Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory shows that after basic needs for food, shelter and safety are met, people can worry about bigger concepts. Many argue that psychological safety falls on the lowest tier of the pyramid, but people must feel safe before opening up and learning new things. In a multicultural training setting, organizers must be aware of any underlying differences and how certain groups could feel based on the comments and attitudes of coworkers and leaders.
How Does Psychological Safety Impact Training?
Even if your team already knows one another, entering a new situation such as a training session can shift the dynamic. People assess the setting and decide what the consequences might be for taking risks. Most avoid situations where someone criticizes them or makes fun of their brainstorms. Although having an open dialogue leads to fresh ideas, it can also create misunderstandings and cause ongoing tension in the workplace.
The Pew Research Center surveyed U.S. adults and found 56% of workers feel increased workplace diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are a positive change. However, a poorly executed training session can leave people wondering why it should matter to them and if they’ll be punished for good faith behavior where they misspeak or are culturally unaware but not cruel. Many are willing to change and learn but are also afraid of losing their jobs so will hesitate to ask hard questions.
While it’s crucial to ensure minorities in the company feel safe to share ideas, non-minorities must also feel safe or they may fail to learn new skills for fear of messing up or hurting a co-worker’s feelings. Leadership must approach sessions with a balance between cultures, finding ways to meet on common ground and build relationships. When the focus is on helping everyone feel psychologically safe at work, the entire staff benefits.
What Can Trainers Do?
Employees tend to leave companies where they don’t feel secure and seek a position where they’re safe. The average cost to replace a worker is around $5,000, but that might not include time and knowledge lost when they leave. Fortunately, learning and development professionals can shift their methods and ensure people feel safe. With the right tools, they can foster a sense of openness and collaboration that takes a brand to the next level.
1. Start With Understanding
Take time to learn about the cultures of workers. Share insights so both sides understand where the other is coming from. Create an open communication model where everyone feels free to speak up.
2. Use a Feedback Framework
Develop a way to share feedback anonymously. Teams should feel comfortable sharing their thoughts without fear of retribution. For many workers, they know an “anonymous” survey isn’t private at all and will avoid adding their honest opinions.
You may drown in positivity without ever truly meeting the needs of your students. Instead, add a box and have everyone drop a card in, so you have no idea who wrote what comments. Read through them and adjust training sessions as necessary to serve the entire class better.
3. Improve Conflict Resolution Techniques
Every team of people has some disagreement. You may have a mix of ages, genders, backgrounds and beliefs in a training session.
Knowing how to shut down arguments and resolve them in constructive ways can make a huge difference in how well a training session goes. Study conflict resolution for the best methods to stop an argument and turn it into something positive both parties can use to grow in their careers.
More Than Cultural Awareness
While understanding the differences between cultures and being open to communication is a great start, incorporating psychological safety into multicultural training settings may go deeper than some expect. It’s natural to consider minorities and how they feel about different training models and language used during sessions. However, breaking into groups unintentionally can also occur because people gravitate to those who seem most like them in background and appearance.
Imagine walking into a room where everyone has a group to belong to and not knowing where you should sit. Organizers must be aware of the varied dynamics of each group they train, as the cultural mix can vary. Open communication and having employees move from their self-assigned groups is a first step toward successful training. Everyone should feel valued and heard.
Author bio:
Eleanor Hecks is a writer who specializes in business and leadership topics, as well as manager of the creative team at Designerly Magazine. Her insights are featured in L&D publications such as Training Industry, eLearning Industry and Training Journal.
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