An excerpt from Lauren Parsons’ book ‘Thriving Leaders Thriving Teams’.

Psychosocial risks and hazards are things that could harm someone’s mental health in the workplace. They include anything in the design or management of work that increases the risk of work-related stress, such as:

• High work demands (fast-paced work, repetitive tasks, or excessive workload).
• Low levels of autonomy.
• A lack of clarity.
• Poor workplace relationships.
• Inappropriate behaviours (bullying, harassment, discrimination).
• A lack of support and communication.
• Poor physical working conditions.
• A lack of organisational justice (inconsistency, bias or unfairness).
• A lack of recognition and reward.
• Remote and isolated work.
• Violent or traumatic events.
• Poor organisational change.

Minimising these doesn’t just make good business sense. Leaders also have a legal requirement and duty of care to identify and adequately manage these potential hazards. Failure to do so can result in hefty fines. Leaders play a critical role, as they directly influence so many of the risk factors.

Safe Work Australia reports the average time lost for mental stress claims is over three times higher than the average of all other workers’ compensation claims, requiring a median of 27 weeks off work compared to just seven weeks for all other claims.

The 2016 UK Labour Force Survey showed 11.7 million working days were lost to work-related stress, anxiety and depression, with the main factors being “workload pressures, including tight deadlines, too much responsibility and a lack of managerial support.”

Identifying and Minimising the Risks

Just as gardeners proactively protect their plants from wind and pests, leaders need to take steps to protect their people. If staff are dealing with too many things at once, it’s up to their managers to clarify priorities.
It’s important to understand the range of psychosocial risks you need to identify and manage to ensure the work environment isn’t causing undue mental distress. This is a process that should be repeated every 6-12 months to review risks and adjust your approach as needed to stay on top of them. ‘Thriving Leaders Thriving Teams’ includes a risk assessment questionnaire to assist you with this process.

Be aware that leaders will often view these issues with ‘rose tinted glasses’ assuming that staff feel they’ve got great autonomy, good role clarity, that they are getting enough recognition and there is little or no bullying. When you talk to team members however – often more issues come to the surface. It’s worth going through the risk assessment questionnaire both with leadership groups and with trusted staff members at different levels to get a more rounded picture.

From there you can make decisions to create positive changes that will make a real difference for your team and help the entire organisation to thrive.

Remember that protecting staff wellbeing is just one of the three key steps leaders should take to address stress and burnout in the workplace.

Enjoyed this article? 

To find out more about protecting your staff’s wellbeing, read the whole Thriving Leaders, Thriving Teams book. Order your copy today here. 

Complete will full colour, full page illustrations, it’s a fantastic guide to help you stop languishing and start flourishing.

“Thriving leaders, thriving teams provides compelling reasons along with practical ideas to cultivate a positive and energised workplace culture. This book is relevant to leaders of all levels and takes the reader on a journey of wellbeing that can be applied at an individual, team and workplace level.”

 – Joss Eastwood, Far North District Council

“Thriving Leaders, Thriving Teams” is a comprehensive and easy read. The content is set out logically and backed up with examples, exercises and online resources. The positive vocabulary inspires enthusiasm to make changes taking small but sure steps.” 

– Jo Brew, Wellbeing Lead

“An invaluable tool for developing leadership skills with lots of practical strategies”

 – Sonya Veale, Practice Manager