A Structured Approach to Feedback and Psychological Safety
To ensure that all employees feel safe to give and receive feedback, Cheffelo has implemented several initiatives in which Leadership Forums play a central role. “We convene our leaders in person twice a year to work on specific themes. In 2023, we focused on self-awareness and team-awareness. In 2024, we worked on feedback, psychological safety, and ‘radical candor.’ We continu-ously build on what we have learned to keep evolving as an organization,” Christina Nielsen explains. In addition to the inperson meetings, online sessions are also held in smaller groups, allowing lead-ers to delve deeper into specific topics and collaborate with one another.
Using the Competing Values Framework
Another important element of Cheffelo’s feedback culture is the use of the Competing Values Framework, a model that helps employees understand both their own and others’ behaviors. “We all have different ways of working and communicating, and it is important to understand each other in order to provide constructive feedback. We actively work to deepen this understanding to ensure that feedback is not a difficult or unpleasant experience but rather a tool for development,” Christina Nielsen explains.
Self-Awareness and Differences as a Strength
A key effort in Cheffelo’s work has been to foster greater awareness of differences—both among employees and across countries. Instead of focusing on national cultural differences, Christina Nielsen and her team have worked to enhance individual self-awareness. “We have had many discussions about whether our challenges are due to national differences or simply individual differences. Instead of categorizing people based on their country, we have chosen to work on self-awareness and team-awareness to increase our understanding of each other’s ways of working,” she explains.
Research shows that most people overestimate their own self-awareness. “95% of us believe we are selfaware, but in reality, only around 12–15% actually are. This means that many of us have a misconception about ourselves, which can affect how we understand ourselves and interact with oth-ers. By working to better understand both ourselves and our colleagues, we can create a stronger and safer feedback culture”, says Christina Nielsen.
Psychological Safety in Practice
Psychological safety largely means that employees feel confident to ask questions and share their opinions without fear of negative consequences. “We all know the situation where we’re in a meet-ing and have a question but hold back because no one else is asking. We are working to break down that barrier so that people feel safe to participate actively in the dialogue – whether they are sitting next to the CEO or a colleague,” says Christina Nielsen.
Measurable Results: Employee Surveys Show Progress
The impact of Cheffelo’s work with psychological safety and feedback is clearly evident in employee surveys. In the most recent survey, 92% of employees responded, and improvements were recorded across all parameters. “The greatest improvements were in leadership, inclusion, and psychological safety – exactly the areas we have focused on,” Christina Nielsen explains. Furthermore, the figures show that 95% of employees feel they receive the right support from their leaders, 92% experience that their leader follows up on their work, and as many as 96% feel respected by their leaders. These results not only reflect a stronger feedback culture but also a positive impact on talent development within the company. “We can see that more employees are daring to seek new career paths internally, which is an indicator that we have created an environment where people feel encouraged to de-velop,” she adds.
