PODCAST | Ep.9 Self and safety

Diving in to another topic from our 2021 World Changers report, Elle Bradley-Cox has explores psychological safety.

18 months of Covid-19 related anxiety, a looming threat of climate devastation, political fractions, and the rumblings of war. Never have we all felt so vulnerable at the same time. It’s an existential crisis on a global scale – and a fascinating anthropological study. So, what does a chronic feeling of vulnerability do to us?

Recognising our response to risk, and helping people address it, can give us the tools to banish the burnout that comes with chronic and sustained stress. How can we do that in the face of so many threats and challenges? Who has the responsibility of taking on that task? And where do you even start?

Cultural anthropologist Dr Alex Gapud chose this theme as his World Changer for our 2021 report. He joins lead behavioural scientist Lindsay Kohler and our host Elle Bradley-Cox to talk self and safety. Later in this episode, Elle chats with Janet Lessells, senior internal communications manager at SGN to get her views on creating an environment where employees feel safe to speak up.

Guest interview

Janet Lessells, Internal Communications Manager, SGN.

Want to skip to a specific section? Here‘s what we talked about:

00:00 Intro to the episode.

01:25 Roundtable with Elle, Alex and Lindsay

• 01:27 What impact does prolonged stress have on our wellbeing?
• 11:45 What does a lack of boundaries do to our psychological safety?
• 15:35 Do you have examples of where psychological safety has been compromised in a workplace?
• 18:50 What about examples of where it's done well?
• 26:07 Whose "job" is psychological safety?
• 27:25 How can we encourage psychological safety in a hybrid workplace?
  

31:30 Interview with Janet Lessells, Internal Communications Manager, SGN

• 32:01 What does psychological safety mean to you?
• 35:06 Why is it particularly important at SGN
• 36:18 Can you share an example of where people have needed to speak up recently at SGN?
• 37:33 Do you think people will lose the ability to be as open as they have been as we move to hybrid working?
• 39:30 What will best make people feel safe to speak up at work?
• 42:24 Who do you nominate as your 2021 World Changer?