Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment

This free resource helps leaders become aware of the impact they can have on the psychological health and safety of employees at work. It helps leaders improve communication, social intelligence, fairness and problem-solving.

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The leadership assessment can be assigned to leaders by an administrator authorized by an organization or used by individual leaders for their own personal and confidential learning and development.

What is the Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment?

  • A comprehensive list of leadership strategies known to support psychological health and safety.
  • An online survey leaders can use to assess the extent to which they already use these strategies and areas for improvement.
  • A similar survey employees can use to give feedback about their perception of their leader’s strategies.
  • Action plans that can be developed for continual improvement using the free resources linked to each strategy.
  • This isn’t a personality or character assessment. It focuses only on the extent to which strategies known to support psychologically safe work are being implemented.
  • Read more about the Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment

How does this align with the National Standard of Canada on Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace?

  • The leadership strategies are based on addressing the psychosocial factors identified in the Standard that impact psychological health and safety.
  • This assessment complements Guarding Minds at Work,  which focuses on organizational approaches by focusing specifically on leadership strategies.
  • Specifically provides a way to comply with the Competence and Training Clause 4.4.6.
  • Read Clause 4.4.6 and learn more about how this assessment aligns with the National Standard of Canada

 

What does it measure?

You can review the statements in both the leader assessment and employee feedback surveys to assess:

Communication and collaboration

Effective communication involves the clear, timely, and transparent exchange of information that supports employees’ success at work. Respectful and inclusive collaboration engages every team member in ongoing conversations related to their work.  Learn more about communication and collaboration.

Social intelligence

Effective social intelligence involves demonstrating and facilitating supportive, safe and inclusive interactions in the workplace, particularly during times of stress or high demand. Learn more about social intelligence.

Problem solving and conflict management

Effective problem solving involves supporting and requiring respectful, solution-focused approaches to challenges. Effective conflict management is conducted in a timely, inclusive and safe manner.   Learn more about problem solving and conflict management.

Security and safety

Security and safety require proactive, prompt and supportive responses to all threats to psychological and physical safety in the workplace. Learn more about security and safety.

Fairness and integrity

Fairness and integrity are core components of psychologically safe leadership. Communication and decision making must take into account diversity of employee needs, yet be consistently unbiased and respectful. Learn more about fairness and integrity.

Strategies relevant to fairness and integrity were drawn from the other domains: communication and collaboration, social intelligence, security and safety, problem solving and conflict management. This is intended to highlight fairness and integrity as a critical component of psychologically safe leadership.

Take the assessment

Below, you can choose whether you’ll administer the Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment for your organization or for yourself as a leader. The links will take you to the free assessment tool on the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety site.

Administrator

Step 1:

Sign up for your free account. Create account

Step 2:

Send the assessment (PSLA) to the leaders in your organization.

Step 3 (optional):

Consider having direct reports complete the Employee Feedback version of the assessment to gain insight into their perspectives on their leader.

Step 4:

Generate various reports to help you develop a strategy for continual improvement of leadership strategies.

Step 5:

Create a practical action plan for your own continual improvement.

Step 6:

Repeat the assessments to track progress over time and support ongoing leadership effectiveness.

Individual leader

Step 1:

Sign up for your free account and take the assessment. Create account

Step 2:

View your results and identify strategies that you want to continue or start that can help improve psychological safety for your employees.

Step 3 (optional):

Consider having your direct reports complete the Employee Feedback version of the assessment to gain insight into their perspectives.

Step 4:

Generate a report that compares your self-assessment with the perspective of your employees.

Step 5:

Create a practical action plan for your own continual improvement.

Step 6:

Repeat the assessments to track progress over time and support your ongoing effectiveness.

How can individual leaders act on the results?

  • Identify specific strategies from your results you wish to incorporate in your leadership approach.
  • Create a realistic and attainable action plan.
  • Access resources to help you execute the action plan.
  • Share your plan with your senior leader(s) for their support or permission.
  • Discuss your plan with your employees to ensure the intended approach will support their work success.
  • Monitor outcomes and reassess annually for continual improvement.
  • Psychologically safe leader personal action planning

How can organizations act on the results?

  • Identify leadership strategies from the results to incorporate organization-wide.
  • Ask leaders what they need – like time, resources, skills or training – to implement the strategies you’re incorporating.
  • Address organizational barriers to these changes such as policy, process, resources or training.
  • Support leaders to develop concrete action plans with measures of success.
  • Monitor outcomes and reassess annually for continual improvement.
  • Psychologically safe leader organizational action planning

How did leaders across Canada rate their psychologically safe leadership skills?

Contributors include.articlesCanadian Centre for Occupational Health and SafetyDr. Joti SamraMark AttridgeMary Ann BayntonWorkplace Strategies team 2007-2021

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