Removing

the

Barriers

to

Potential

PSYCHOSOCIAL RISKMoving from Risk to Opportunity

February 2014

2

Could it happen in your organisation?

2012

“Former Telecom CEO has been indicted by a court and bailed over

allegations that he led a corporate culture of bullying and harassment

that resulted in the suicide of at least 30 employees.”

3What is Psychosocial Risk (PSR)?

Risk = The probability /uncertainty of a negative effect on objectives (Leitch 2009)

Probability / Uncertainty appears in different forms:

Are Psychosocial Hazards present in my organisation?

Do Psychosocial Hazards create the Psychosocial Stress (mismatch in a role)?

If Psychosocial Hazards are present in my organisation will they have a negative effect on

its objectives?

What can be done to identify and eliminate Psychosocial Hazards?

Thus, Psychosocial Risk (PSR) is the uncertainty of the effects that Psychosocial Hazards

may have on the objectives of the organisation

Psychosocial Hazards are those aspects of the design and management of work, and its social

and organisational contexts that have the potential for causing psychological or physical harm (Cox

& Griffiths, 2005).

4

What is Psychosocial Stress at Work?

PSR goes hand-in-hand with work related stress

Work-related stress is the response people may have

when presented with work demands and pressures that

are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and

which challenge their ability to cope (WHO 2003)

Burnout is a result of continued exposure to work

related stress

Work-related stress, violence, harassment, bullying (or

mobbing) are now widely recognised major challenges to

occupational health and safety (EU-OSHA, 2007).

Psychosocial stress at work is the result of a mismatch

between the complexity of problems a person needs to deal at

work and the capability of the person to deal with the

challenges due to the negative impact of psychosocial hazards

5

The Cost of a poor Psychosocial Work Environment

Turnover

Excessive Sick Leave

Lost time Accidents

Premature Retirement

Grievance and Litigation

Damage to Consumer/Employer brand

Increased Operational Risk

Poor Performance/Productivity

And the list goes on …………

“Probably the highest cost of a poor

Psychosocial Work Environment is a

DISENGAGED Workforce causing

Organisations to dramatically

underperform”

6

Psychosocial HazardsPSYCHOSOCIAL HAZARDS (WHO 2010)

Job Content Lack of variety or short work cycles, fragmented or meaningless work, under use of skills, high uncertainty,

continuous exposure to people through work

Workload & Pace Work overload or under load, machine pacing, high levels of time pressure, continually subject to deadlines

Work schedule Shift working, night shifts, inflexible work schedules, unpredictable hours, long or unsociable hours

Control Low participation in decision making, lack of control over workload, pacing, etc.

Environment & Equipment Inadequate equipment availability, suitability or maintenance; poor environmental conditions such as lack of

space, poor lighting, excessive noise

Organisational culture & function Poor communication, low levels of support for problem solving and personal development, lack of definition of,

or agreement on, organisational objectives

Interpersonal relationships Social or physical isolation, poor relationships with superiors, interpersonal conflict, lack of social support,

bullying, harassment

Role Role ambiguity, role conflict, and responsibility for people

Career Development Career stagnation and uncertainty, under promotion or over promotion, poor pay, job insecurity, low social value

to work

Home/work interface Conflicting demands of work and home, low support at home, dual career problems

7

Psychosocial Risks: Is Risk Management strategic enough in

Business and Policy Making*

Conceptualisation and perception of

risk

Current perception of PSR

Barriers to implementing PSR

management

Opportunities in managing PSR are

being recognised

* A 2012 University of Nottingham study

(Leka, Langenhan, Jain) explored

stakeholder perspectives, regarding the

extent to which PSRs are incorporated in

strategic risk management practices

8

Conceptualisation & Perception of Risk

Risk is perceived as the likelihood that there will be a known loss or the

hazard that there is a potential to cause harm

Priorities for risk management revolve around financial survival,

reputation, brand and compliance

Most employers are only motivated to manage health and safety risk

because of regulations

Only 11% of 1000 surveyed directors claim to have a complete

understanding of risks in their organisations

Evaluation of risk management practices is widely neglected

9

Perception of Psychosocial Risk

“If I was to mention Psychosocial Risk to

one of the companies I work with, they

would look at me very blank.”

