Some time ago, various Dutch organizations made headlines for unpleasant events. The work climate in the Dutch military was described as ‘rotten’, relationships among officers in a certain Dutch court were completely disrupted, and there were many abuses and misconducts in a Dutch student association. The common factor in these cases: the issues had been known for some time, but those involved dared not speak up due to a culture of fear within their organization. This culture of fear—described as (extremely) undesirable behavior that persists because those involved remain silent out of fear of repercussions or exclusion from the group—is often found in organizations with a closed and hierarchical culture. Note, the Dutch do not have a monopoly on such organizations; they are found worldwide in many cultures. It is actually disturbing that this can happen even in the Netherlands, a country known for its open culture, let alone what happens in less open national cultures. What is also disturbing is that we have known for decades that such hierarchical and closed organizations are terrible to work for and economically unviable in the long term, especially with the modern generation of employees who will no longer accept being subjected to a culture of fear.

It is interesting to note that the HPO Framework, developed over ten years ago, contains a characteristic that states: “The organization is a safe workplace for employees.” A psychologically safe workplace is defined as ‘a stable workplace free from danger and fear.’ This workplace is created by giving people a sense of safety (both physical and mental) and job security, using dismissal only as a last resort. It has long been known that creating a safe and secure organization without a culture of fear is a prerequisite for high performance. This essentially means that managers of those

“culture of fear organizations” are actually unfit for their positions and incompetent to lead them. After all, allowing this culture of fear to persist is not only a crime against individual humanity but also economically unwise. So managers, repent and get yourselves and your organization in order as quickly as possible!

To help you with this, I will describe what I found in my HPO research about what HPO managers actually do to create an organization that is a safe haven for employees. HPO managers create a safe workplace by giving people a sense of psychological safety. They work on retaining employees and do not dismiss people until it is inevitable. They create an open atmosphere where employees can express criticism and concerns, propose ideas, be heard by management, and have the freedom to act and do their work as they see fit. HPO managers strive for low staff turnover by creating an organization that cares for its employees. HPO managers also work on increasing people’s self-confidence because confident people are less dependent on rules and procedures and rely more on their own judgment. Confident people feel safer in their work and activities, dare to speak up, and generally behave more like high performance individuals. HPO managers ensure that people know that not meeting agreed-upon goals will not lead to dismissal; instead, they are trained in identified weak areas or relocated within the organization to places where their skills are better utilized.

And tell me, dear manager: doesn’t everyone want to work for such an organization?