Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment

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

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This leadership assessment can be administered to all leaders by their employer. It can also be used by individual leaders for their own personal and confidential learning and development. 

What’s included in the Psychologically Safe Leader Assessment?

  • A list of leadership strategies known to support PHS.
  • An online survey leaders can use to understand which strategies they already use. It’ll also highlight areas for improvement.
  • Free resources linked to each strategy to help with continual improvement.
  • A survey for employees to capture their perception of their leader’s strategies.

This isn’t a personality or character assessment. It focuses on the extent 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 that impact PHS.
  • This assessment complements Guarding Minds at Work, a tool that centres around organizational approaches by focusing on leadership strategies.
  • It 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.

What does it measure?

The statements in both the leader assessment and employee feedback surveys assess:

Communication and collaboration

Effective communication means clear, timely and transparent exchange of information. This supports employees’ success at work. Respectful and inclusive collaboration engages every team member. Learn more about communication and collaboration.

Social intelligence

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 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 calls for proactive, prompt and supportive responses to all threats to psychological and physical safety at work. Learn more about security and safety.

Fairness and integrity

Fairness and integrity cross all domains as it’s critical to psychologically safe leadership. Leaders must consider a wide range of employee needs, and still be unbiased and respectful. Learn more about fairness and integrity.

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

Steps:

  1. Sign up for your free account. Create account
  2. Send the assessment (PSLA) to the leaders in your organization.
  3. Consider having direct reports complete the Employee Feedback version of the assessment. This can help you gain insight into their perspectives on their leader.
  4. Generate various reports to help you develop a strategy for continual improvement.
  5. Create a practical action plan for your own continual improvement.
  6. Repeat the assessments to track progress over time and support ongoing leadership effectiveness.

Individual leader

Steps:

  1. Sign up for your free account and take the assessment. Create account
  2. View your results. Identify strategies that you want to continue or start that help improve PHS for your employees.
  3. Consider having your direct reports complete the Employee Feedback version of the assessment. This can help you gain insight into their perspectives.
  4. Generate a report that compares your self-assessment with the perspective of your employees.
  5. Create a practical action plan for your own continual improvement.
  6. Repeat the assessments to track progress over time and support your ongoing effectiveness.

How can individual leaders act on the results?

  • Choose strategies from your results you wish to add into 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.
  • Track outcomes and reassess annually for continual improvement.
  • Read Psychologically safe leader personal action planning for more tips.

How can organizations act on the results?

  • Identify leadership strategies from the results to adopt organization-wide.
  • Ask leaders what they need to apply the strategies you’re adopting. This could include time, resources, skills or training. 
  • Address any organizational barriers to these changes such as policy, process, resources or training.
  • Support leaders to develop concrete action plans including measures of success.
  • Track outcomes and reassess annually for continual improvement.
  • Read Psychologically safe leader organizational action planning for more tips. 

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

Contributors include.articlesCanadian Centre for Occupational Health and SafetyDr. Joti SamraMark AttridgeMary Ann Baynton

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