A key role of managers today is to protect employee health through creating a safe working environment. However, when we talk about health and safety at work, we may often overlook psychosocial risks (work-related factors that can cause psychological harm or stress) that have the potential to negatively impact employee mental health and wellbeing.
In this article, we highlight how managers can work to protect their employees through such risks using the promotion of a psychosocial climate (PSC).
What is psychosocial safety?
Psychosocial safety relates to policies, practices, and procedures that help safeguard employee psychological health. A PSC is created through promoting a culture that is underpinned by trust, respect, and openness; one in which all employees feel safe, valued and respected.
Furthermore, a PSC is characterised by the extent to which a manager is able to protect members of their team against various psychosocial risk factors. Some of these common risk factors include:
- Lack of diversity
- Lack of control
- Lack of support
- Lack of clarity
- Poorly managed change
- Monotonous work
- Isolated working environments
- Excessive demands
In addition to these risk factors, recent research from the European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology has highlighted the key role a PSC climate may play in helping reduce incidences of bullying in the workplace, through addressing three key mechanisms:
- Climate: If strong leadership and management is not in place, it can make it more likely for a ’mistreatment climate’ to thrive. A mistreatment climate relates to a working environment in which antisocial behaviours (e.g. rudeness and aggression) remain unchallenged and positive prosocial behaviours (e.g. seeking help) are not actively encouraged. To reduce the risk of bullying, managers need to challenge ways of working that enable a mistreatment climate.
- Work design: Role conflict, high workload, lack of clarity and job insecurity have all been evidenced as work-related risk factors that may increase the incidence of bullying in the workplace. A PSC seeks to mitigate the impact of these factors through proactively addressing elements of work design that may contribute to stress or psychological ill-health.
- Conflict escalation: Conflict is an inevitable aspect of working life, however, if left unaddressed it can often escalate into acts of bullying. In a healthy PSC environment, managers will seek to prevent conflict through promoting and reinforcing fair, positive, and predictable interactions amongst team members.
Practical ways to encourage a healthy psychosocial climate
As a manager, it’s part of your responsibility to help cultivate a working environment that is positive and supportive, helping employees to thrive in their role. Here are some practical ways you can foster a healthier, more productive psychosocial climate in your organisation.
- Create clear guidance on ‘ways of working’ and what you expect
A PSC is built on a foundation of trust, respect, and openness. To help safeguard psychosocial safety, employers need to clearly establish and promote ‘ways of working’ that align to these traits. Behaviours such as ‘respect’ and ‘openness’ may already be part of your company values and code. Managers can look to set an example by modelling these values. In addition, managers should look to empower other team members by actively challenging behaviours that could be regarded as ‘mistreatment climate’. - Find balance between demand and resources
Many theories of work-related stress suggest that employee psychological health will be negatively affected when there is an imbalance between job demands and resources. In a PSC, managers will not only seek to identify psychosocial risk factors, they will also endeavour to mitigate the impact of these risk factors through providing employees with the resources required to meet the demands placed upon them. - Enhance cohesion
One of the most effective ways to reduce the risk of unhealthy conflict (and by consequence psychosocial risk factors such as bullying) is to promote a cohesive working environment. To enhance team cohesion, managers should look towards deploying practices such as celebrating team successes, ensuring everyone has clarity in regard to their individual role and responsibilities, and facilitate opportunities for enhanced social interaction both inside and outside of work. - Promote psychological safety
Psychological safety is the idea that team members should feel they are able to share ideas, admit mistakes and even challenge existing ways of working – without fear of punishment or humiliation. There are in fact four levels of psychological safety managers should seek to promote within their teams:
Level 1: Inclusion safety – Team members should feel they are treated fairly, accepted, and valued by those they work with. There should be a strong sense of belonging within the team.
Level 2: Learner safety – Team members should feel they can ask questions, experiment with different ways of working and admit mistakes.
Level 3: Collaborator safety – Team members should feel they can contribute ideas and engage in constructive debate.
Level 4: Challenger safety – Team members should feel comfortable in speaking out, exposing issues and challenging the status quo. - Strive to be an ethical leader
When it comes psychosocial safety, managers must always strive to create a climate in which employee health and wellbeing is regarded as being of equal importance to performance and productivity. In order to demonstrate an authentic concern for the health and wellbeing of team members, managers can benefit from adopting five ethical leadership principles:
Respect – to employees at all levels through taking time to listen to their viewpoints, demonstrating empathy, and ensuring every team member is aware of their intrinsic value.
Justice – operate with complete fairness and objectivity. If they become aware of behaviours in the workplace that are regarded as unacceptable or inappropriate, they are quick to act.
Honesty – operate with honesty and transparency. In addition, managers must avoid engaging in behaviours that could be regarded as ‘dishonest’.
Integrity – always do the right thing and be guided by a strong moral compass.
Community – ethical leaders unite teams in the pursuit of a common goal.
Further support
IOSH – Psychosocial hazards (including stress).
Health and Safety Executive – Exploring psychosocial risk factors.
British Safety Council – Opinion article which looks at why managing psychosocial risks should have the same priority as managing physical risks.
Summary
Teams with a strong PSC have been evidenced to be happier, more engaged, and less likely to engage in acts of workplace bullying. However, sustaining a PSC also requires leaders who are willing to be proactive when it come to identifying psychosocial risks and promoting a climate whereby employees feel valued, respected and ultimately safe.
Sources:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1359432X.2017.1380626
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maureen-Dollard/publication/232564488_Psychosocial_Safety_Climate_Development_of_the_PSC-12/links/54ac92f80cf21c47713a1f9a/Psychosocial-Safety-Climate-Development-of-the-PSC-12.pdf
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1359432X.2017.1380626
This information was published November 2023.
