How To Model Inclusion Safety In A Psychologically Safe Workplace
Without inclusion safety, this may be your everyday scenario.
Imagine you lead a team made up of high-level, licensed professionals. People who need to meet several benchmarks, including passing a team panel interview to even be considered for their roles.
Now imagine losing close to 40% of them before their 90-day probationary period expires.
It’s enough to make you think you’re just mis-hiring. But, given the extreme measures each person had to meet to win their position, you’d be missing the mark to count it as poor placement.
What It Looks Like When Inclusion Safety Is Absent
Turns out your mis-hire scenario is actually something much deeper in disguise.
Considering the scenario above is one I’ve had the opportunity to coach a number of colleagues through, I’ll share what was lying beneath the high churn rate of well-qualified hires vacating roles so quickly.
Because, when key metrics like retention and engagement aren’t being met, it was a clear indicator to me something was off in the on-boarding process.
And, this revelation was a big one...Hazing.
In other words, there was a complete disregard for exhibiting inclusion safety for every new hire to the team.
A Case Study In Hazing
I was supporting one such leader whose unit had low engagement scores and high turnover. The recruiting team could hardly keep up with replacing her team members as they continued to leave.
As we explored her situation, I asked questions about their team onboarding processes:
How do you normally welcome your new team member to the larger team?
When is their first one-on-one meeting with you?
What are your processes for learning more about them?
How much do they know about you when they join the team?
Turns out, her unit had an unspoken process to ensure that new employees were a “cultural fit” for the team.
The new team member rotated through two to three weeks of shifts until everyone on the team had a chance to work with them and give their thoughts about their new colleague.
Only then, if accepted, were they introduced to the broader department and internal partners. Once they passed this hurdle, they were scheduled for their one-on-one meeting.
New employees were actually being treated like pledges in a sorority or fraternity and subjected to “hazing rituals” to prove they belonged.
“Cultural Fit” Versus Inclusion
We dove deeper into the retention issues over the course of a few weeks.
I asked her about the normal interview process.
There were generally three rounds of interviews culminating in a panel interview with four of the existing team members.
“So, several of the team members have already interviewed this person and recommended them for hire?” I asked.
“Yes.” she replied.
“Who makes the final decision to hire?” I continued.
“I do,” she responded.
If that was the case, I asked her why the interview process and the invitation to join the team didn’t automatically make each new employee feel welcome and included.
It was clearly in her hands to extend those feelings as the ultimate decision maker.
Inclusion Safety Is Your Team’s Right
A new team member has already proven through their interview process that they have the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to do the job well.
The invitation to join the team automatically bestows on that person every right to bring their full and unique self to work with the guarantee of welcome, acceptance, and protection.
Without inclusion safety there is no way for the team to move through the other levels of Psychological Safety toward success and innovation.
The Four Stages of Psychological Safety
Thanks to Dr. Timothy Clark and his company Leader Factor, we have a clear and actionable model to understand and enable psychological safety in teams and organizations.
The Four Stages of Psychological Safety ensure that employees are:
1. included
2. allowed to learn and make mistakes
3. able to contribute and make a difference
4. encouraged to challenge the status quo and make things better
When these four stages are present, there’s no limit to team innovations or successes.
Perspective Changes Everything About Inclusion Safety
My leader colleague had been with the company for almost 20 years.
In our final session together, I asked her if she had ever felt she had to prove herself on the job. She assured me that as a woman in leadership in a typically male institution, she had to prove herself over and over, in many situations.
“When that happens, how does that make you feel?” I asked her.
Reflecting on that question alone helped her realize how she was making her new employees feel in their first few weeks on the job.
As we worked through her response, it allowed her to get clarity on the new course of welcoming team members into an inclusive environment.
Learn How To Apply The Four Stages of Psychological Safety
If you’ve reached an inflection point with your team and your leadership, and wish to change your direction to achieve passion, joy, and innovation in your workplace, I have an invitation for you.
Join me on Friday February 19, 2021 for a live virtual training on applying the stages of psychological safety to your business.
I’ll hold a 2-hour virtual session, at 9:00AM CST
Next week, I’ll write in more detail about the next stage of psychological safety to master to foster collaborative success.
Contact me for more details about my upcoming Psychological Safety class and to enroll.