Voice, Decision Participation, and Exclusion: Exploring Psychological Safety Among HR Leaders in the Turkish Automotive Sector

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to explore how psychological safety is experienced by human resource (HR) leaders working in Bursa’s Turkish automotive sector. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative design was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 HR leaders from automotive main and sub-industry firms in Bursa. Participants were selected through purposive sampling, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: Five themes were identified: open expression, mistakes and feedback culture, top-management relations, team-level safety, and mobbing/exclusion. Psychological safety was shaped mainly by organizational conditions rather than individual willingness to speak. Autocratic leadership, family-business dynamics, restricted decision participation, and punitive error cultures increased self-censorship and defensive behavior. Team solidarity provided partial protection, but gossip, rivalry, and exclusion weakened this buffer. Mobbing and exclusion appeared both as direct mistreatment and as organizational bypassing, information withholding, and marginalization. Originality: By focusing on HR leaders positioned between senior management, employees, and policy implementation in a manufacturing-intensive automotive cluster, this study extends psychological safety literature beyond team-level voice by showing how decision participation, error framing, HR role legitimacy, team trust, and exclusion form a connected boundary-position process.

Keywords

• Turkish automotive sector
• Bursa industrial relations
• Mobbing and workplace exclusion
• Psychological safety

Ethical Statement

Approval for this study was obtained from the Bursa Uludağ University Social and Human Sciences Research and Publication Ethics Committee at its meeting dated 29 August 2025, with session number 2025-07 and decision number 10.

Ses, Karara Katılım ve Dışlanma: Türk Otomotiv Sektöründe İK Liderleri Arasında Psikolojik Güvenliğin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Amaç: Bu çalışma, Bursa’daki Türk otomotiv sektöründe çalışan insan kaynakları (İK) liderlerinin psikolojik güvenlik deneyimlerini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Yöntem: Çalışmada nitel araştırma deseni kullanılmıştır. Bursa’daki ana ve yan sanayi otomotiv firmalarında görev yapan 15 İK lideriyle yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Katılımcılar amaçlı örnekleme ile seçilmiş, veriler tematik analiz yöntemiyle değerlendirilmiştir. Bulgular: Beş tema belirlenmiştir: açık ifade, hata ve geri bildirim kültürü, üst yönetimle ilişkiler, ekip içi güvenlik ve mobbing/dışlanma. Psikolojik güvenliğin bireysel konuşma isteğinden çok örgütsel koşullar tarafından şekillendiği görülmüştür. Otokratik liderlik, aile şirketi dinamikleri, karar süreçlerine sınırlı katılım ve cezalandırıcı hata kültürü öz-sansürü ve savunmacı davranışları artırmıştır. Ekip dayanışması kısmi bir koruma sağlasa da dedikodu, rekabet ve dışlanma bu korumayı zayıflatmıştır. Mobbing ve dışlanma yalnızca doğrudan kötü muamele olarak değil, karar süreçlerinden dışlanma, bilgi saklama ve sistematik marjinalleştirme biçiminde de ortaya çıkmıştır. Özgün Katkı: Çalışma, üretim yoğun otomotiv kümesinde üst yönetim, çalışanlar ve İK uygulamaları arasında konumlanan İK liderlerine odaklanarak psikolojik güvenlik literatürünü ekip içi ses çıkarma çerçevesinin ötesine taşımakta; karara katılım, hata kültürü, İK rol meşruiyeti, ekip güveni ve dışlanmanın sınır konumlu bir deneyim olarak birlikte işlediğini göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Türk otomotiv sektörü
• Bursa endüstri ilişkileri
• Mobbing ve işyerinde dışlanma
• Psikolojik güvenlik

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