Interpersonal Dynamics in the Public Sector

In this paper, the author argues that psychological safety's established importance in private-sector personnel management literature makes it a relevant subject of study in the context of federal agencies. Given persistent personnel challenges that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) faces in employee job satisfaction and retention, interpersonal factors—rather than technical or resource-related challenges—could serve as a meaningful area of research focus for driving positive management change. Annually published federal agency survey data suggest that DHS employees view their interpersonal environments less positively and more negatively than the majority of their very large–federal agency peers, making an evaluation of psychological safety a potentially cost-effective and impactful option for improving key personnel outcome metrics. These key metrics include job satisfaction, retention, and team performance. This short paper is intended for DHS leaders and component managers seeking to engage with a broader view of factors that affect workforce outcomes beyond typically considered items, such as compensation, promotion opportunities, recruitment challenges, and workload. Given the general absence of published work on psychological safety's effect on personnel outcomes in the public sector, there is additional relevance for a federal leadership audience beyond DHS.

The exploratory analysis in this paper is drawn from initial work that serves as the research motivation of the author's forthcoming dissertation.