-personal risks can be taken all while feeling safe and secure.
• Psychological safety has 4 different levels- Inclusion safety where employees feel involved in the day-to-day operations and decision-making of the organizations; Learner safety where employees feel free to learn and make mistakes; Contributor safety where employees can participate and contribute to organization’s growth in their own way; and Challenger safety where employees can safely challenge and ask provocative questions to the leaders.
• The opposite of psychological safety at workplace is toxic work culture which may prove detrimental to one’s emotional and mental well-being, professionally as well personally. Toxic work culture hampers innovation, creativity and productivity at work.
• Pandemic has led to the renegotiation of social contract between the employers and employees. Now, employees demand workplace boundaries, renewed terms of engagement, innovative designs of office spaces, flexibility of working hours and place, etc.
• Organizations who are taking into account the effects of mental health at work can be classified into 3 categories- Aware: the ones who have taken the first step by setting up counselling, workshops and classes; Sensitive: organisations that provide professional support through employee-friendly practices and policies; and Transformative: companies who are actively contributing a part of their CSR into employee support at work.