Recognition is a safety signal

Our Head of Programs, Tegan Davies, recently joined David and Emma on A-listed, the Achievers podcast exploring the science and stories of appreciation at work. The conversation covered psychological safety, what wellbeing actually means (and what it definitely isn’t), and why recognition is one of the most underrated tools a leader has.

It’s a generous, practical episode, and Tegan shared plenty that leaders can put to work straight away. Here are the ideas that stuck with us.

Recognition is relational capital

Tegan’s favourite metaphor for psychological safety is a bank account. Recognition is the deposit. Challenging feedback, disagreement and hard conversations are the withdrawals. “How likely are you to go against the grain and speak up if you’ve never been recognised before? You’re just not going to.”

If the account is empty, even reasonable feedback feels business-critical. If you’ve been making regular deposits, a tough conversation lands as just another part of the working relationship.

Psychological safety is not a nice culture

One of the most useful distinctions in the episode: psychological safety is often confused with everyone getting along. It’s actually the opposite of comfortable. Psychological safety is the belief that you can question the status quo, try something new and fail without being blamed or shamed for it. It requires discomfort, and it’s not the absence of conflict. It’s how a team disagrees that creates it.

Tegan also unpacked the difference between psychological safety and psychosocial risk, which matters a lot under Australia’s updated legislation. Psychosocial risks and hazards are anything at work that could cause harm to someone’s mental health, like bullying, high work demands or a lack of recognition. Managing those risks asks “are we covered?” That’s a compliance lens. Psychological safety and culture ask a different question: “is our team thriving?” You need both, and one without the other doesn’t work.

You can’t write a policy for it

Psychological safety lives in leadership behaviour, not documentation. Tegan shared a personal example from a chaotic week of juggling a sick toddler, a sick partner, workshops and podcast recordings. What made the difference wasn’t a wellbeing program. It was her CEO taking ninety seconds each day to check in.

You can’t write a policy that says “every time your team member has a challenging week, message them in a heartfelt way.” But you can teach leaders to treat people the way they’d treat a good mate having a hard time. It’s not brain surgery. It just has to be intentional.

Monthly recognition is a bar you should trip over

The Achievers Workforce Institute has found that people who are meaningfully recognised every month are more than twice as likely to feel mentally and physically well at work. Both Tegan and the hosts agreed on the uncomfortable implication: if monthly recognition moves the needle that much, monthly is nowhere near enough.

There’s neuroscience behind this. Recognition triggers dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, and can reduce cortisol, the stress hormone. But those responses are short lived, which is why recognition needs to be regular, not annual.

It also has to outpace our negativity bias. As Tegan put it, borrowing from psychologist Rick Hanson, the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones. One difficult moment with a manager sticks. Positive moments slide off unless there are lots of them.

Start with a 1% tweak

Tegan’s advice for leaders who want to build a safer, healthier workplace is deliberately small. Don’t attempt a wholesale culture overhaul. Ask yourself one question:

“What could you do that was just a 1% tweak in your day that could make your team feel more safe, more seen and more recognised?”

That might be proper eye contact when you pass someone in the hallway. It might be 30 seconds at the end of each day to send a quick message acknowledging someone’s effort. Small actions, repeated daily, compound like interest. And crucially, it should feel energising rather than like another item on the to-do list.

A few more moments worth your time

The full episode also covers why psychological safety is an enabler of innovation during AI transformation, the accidental origin of the term in Amy Edmondson’s research on medical teams, and a delightfully weird story about a taxidermied puffer fish named Dr. Puffer (yes, really, and yes, it’s relevant).

Listen to the full episode of A-listed here.

Want to build psychological safety in your team? Learn more about our evidence-based workshops and programs here.