Secret recipe for a great place to work
Secret recipe for a great place to work
Published 1 May, 2019
[Singaporeans] may hesitate to take a risk until they know it's safe and so, therefore, psychological safety becomes even more important in places like Singapore.
Richard Smith
Former Professor of Strategic Management and Deputy Dean (Programmes) of the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business
In brief
- Professor Richard Smith, conducted a study to identify the critical elements companies need to focus on to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. He found that the more comfortable employees feel about speaking up at their workplaces, the more productive they are likely to be.
- Psychological safety is the interpersonal trust and mutual respect given daily between people. It is where people are comfortable being themselves, not afraid of speaking up or of repercussions. It is essential in the workplace.
- Building a workplace of psychological safety may not be entirely straightforward. Drivers of psychological safety include 1) Behavioral integrity or we do what we say we do, 2) Organisational support or to what degree an employee feels when there is support in many aspects and 3) Relationship network or a level of respect, camaraderie, and relationship with the boss and peers.
As markets shift and technological breakthroughs disrupt business models, what is the ‘secret recipe’ of a company that makes it ‘a great place to work’? Against the backdrop of a hypercompetitive landscape, how are successful, productive and high-performing teams within an organisation created?
Richard Smith, Former Deputy Dean for Programmes and Professor of Strategic Management at the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business, conducted a study in collaboration with consultancy group Great Place to Work Institute Singapore. The project aimed at identifying the critical element that companies need to focus on to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
This robust study surveyed over 400,000 employees from more than 800 organisations across eight countries in the Asia-Pacific. It found that the more comfortable employees feel about speaking up at their workplaces, the more productive they are likely to be.