Providing a psychologically safe workplace: a goal on managers’ agendas.
By: Marc Bien, psychosociologist
As the saying goes, “every cloud has a silver lining”, the pandemic has helped raise the profile of mental health issues, and this collective awareness has not escaped managers. To avoid the serious consequences of psychological distress, both for company productivity and for workers’ well-being and quality of life, companies are realizing the importance of offering a psychologically safe workplace.
Fortunately, there are a number of practical ways of facilitating the creation of such environments, including focusing on the psychosocial risks present in the work environment.
The aim of this post is to raise awareness of psychosocial risks in organizations, and to suggest a few courses of action to help prevent the emergence of mental health problems.
What are work-related psychosocial risks?
Work-related psychosocial risks – often referred to by the acronym RPS – refer to the risks generated by employment conditions likely to interact with physical and psychological health.
Although the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) (1) identifies four of them 1. psychological or sexual harassment in the workplace, 2. violence in the workplace, 3. marital, family or sexual violence, and 4. exposure to a potentially traumatic event. Others include excessive workload, high emotional demands and lack of professional autonomy or decision-making latitude.
Impact of psychosocial risks on the company
The presence of psychosocial risks in an organization can have serious consequences for the mental health of its employees, as they are associated with increased stress and anxiety, the onset of depressive symptoms, burnout and even, in the most serious cases, suicidal ideation.
In turn, these mental health problems can lead to reduced motivation, poorer working relationships, increased absenteeism and higher staff turnover.
As you will have gathered, beyond the human impact, RPS also generates significant costs for companies: costs linked to absenteeism, lower productivity, workplace accidents, prolonged sick leave, and so on. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) makes it clear:
"Mental health disorders place a heavy burden on our societies and economies: even before the pandemic, their economic costs were estimated at over 4% of GDP per year in OECD countries, more than the cost of overweight and obesity." (2)
Faced with these challenges, it’s in every company’s interest to take the issue of psychosocial risks seriously and implement a genuine prevention strategy, with a view to social responsibility and sustainable performance.
Courses of action to prevent psychosocial risks
Long relegated to the personal sphere, mental health problems passed under the radar of managers, and their resolution was considered an individual responsibility. Now that they are aware of these phenomena, companies are also acting holistically and systemically, tackling organizational causes rather than focusing solely on individual symptoms, in order to effectively prevent psychosocial risks.
Here are a few possible courses of action:
- 1. Become aware of psychosocial risks – Whether through structured training or reading on the Internet, it’s important that everyone involved in a company’s success is aware of these phenomena, so they can spot them when they occur.
- 2. Involve and empower employees – Workers in all areas of the organization must be closely involved in the prevention process, for example, by involving them in identifying risks, defining solutions and implementing them.
- 3. Act on work organization – Periodically, it can be beneficial to revisit work organization to ensure that it is still in line with the needs of the people working in the company, and not the other way around. Some examples of factors to consider: mental and emotional workload, decision-making autonomy, working conditions and schedules, etc. Actions can also be taken to strengthen recognition, social support and the quality of interpersonal relationships.
- 4. Train and support managers – Managers play an essential role in preventing RPS, as they are the ones who embody and relay the company’s values and procedures on a day-to-day basis. It is therefore crucial to train them to detect signs of suffering at an early stage and to support people in difficulty.
- 5. Offer psychological support – Last but not least, companies are well advised to set up employee assistance programs, first and foremost to help those in distress, but also to reduce the costs associated with proven mental health problems.
Offering rest areas - such as proposed by Recharjme - is a example of an effective tool for improve working conditions by enabling, among other things ease the mental and emotional burden emotional. What's more, this type clearly indicate the benevolent values of the organization and ensure that employees feel supported.
Mental health in the workplace: an unavoidable issue!
There’s no doubt about it: mental health is now a key issue in the business world. In a context of labor shortage, and where more and more generations of workers are concerned about their mental health, becoming aware of work-related psychosocial risks and implementing a genuine prevention strategy will contribute to the long-term performance and success of any organization.
(1) For more information: https: //www.cnesst.gouv.qc.ca/fr/prevention-securite/sante-
psychological/psychosocial-risks-work-related
(2) Retrieved from the Internet on April 17, 2024: https: //www.oecd.org/coronavirus/fr/les-donnees-
dechiffrees/the-cost-of-mental-health-problems
We are proud to work with Marc Brien. He is a psychosociologist with over 25 years’ experience as a self-employed worker in private practice and community organizations.
Learn more about his work at marcbrien.ca