Can Workplaces Have Too Much Psychological Safety? with Dr. Peter Cappelli

Good Morning, HR

In episode 133, Coffey talks with Peter Cappelli about the consequences of employees experiencing too much psychological safety.

They discuss the difference between the popular and the academic definitions of psychological safety; how psychological safety is measured; the correlation between psychological safety and job performance; why an above-average sense of psychological safety might damage performance; and the importance of accountability and compliance when building a psychologically-safe workplace.

Link to the Harvard Business Review article: Can Workplaces Have Too Much Psychological Safety?

Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—premium background checks with fast and friendly service. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com.

If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com.

About our Guest:

Peter Cappelli is the George W. Taylor Professor of Management at The Wharton School and Director of Wharton’s Center for Human Resources. He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA, served as Senior Advisor to the Kingdom of Bahrain for Employment Policy from 2003-2005, was a Distinguished Scholar of the Ministry of Manpower for Singapore, and was Co-Director of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce from 1990-1998.

He was recently named by HR Magazine as one of the top 5 most influential management thinkers, by NPR as one of the 50 influencers in the field of aging, and was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources.

He received the PRO award from the International Association of Corporate and Professional Recruiters for contributions to human resources, the Michael Losey Award fro Research Contributions from the Society for Human Resource Management, and an honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Liege in Belgium.

He is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal and writes a monthly column for HR Executive magazine. His work on performance management, agile systems, and hiring practices, and other workplace topics appears in the Harvard Business Review. His most recent book is Our Least Important Asset: How a Relentless Focus on Finance and Accounting is Bad for Employees and Business.

Peter Cappelli can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-cappelli-14936a3/.

About Mike Coffey:

Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, human resources professional, licensed private investigator, and HR consultant.

In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations firm helping risk-averse companies make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business.

Today, Imperative serves hundreds of businesses across the US and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.

Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence and has twice been named HR Professional of the Year.

Additionally, Imperative has been named the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association.

Mike is a member of the Fort Worth chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization and volunteers with the SHRM Texas State Council.

Mike maintains his certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute. He is also a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).

Mike lives in Fort Worth with his very patient wife. He practices yoga and maintains a keto diet, about both of which he will gladly tell you way more than you want to know.

Learning Objectives:

1. Differentiate popular and academic definitions of psychological safety.

2. Learn methods for measuring psychological safety.

3. Evaluate the correlation between psychological safety levels and job performance.