Creating a mentally healthy workplace involves more than providing an Employee Assistance Program, running mental health awareness training or developing a wellbeing policy.

Australian businesses also need to consider how psychosocial hazards in the workplace can arise from the way work is designed, managed and led.

For business owners, managers and supervisors, this raises an important question:

Are the behaviours being demonstrated by your leaders supporting the workplace culture you are trying to create?

Workers Take Their Cues From Their Leaders

Businesses often communicate positive messages about mental health and wellbeing.

Workers may be encouraged to:

• take appropriate breaks;
• raise workload concerns;
• report inappropriate or aggressive behaviour;
• ask for assistance;
• disconnect from work outside normal working arrangements; and
• speak openly when a workplace process isn’t working.

However, the behaviour of leaders can sometimes communicate a very different message.

For example, a manager might encourage workers to take breaks while regularly working through lunch themselves.

A business might encourage employees to raise workload concerns, but supervisors respond to those concerns with “everyone is busy.”

Workers may be told they don’t need to respond outside working hours, while managers regularly send late-night messages that appear to require an immediate response.

A policy might require workers to report occupational violence and aggression, while actual incidents are dismissed as simply “part of the job.”

Over time, these behaviours can create unwritten workplace expectations and influence how psychosocial hazards in the workplace are experienced and managed.

Psychosocial Hazards in the Workplace: The Connection With Leadership

Under Australian work health and safety requirements, businesses must consider risks to both physical and psychological health.

Psychosocial hazards in the workplace may arise from the design or management of work, the working environment, workplace interactions and behaviours.

Common examples include:

• high job demands;
• poor support;
• lack of role clarity;
• poor organisational change management;
• inadequate recognition;
• conflict;
• bullying;
• violence and aggression; and
• remote or isolated work.

Leadership behaviour can influence how effectively many of these psychosocial hazards are identified, reported and managed.

For example, workers may be less likely to raise concerns about excessive workloads if they believe doing so will be viewed negatively by their manager.

Similarly, workers may be reluctant to report bullying, conflict or aggressive behaviour if previous concerns have not resulted in meaningful action.

Effective psychosocial risk management therefore requires businesses to consider not only policies and procedures, but also how managers and supervisors behave in practice.

Importantly, managing psychosocial risk does not mean removing every source of pressure from a workplace.

Most businesses will experience busy periods, deadlines, difficult customers, organisational change and competing priorities.

The question is how those situations are managed.

What Leaders Say Versus What Workers See

Consider some common workplace messages.

“Tell us if your workload is too high.”

What happens when somebody actually does?

“We want people to report mistakes.”

Is the response focused on understanding what happened and preventing recurrence, or immediately finding someone to blame?

“We don’t expect you to work after hours.”

Are managers regularly emailing and messaging workers late at night?

“Aggressive behaviour isn’t acceptable.”

What happens when a valued customer becomes abusive towards a worker?

“We consult our workers.”

Are workers involved before significant workplace changes are implemented, or simply informed after the decision has been made?

The response to these situations helps establish what workers understand to be the real expectations of the workplace.

It also influences how psychosocial hazards in the workplace are identified, reported and controlled.

When workers see that leaders take concerns seriously, they are more likely to speak up.

When workers see concerns dismissed, ignored or punished, they may stop raising them altogether.

Five Questions for Managers and Supervisors

As part of your mental health and wellbeing activities and your approach to psychosocial risk management, consider asking your managers and supervisors:

1. What behaviours are we modelling?

Are our leaders demonstrating the same behaviours we expect from workers?

If workers are encouraged to take breaks, are managers taking appropriate breaks themselves?

If workers are encouraged to disconnect outside working hours, are leaders demonstrating the same boundaries?

2. How do we respond when someone raises a concern?

Workers are more likely to continue raising issues when they believe their concerns will genuinely be considered.

Consider whether managers and supervisors have the skills, confidence and resources to respond appropriately when workers raise concerns about workload, conflict, bullying, aggression or other psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

3. What behaviours are we unintentionally rewarding?

For example, are excessive hours consistently being associated with commitment or high performance?

Are workers who regularly work through breaks viewed as more dedicated?

Are employees who remain constantly available outside working hours receiving more recognition?

These patterns can unintentionally establish workplace expectations that may contribute to psychosocial risk.

4. What behaviours are we tolerating?

Repeatedly accepting unreasonable customer behaviour, workplace conflict or excessive workloads can establish an informal workplace norm.

