In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving work environment, the mental well-being of employees is paramount. Psychosocial hazards, those elements within the workplace that can harm health, are increasingly recognised as critical factors that impact employee satisfaction, productivity, and overall organisational health.

Culture is a tricky beast. Always has been. It is poorly understood, rarely receives the investment or attention it requires, and is entirely interpretive and individualistic by nature. It is the sum total of how people think, feel and interact.

Culture counts and now, we are required to count it.

So where should we start?

Australian companies have generally been very good at managing physical risks in the workplace. But under Work Health and Safety legislation, organisations must now manage psychosocial risks in the same systematic way. This is no longer simply a wellbeing initiative or an HR conversation. It is a workplace health and safety obligation, and failure to manage these risks carries significant implications for organisations and for individual leaders.

Wrapping our heads around the challenge of managing psychosocial risk within organisations is multi-tiered because:

Traditionally, risk management addresses an incident occurring at a singular point in time, which has definable causes and, once prevention strategies are in place, re-occurrence is likely avoidable.

Psychosocial risks are often unseen, cumulative and shaped by the way work is designed, managed and experienced. Mental health also remains stigmatised, making it difficult for organisations to meet their WHS obligations in a practical and meaningful way.

Organisations often lack the framework to educate leaders in how to identify, assess and respond to psychosocial hazards or incidents effectively.

Legacy culture issues and silos prevent cross-functional collaboration, which is essential to developing organisational frameworks and a collaborative approach to this emerging issue.

Yet the heat is on and manage it, we must.

The current WHS framework requires organisations to consult with their workers in the identification and management of psychosocial risks in the workplace. In practical terms, this means organisations need to move beyond reactive responses and start building repeatable systems for identifying, assessing, controlling and reviewing psychosocial hazards.

The legislation requires us to:

• Identify foreseeable psychosocial hazards

• Assess the risks associated with those hazards

• Implement controls, so far as is reasonably practicable, to eliminate or minimise the risks

• Monitor and review the effectiveness of those control measures

And this must all be supported and informed by consultation with your workers.

Yet, inside organisations we are still grappling with questions like:

Whose job is it anyway?

What’s the difference between culture, mental health and psychosocial hazards?

How can we really measure something we can’t even see?

Can we really be expected to be responsible for people’s mental health?

How can we work together to solve this problem when the silos are so entrenched?

How should we approach a situation of concern without interfering or making it worse?

So we have developed a model. To simplify things. To carve a pathway through the complexity of psychosocial risk management.

In truth, it’s an adaptation of the model we have been working with for over 10 years, which helps organisations to transform. Three simple steps. Although not always easy:

• Benchmark

• Build

• Embed

Benchmark where your organisation is now. Understand the culture, the work design, the leadership behaviours, the systems, the pressure points and the psychosocial hazards that may already be present.

Build the capability, controls and shared understanding required to manage those risks. This means educating leaders, engaging workers, strengthening communication, clarifying roles, and putting practical systems in place.

Embed the changes into the way the organisation operates. Psychosocial risk management cannot sit in a policy folder or be treated as a one-off survey. It needs to become part of decision-making, leadership, consultation, review and continuous improvement.

Trying to change behaviour without investing in relationships is a fool’s game. Relationships precede engagement.

Compliance is a powerful motivator, but if you want lasting change, start with why. Engage your workforce and work together to meet your legislative requirements while actually building a better, safer culture.

And at the end of the day, that’s the intent of the legislation.

Compliance and culture can co-exist. Get good at doing good, versus very good at doing.

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