Considering Psychological Safety

ABC National projects the construction workforce will need an additional 500,000 workers to keep up with the labor demands nationwide. Companies are actively recruiting and apprenticeship programs are growing, but this alone won’t solve the problem. Increased hiring and recruiting is just the start. Keeping employees engaged on their jobsites requires attention to company culture and the mental health of the workforce. To retain employees, companies have an additional consideration: psychological safety .

Psychological safety is a work environment where employees feel comfortable, welcome and accepted as part of the team.

“It has a huge impact on daily engagement of employees, which ultimately affects retention and the bottom line,” explains Jennifer DeLaura, Senior Consultant on Leadership and Organizational Development at LAK Group. “It also can great impact factors like safety incidents, absenteeism, and overall customer engagement.”

Employees perform better, and demonstrate greater loyalty to teams where everyone is both needed and appreciated. But this culture doesn’t always develop naturally. Everyone on a team has a role to play in creating a psychologically safe workplace.

ABC of Wisconsin’s Construction Inclusion committee recognizes this need, and has planned an educational opportunity in Madison on October 15. Registration includes lunch, and the event will feature DeLaura’s training on psychological safety. Take a break mid-day and spend some time learning how to better cultivate psychological safety with your teams. For more information, click here.