Psychological Safety

What is cultural intelligence? To be culturally intelligent is to adapt and operate effectively in a range of contexts. These can be across national, ethnic, organisational, generational, and departmental settings...

Private Equity Firm

Leaders taking the first step to build Psych Safety

Challenge

After engaging in EDI work for multiple years, including ongoing inclusion measurement, the establishment of ERGs, and workshops on Allyship, this private equity firm had begun to understand the importance of psychological safety (PS). However, going from understanding to action was not happening consistently across the firm. As such, the firm wasn’t progressing on inclusion as quickly as it wanted to.

Action

Included worked with the HR and D&I teams to build a set of real cases where PS broke down in their own firm due to inaction by leaders in the room and led to negative consequences (e.g. resignations, requests for team switches, or HR escalation). We then conducted a series of workshops, first with partners and then cascading throughout the firm, to work through each case and help participants identify when and how the leader or others could have intervened to maintain or build PS in that moment. For partners, we also discussed the importance of taking the first step of vulnerability – discussing their own mistakes or encouraging disagreement to help build that safety in their teams.

Impact

At the next all-hands meeting after the workshops, 2 managing partners started the session by sharing their biggest mistakes they had made while at the firm and the consequences, and how the mistakes partly stemmed from groupthink. They imparted that they don’t expect infallibility from their teams, that they view mistakes as learning opportunities for everyone, and that debate is not just valuable but integral to their work. This started a cascade of PS behaviours throughout the firm, but especially from partners. Their PS scores increased both within teams and with leaders during their next inclusion measurement, along with other inclusion scores. In 2025, they will begin VR-based scenario training to increase the opportunity to regularly upskill their ability to intervene when necessary to build and maintain PS.

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