When you listen carefully and impartially, you can hear a lot more than the words spoken. What’s being left unsaid? What has happened before that’s led to this situation? Why has no one mentioned anything before it got to this point?

When you’re listening for the gaps, or the safety silence, you see a bigger picture. Perhaps it shows a team so focused on delivery that no one has wanted to raise safety concerns in case they lead to delays – until now, when the issue is more serious. Or you realise that within an outwardly high-performing, happy team, people don’t feel psychologically safe enough to challenge a manager or tell someone else.

Listener’s wellbeing

How do you feel when someone comes to you with a concern? Curious? Thankful? Defensive? Upset? Relieved? Or something else? Do you visibly react?

In her webinar about listening for safety and wellbeing, for Rail Wellbeing Live, director of CIRAS Catherine Baker explained the surprising role of threat response in listening. ‘You could argue that in that moment, having to listen is a challenge for your own wellbeing. We don’t like to be told we’ve made a mistake, a poor decision, or overlooked something important,’ she said. ‘It threatens our authority, our expertise. But how we handle it can make a huge difference to our own wellbeing and that of the person raising feedback. As well as determining whether that feedback will ever be used.

‘In a psychologically safe environment, not only does everyone need to feel safe to speak up, but you need to feel safe enough to listen, to hear what is being said, without feeling threatened. The wider work context matters here.’

There is an even wider context too, ranging from how the economy is affecting business, to difficult personal situations that the person speaking up, or you as the listener, may be going through. This can affect our readiness to listen at that moment, how we approach someone with a concern, and how listening to concerns that could sound like criticism may affect us emotionally. It pays to be mindful of how receptive you are to listening at that time.

The person raising a concern may feel that they are sharing valuable information to help the organisation improve – using the promotive voice. But if their concern is seen by the organisation or listener as bringing a failure or mistake to light, even inadvertently, it can mean it is perceived negatively – as the prohibitive voice. Both voices raise a challenge to the organisation as it is.

When a listener is aware of their emotional response, it can help them to separate this more clearly from the speaker’s intention and listen more effectively.

Raising safety concerns

Research indicates you will hear from your employees less than usual when there is psychological uncertainty. Whether someone chooses to speak up is also often linked to their perception of job security and job autonomy – being more likely where someone’s job autonomy and security are higher. The uncertainty of any change can make people less likely to speak out or challenge

How someone raises a concern matters less than their decision to do so. It can be a brave choice. Many others may have walked past or ignored an issue before that person chose to do something, instead of nothing.

Some reporting channels are more suitable when there is an imminent risk of harm. CIRAS confidential safety hotline shouldn’t be used in this instance, for example, as the response wouldn’t be fast enough.

Confidential reporting does give you the opportunity to listen to more voices than you might hear otherwise. CIRAS shares safety concerns confidentially with the relevant company, without revealing who the reporter is. The right people then take action to address the concerns, and the reporter’s identity stays protected. CIRAS shares the company response with the reporter too, so they know what has happened. This feedback loop is an important part of listening.

The feedback loop

Body language and vocal cues are part of conversation, showing the listener is paying attention, but listening doesn’t only happen in person. You might listen through a close call, a company reporting form, or a CIRAS report. Your employees look out for actions or updates in response to their concerns, to judge if they are really being heard, and whether the work culture welcomes their concerns.

After investigating a concern, the response might be to resolve the issue as soon as possible, monitor the situation, brief or communicate to staff, plan longer-term actions, or clarify existing processes and procedures.

Sometimes, a company investigates a concern from a CIRAS report and learns that the reason for a delay in resolution is limited communication between teams, or lack of clear ownership. The extra listening CIRAS provides can give members a different perspective on concerns. Its reports often help companies choose to further update staff on how repairs or upgrades are progressing, for reassurance. The result is a culture of listening and learning, where staff feel it’s worth raising concerns and know they will hear back.

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