Organizations don't understand PSR and less what to do about it. But what if you could turn the problem and eliminate the risk by focusing on the opportunity. The flip side of PSR is Employee Engagement and performance.

1. Removing
the
Barriers
to
Potential
PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK
Moving from Risk to Opportunity
February 2014

2. 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.”

3. 3
What 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. 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. 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. 6
Psychosocial Hazards
PSYCHOSOCIAL 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 19
Mapping Psychosocial Hazards to a Human Capital
Management Approach
PSYCHOSOCIAL 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. 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. 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. 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
Leadto
Lead to
Leadto
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. 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. 24
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Information
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