Most leaders can sense when something's off in their organisation. Talented people stay silent in meetings, innovation stalls, stress becomes the unspoken norm. My conversation with Carolyn Grant illuminated two concepts reshaping how we think about workplace performance: psychological safety and psychosocial risk management.

Carolyn Grant is the founder and CEO of People Plus Science, where she combines her expertise in human and organisational behaviour, neuroscience and research to help organisations thrive. A perpetual student of behavioural science, Carolyn believes that continual research and product development are fundamental to sustainable organisational success.

While psychological safety and psychosocial risk management might sound like corporate jargon, they represent fundamental shifts in how organisations must operate to remain competitive and compliant. Psychological safety creates environments where team members feel secure voicing ideas, asking questions, and challenging assumptions without fear of humiliation or punishment. This isn't about creating comfortable spaces that avoid difficult conversations. In fact it’s quite the opposite. Carolyn emphasised that genuine psychological safety requires accountability and intellectual friction, the kind that drives breakthroughs rather than stifles them.

Psychosocial hazards represent the other side of this equation. These are the workplace elements that cause stress, whether tied to management styles, job autonomy, or personal factors like financial strain. The research reveals what effective leaders instinctively understand: trust forms the foundation of everything else. Without trust, change management fails, communication breaks down, and performance suffers.

The critical insight from our discussion is that addressing these factors requires genuine commitment beyond superficial solutions. Carolyn cautioned against treating social events as remedies when deeper issues like bullying or low trust exist. Real improvement demands focusing resources where they'll achieve the greatest impact and address fundamental issues rather than treating the symptoms.

Links:

https://peopleplusscience.com/

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