If inappropriate behaviour is tolerated because the person involved is considered a high performer or an important customer, workers may receive the message that those behaviours are acceptable.

5. Are we giving supervisors the authority and resources to act?

Supervisors may identify a psychosocial hazard but require management support, resources or authority to implement effective controls.

A supervisor cannot effectively manage every risk alone.

Businesses need to ensure leaders understand their responsibilities and have appropriate support to take action.

Look Beyond the Wellbeing Program: Managing Psychosocial Risk

A mentally healthy workplace should not rely solely on individual workers becoming more resilient or seeking assistance after problems arise.

Businesses should also examine the organisational factors that may be creating or contributing to psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

That means looking at:

Workload → Roles → Resources → Support → Consultation → Leadership → Review

For small and medium businesses, this doesn’t necessarily require creating another complicated management system.

It can start with regular conversations between managers, supervisors and workers, reviewing psychosocial hazards, recording actions and checking whether the controls put in place are actually working.

Businesses can also use existing WHS processes to identify and manage psychosocial risks rather than treating mental health and wellbeing as a completely separate activity.

For more information about psychosocial hazards and managing psychosocial risks, businesses can refer to guidance from Safe Work Australia.

Leadership Sets the Standard

Policies and procedures remain important.

Training remains important.

Support services remain important.

But workers also observe what happens around them every day. They see how managers respond when workloads increase, how supervisors respond to mistakes and whether workplace concerns are taken seriously.

These everyday behaviours can influence how psychosocial hazards in the workplace develop, are experienced and are managed.

They see whether inappropriate behaviour is challenged.

They see whether leaders genuinely disconnect from work.

They see whether speaking up results in action.

They also notice whether managers and supervisors follow the same workplace expectations that are communicated to workers.

For example, if a business expects workers to take appropriate breaks, manage reasonable workloads and disconnect outside normal working hours, leaders should demonstrate those behaviours themselves.

When leaders consistently model healthy workplace behaviours, they can help create an environment where workers feel more comfortable raising concerns about psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

On the other hand, when excessive workloads, inappropriate behaviour, poor communication or constant availability are repeatedly accepted or rewarded, these behaviours can become normalised and contribute to psychosocial risk.

Workplace culture isn’t simply what is written in your policies.

It is also shaped by the behaviours your leaders demonstrate, tolerate and reinforce.

That is why leadership should be considered as part of a broader approach to identifying and managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

Effective leadership can support psychosocial risk management by encouraging workers to speak up, responding appropriately to concerns, supporting consultation and ensuring that agreed controls are actually implemented.

Ultimately, managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace is not only about having the right policies in place. It is about making sure those policies are reflected in everyday workplace behaviour.

So, as part of your approach to mental health, wellbeing and psychosocial risk management, ask one simple question:

What are we normalising in our workplace?

How CHD Partners Can Help

CHD Partners supports Australian businesses to develop practical systems for managing work health and safety, including psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

Our focus is on making compliance practical for small and medium businesses by helping organisations identify psychosocial hazards in the workplace, consult with workers, implement appropriate controls and maintain evidence that those processes are being followed.

Effective psychosocial risk management requires businesses to look beyond policies and procedures. It also involves understanding how work is designed, how leaders respond to concerns and whether the controls in place are effectively managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace.

Whether your business needs support with WHS compliance, psychosocial risk management, workplace health and safety or managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace, CHD Partners can help you develop practical systems that fit your organisation.

Our approach is designed to help small and medium businesses understand their responsibilities, manage workplace risks and build practical processes that support safer and healthier workplaces.

Compliance Made Simple.

Ready to Strengthen Your Workplace?

If you’re concerned about psychosocial hazards in the workplace, workplace culture or how your leaders are managing health and safety risks, CHD Partners can help.

Managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace starts with understanding the risks that may be affecting your workers and taking practical steps to address them.

Whether you’re reviewing existing WHS processes, responding to workplace concerns or looking to strengthen your approach to psychosocial risk management, our team can help you identify practical next steps.

CHD Partners works with Australian businesses to develop practical, manageable WHS systems that support compliance and help create safer and healthier workplaces.

Want to better understand the psychosocial hazards in your workplace?

Get in touch with CHD Partners today to discuss your workplace health and safety needs and find out how we can support your business with psychosocial risk management and WHS compliance.