CDP Workplace Belonging & Psychological Safety 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is psychological safety as defined in organizational research?
- The belief that one can speak up, take risks, and be vulnerable without fear of negative consequences (Correct answer)
- A legally mandated workplace policy ensuring physical safety
- A training program designed to reduce workplace accidents
- An HR metric measuring employee satisfaction scores
Correct answer: The belief that one can speak up, take risks, and be vulnerable without fear of negative consequences
Psychological safety, as defined by Amy Edmondson, is the shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking without fear of punishment or humiliation.
Question 2: Which researcher is most credited with popularizing the concept of psychological safety in workplace team research?
- Brené Brown
- Amy Edmondson (Correct answer)
- Timothy Clark
- Claude Steele
Correct answer: Amy Edmondson
Amy Edmondson, a Harvard Business School professor, is the leading researcher on psychological safety, particularly through her studies of hospital teams and her book 'The Fearless Organization.'
Question 3: What is the primary organizational benefit of high psychological safety within teams?
- Reduced employee healthcare costs
- Improved regulatory compliance records
- Greater team learning, risk-taking, and innovation (Correct answer)
- Higher executive retention rates
Correct answer: Greater team learning, risk-taking, and innovation
Research consistently shows that psychological safety enables team members to share ideas and learn from mistakes, leading to greater innovation and sustained team performance.
Question 4: Which of the following behaviors most undermines psychological safety on a team?
- Encouraging open feedback during retrospectives
- Publicly criticizing or shaming team members for mistakes (Correct answer)
- Celebrating diverse perspectives in meetings
- Modeling vulnerability as a leader
Correct answer: Publicly criticizing or shaming team members for mistakes
Publicly criticizing or shaming team members for errors creates a climate of fear around speaking up, directly eroding psychological safety.
Question 5: In a DEI context, 'belonging' is best described as:
- Having the same demographic background as the majority of colleagues
- The feeling that one is valued, included, and able to be authentic at work (Correct answer)
- Attending all company social events and celebrations
- Receiving equal compensation to demographic peers
Correct answer: The feeling that one is valued, included, and able to be authentic at work
Belonging refers to the feeling that an individual is genuinely accepted, valued, and can bring their authentic self to work without masking their identity.
Question 6: Which of the following is a commonly used employee survey approach for measuring belonging?
- Net Promoter Score (NPS) benchmarking
- Time-to-hire and offer acceptance rates
- Likert-scale items such as 'I feel like I belong at this company' (Correct answer)
- Turnover cost calculation per employee
Correct answer: Likert-scale items such as 'I feel like I belong at this company'
Belonging is typically measured through employee engagement surveys using validated Likert-scale items that directly ask about feelings of acceptance, value, and authenticity.
Question 7: Research consistently shows that employees with a high sense of belonging are more likely to:
- Resist organizational change initiatives
- Require more managerial oversight and coaching
- Demonstrate higher job performance and lower turnover intent (Correct answer)
- Prefer fully remote work arrangements
Correct answer: Demonstrate higher job performance and lower turnover intent
Studies consistently link belonging to higher engagement, improved individual and team performance, and a significantly reduced likelihood of voluntarily leaving the organization.
CDP Workplace Belonging & Psychological Safety 1
What is psychological safety as defined in organizational research?