PSR includes all factors that may negatively impact

upon the individual by simply undertaking their job

role

For most organisations, consideration of health and

safety issues is just a default tick in the box

Only “informed (larger) businesses consider the

potential negative implications of PSR

The business case for managing PSR is not really

being heard because it may take some time to show

benefits, and involves commitment for the long term

10

Barriers to implementing PSR Management

Resources – Time and Money

Low priority

Lack of understanding – what am I

supposed to do?

Lack of available expertise and

frameworks

Stigmatisation

Lack of inspection/enforcement

Reluctance to report problems

“it’s almost about branding I suppose, and the

way the term is branded. Health and Safety –

no, well now, people – yes, right at the top”

11

Opportunities in managing PSR are being recognised

“People need to have training and need to

communicate and maintain risk awareness even if

things are looking on the bright side”

“There has to be a culture change in terms of what

work is”

“HR absolutely needs to be looking at data and

building the business case for investment in people

management and training and development and

highlighting the potential risks of not investing in

people management”

12

Regulatory Landscape for PSR

“There probably isn’t any

stomach for additional Health

& Safety regulations at the

moment – at least in certain

countries”

The EU has set guidelines that have been

adopted by most members at some level

The main directive revolves around providing a

safe work environment and recognizing PSR as a

factor

Inspection and enforcement are complicated do

to lack of definition and indicators

If an organisation has suffered a PSR event and

does not have in place a PSR Management

strategy the consequences can be dramatic

13

The 5 top reasons why many PSR Initiatives are ineffective

Number 5: Frameworks exist but are too general and lack rigorous

implementation methodologies

Number 4: Lack of data points that allow for effective identification of risks and

benchmarking current and future states

Number 3: Focus on the prevention of negative consequences rather than

positive outcomes leading to loss of executive sponsorship and funding

Number 2: Lack of ownership. Risk Managers are focused on other risks and

HR departments run PSR initiatives as a sideline.

Number 1: PSR Management is not integrated into existing Management

Methods and therefore are mostly tactical rather than being strategic

14

Turning Risk into Opportunity

In the 21st century there is a convergence of new ideas with

traditional practices. Recent developments in Emotional Intelligence

and Positive Psychology are putting hard research behind what have

been until now “fuzzy” concepts to most

“One man’s

ceiling

is another

man’s floor”Paul Simon

15

Benefits from focusing on the Opportunity instead of the

Risk

Removing the stigma

Compelling Business Case

Clear actions to improve not only mitigate

Converting tactical, standalone initiatives to strategic Human

Capital Management

Integration with strategic HR processes

Improved Engagement

Improved Effectiveness and Performance

Dramatic Reduction of Risk

16

Psychosocial Risk: The Flow Model

Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an

activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full

involvement, and success in the process of the activity.

Dealing with complex decisions can test personal

boundaries and push even the most stoic into Burnout

(illustrated by my red lozenges).

Lack of challenge on the other hand leads to “Boreout”

(yellow lozenges). People’s abilities are different and their

willingness to push their own capabilities is variable. People

in a prolonged state of ‘Boreout’ turn into inventors: cottage

industries, hobby horse projects and sandboxes spring forth

with impressive enterprise.

Controlled Burnout can be productive, uncontrolled Burnout

is very destructive, any form of Boreout leads to the famed

Anti Pattern – ‘the devil makes work for idle hands.’

