The State of Psychosocial Safety in Australian Workplaces 2022
This report, based on a survey of more than 1, 000 Australian employees, explores the adoption of practices that demonstrate how cared for employees feel by their leaders in Australian workplaces. The survey also includes questions relating to the relationship between caring cultures and performance.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
UNCOMFORTABLE
TRUTH
#1:
WHEN IT COMES TO WORKPLACE SAFETY, CARE BEATS COMPLIANCE
While many workplaces are training leaders to ensure they are compliant when it comes to managing psychosocial risks, fewer workplaces are leveraging changes in health and safety standards as an opportunity to build on their leaders’ strengths and improve their cultures of care. And yet, when leaders often express care for their team members we have found that levels of wellbeing, job satisfaction, performance and safety are all more likely to be higher.
Are you settling for compliance or helping your leaders often express care when it comes to improving safety in your workplace?
UNCOMFORTABLE
TRUTH
#2:
THE SILENT HAZARD = THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE GAP
The good news is most leaders are trying to provide the support their team members need to stay safe. The bad news is that there is a significant employee experience gap between the support leaders say they are providing and the hazards team members say they are facing. To close the gap, leaders need to more explicitly communicate about their efforts to care for team members and regularly check-in with team members about the impact of these actions and the hazards they may still be experiencing. It is also worth noting that team members who reported higher levels of psychological safety (they felt safe to bring up problems and talk about mistakes) were significantly less likely to report that they often faced any of the workplace psychosocial hazards, suggesting this may be a pathway to lower the frequency of experience across the hazards.
How are you identifying and doing “everything reasonably practical” to help your leaders close any experience gaps and minimise the risks of psychosocial hazards in your workplace? How are you helping your leaders build psychological safety for your team members?
UNCOMFORTABLE
TRUTH
#3:
THE SIMPLE WAYS BUSY LEADERS CAN OFTEN EXPRESS CARE
When leaders often expressed genuine CARE (Compassion, Appreciation, Responsibility, Emotional Wisdom) for their team, levels of engagement, performance, wellbeing, and safety all improved significantly. By integrating CARE behaviours into their existing Routines (their team processes), Rituals (their team practices), Rules (workplace policies) and Role Modelling (their own behaviours) leaders can create a culture of CARE without adding one more thing to their to-do list.
How are your leaders leveraging existing routines, rituals, rules and role modelling opportunities to often express CARE for their team members?
For media enquiries, please contact:
Julie McNamara
Media Specialist, Mahlab
[email protected]
0419 595 688
