Before somebody can exercise choice, they must first feel able to speak. They should also feel confident that, if they do speak, people will listen.
So, one key question we should ask ourselves is:
Do people feel safe enough to use their voice?
Whether concerns relate to abuse, neglect, discrimination, poor practice, or organisational culture, safeguarding relies on people feeling able to raise concerns and share their experiences. This is where your organisational values, along with a culture of psychological safety, can play a vital role.
Everyone Must Feel Safe to Speak
Making Safeguarding Personal is built on the belief that people should be listened to and involved in any decision that will affect them.
However, this cannot happen if individuals do not feel safe enough to express their concerns, wishes, or experiences.
Effective safeguarding begins with listening. But this does not mean that we only choose to listen after someone’s raised a concern. It means that we endeavour to listen before, during, and after every safeguarding interaction. In this way, we can build cultures in which everyone feels safe to speak, and everyone feels heard.
Psychological Safety Can Give People a Voice
What do we mean by “psychological safety”? Essentially, we’re talking about an environment in which people feel able to speak openly without fear of embarrassment, criticism, retaliation, or blame.
In a safeguarding context, a culture of psychological safety means people feel confident in saying:
- “I am worried.”
- “Something doesn’t feel right.”
- “I don’t feel safe.”
Without this culture of psychological safety, people might not feel safe in speaking up. And as we mentioned above, when people don’t feel able to speak, meaningful choice can become impossible.
Effective Co-Production Starts with Listening
The most effective safeguarding cultures are often those where people feel able to challenge, question, contribute, and influence decisions. This is co-production in action.
Co-production should be a central part of any organisation’s safeguarding practice. Yet effective co-production simply cannot happen unless people feel safe to share their perspectives.
People with first-hand experience have invaluable insights into what works, what does not work, and what could be improved. And if we work to create cultures of psychological safety, we’ll create the sort of environments in which such voices can be heard and valued.
When It Comes To Organisational Values, Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Every organisation has a set of values, even if you’ve never put them down in writing.
However, people will judge your safeguarding culture through their experience, and not through the words you use to express your values.
These are the sorts of things that people tend to notice:
- Whether concerns are welcomed.
- Whether challenge is encouraged.
- Whether feedback leads to change.
- Whether people who speak up are treated fairly.
- Whether safeguarding responses focus on outcomes that matter to the individual.
It’s one thing to say that your organisation prioritises voice. But over time, these everyday experiences will truly determine whether people feel their voice matters.
Leaders – Key Questions To Ask Yourself
There are some key questions that all organisational leaders should ask themselves, whether you’re a board member, a manager, or a designated safeguarding lead:
“Would people in our organisation feel safe enough to raise a concern today?”
And perhaps more importantly:
“How do we know?”
You can’t simply assume that you have a culture of psychological safety in place. This is something you’ll have to nurture over time, and demonstrate through your leadership, behaviour, and culture.
Remember:
- When people trust that their voice will be heard, they may be more likely to speak up.
- When people speak up, you will be able to identify safeguarding concerns much earlier.
- The earlier you can identify safeguarding concerns, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to prevent harm.
Truly person-centred safeguarding depends on listening to people and understanding the outcomes that matter to them.