Proposed by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, the

Positive Psychology concept has been widely

referenced across a variety of fields

17

The Flow Model and Employee Engagement

In Positive Psychology Flow =

Engagement

The key to Engagement is correctly

matching Abilities to Challenges

Engagement is enhanced by:

Removing Psychosocial Hazards

Identifying and promoting Abilities

Developing the required Technical,

Management and Emotional

Intelligence skills

Martin Seligman the founder of Positive

Psychology believes that a key ingredient to Well-

being is Engagement

18

Linking the Flow Model to Management Science

The Total Management Method (TMM) adapts a variety of related

theories and concepts in regard to a match between challenges /

problems and abilities / capabilities to propose the method to identify

and quantify match / mismatch

The Total Management Method® by

TMS

19

Mapping Psychosocial Hazards to a Human Capital

Management ApproachPSYCHOSOCIAL HAZARDS (WHO 2010) mapped to the Total Management Method (TMM)

Job Content

TMM addresses Psychosocial Risks by:

• Correctly matching the capability (Abilities) of an individual with the

complexity (Challenges) of the role

• Defining Managerial and Leadership accountabilities that promote the

appropriate values and correctly allocate resources

• Ensure that decisions are taken at the right level thus empowering

Individuals, fostering innovation and providing a sense of control

• Developing Competency models that include the required soft

(Emotional Intelligence) skills to drive cultures and values

• Aligning compensation with work complexity

• Improving processes to reduce overload and distribute the workload

• Establishing the proper boundaries for non-reporting (horizontal)

relationships

Workload & Pace

Work schedule

Control

Environment & Equipment

Organisational culture & function

Interpersonal relationships

Role

Career Development

Home/work interface

20

The PSR Management Framework

PSR Management Framework

includes a set of critical practices

that help to reduce Psychosocial

risk at work

The most critical practice as a

foundation of the framework is a

structure based on the levels of

work (problem complexity) with

optimal number of organisational

levels

An absence of one or several key

organisational practices described

or their low effectiveness increases

a probability of Psychosocial risk

21

Identifying PSR in an Organisation: The PSR Audit

Stage 1

• Select one department or section as a pilot and map all sources of psychosocial risk within it

Stage 2

• Identify the organisational model for the section with the optimal number of levels of work and problem complexity by conducting extant interviews

Stage 3

• Establish the inflow capability of the employees of the section using several types of the assessment for the inflow capability elements

Stage 4

• Match the level of work complexity of the section’s roles with the inflow capability of the role holders

Stage 5

• Map all psychosocial risks across the department or section

• Audit the organisational practices of Psychosocial Risk Management Framework

• Develop corrective actions

22

PSR Management reduces Operational Risk

Ineffective Workplace Psychosocial Risk

Management Practices

Lead to

PEOPLE with wrong knowledge

and skills, wrong capabilities,

wrong values and commitment and

wrong required behaviours

Lead

to

Lead to

Lea

d t

o

Ineffective decisions about

EXTERNAL FACTORS in an

area of accountability

Ineffective

decisions about

PROCESSES in an

area of

accountability

Ineffective

decisions about

SYSTEMS in an

area of

accountability

OPRISK OPRISK

OPRISK

An Employee with Psychosocial Stress

Lead to

23

Advantages of an integrated PSR Management Framework

Clear understanding of what psychosocial risk and its types are

Objective and quantitative tools to map all types of psychosocial risk across the

organisation

Allocation of potential monetary loss to the sources of psychosocial risk

Psychosocial Risk Management as a set of practices and values to ensure sustainable and

ongoing prevention and reduction of psychosocial risk

Training modules (Training Centre) to train employees accountable for psychosocial risk

TMS’s expertise to adapt and embed Psychosocial Risk Management Framework into

organisational practices and values

Psychosocial Analytics that includes a set of comprehensive indicators to monitor all

aspects psychosocial risk

Early Warning System mechanisms

24

For more

Informationgo to

www.totalmanagementsys.com

or send Questions and/or Comments to:

info@totalmanagementsys.com