I caught up with a legal colleague recently and we spent some time discussing how psychosocial safety initiatives still lack traction in many Australian workplaces.

We mused over the fact that workplaces are change saturated, resource lean and struggling to CREATE SPACE for psychosocial safety.

And I shared my observation that some executives seem to find the link between psychosocial safety and better business outcomes too intangible.  And even when those benefits are known, still feel the return on investment out of reach when the world celebrates short termism.

There’s a raft of research, guidance material (and yep regs and legs) that support the case for this work, but I thought I’d go right back to the start and talk about how we got to our current situation in the first place.

To look at this from a different perspective that just might help activate some change.

Let’s start with a story…

 

Summer, Australia, 1982

I’m lathered in coconut reef oil, sun-baking and enjoying summer with my friend, Jen.

Our colourful beach towels with their white fringed edges are spread out in the back yard, just behind the tin shed positioned directly under the full force of the hot Australian sun.

The tin is reflecting the sun even more. We’re smiling. Our tans are going to be superb.

It’s 38 degrees. We did the same thing yesterday. It’s exciting when we start seeing our skin turn red; we know our tans are developing.

We have the body lotion ready for tonight when skin will be stinging, and we’ll take that hot shower and pour over the white vinegar because ‘that helps bring out the sting’ and moves us more quickly to the tanning stage.

We’ve got it down to a fine art.  If we run out of coconut reef oil, we’ll just coat ourselves in baby oil.

Summer, Australia, 2025

As a kid, summer was the best time. Lazy days at the pool under the blazing hot midday sun. No shade. No sunscreen. It was just the way it was back then.

We didn’t know any better.

‘Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, with about 2000 deaths per year as a result of the disease.’

We learnt the hard way and then shared those learnings with others to avoid the same poor outcomes. And that’s made a difference with research showing that these: ‘environmental and behavioural changes achieved since the 1980s have likely contributed to the decline in younger Australians – the cohort who have had the benefit of skin cancer prevention programs for most of their lives.’

I can’t help but make correlations with leadership.

How we managed work in the 1980s was as potentially impactful as how we fried ourselves like sausages under the sun.  Now we know to Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek and Slide (two new additions).

We also know what helps keep workers psychologically thriving.

Much like our sun-baking days, some of us look back on those earlier leadership behaviours with horror.

Yet we learn.

Life is not static; things evolve, reveal themselves and change.

We take new research and developments and determine new ways of working that the science tells us will help people be productive, creative, engaged, healthy and happy. Or “thriving” at work.

From a thriving at work perspective, research even more than four decades ago was showing that having high job demands and low agency (control) heightened the risk of job strain (Karasek 1979).

In the early 2000’s Professors’ Bakker and Demerouti from Erasmus University in the Netherlands introduced us to the Job-Demands and Resources model (JDR), expanding on the demands and control model.  In its raw form this model looks like a complex web of interconnections, more simply it highlights the risk of burnout if we have a mismatch between our job resources (things that support and energise us) and our job demands. Think of it like balancing your bank account – too much out and not enough in = oh oh.

More recently Australian researchers have developed a framework based on decades of research that provides us with a recipe to design work that is stimulating, meaningful, contains agency, positive relational aspects and importantly – ensures job demands are tolerable (Parker & Knight).

These and other work design principles are being incorporated into guidance material such as the SafeWork NSW publication  Designing Work to Manage Psychosocial Risks (February 2024) to help operationalise these findings.

Research brings us the gift of positive change.

If we had not implemented the findings of sun smart research all those years ago our skin cancer rates would be far more than the number they are today (sadly, still very high).

Making positive change means taking note of (the credible) research that is designed to help the human condition.

When it comes to work – that help is aimed at enriching our psychological wellbeing.

Occupational stress researchers and organisational psychologists globally spend their lives identifying ways to improve our safety, wellbeing and ultimately performance at work.

And when the research is so clear that thriving workers are more productive in the workplace than struggling workers, why wouldn’t any organisation want to embrace that.  From a humanistic perspective, a sustainable workplace perspective, and a productivity perspective.

Change is hard.  Especially those requiring philosophical shifts such as this.

Yet we already have the benefits of decades of research at our disposal, and now many experiential examples of how to activate your psychosocial safety initiatives.

It’s time to lean in.  To CREATE SPACE.

To put the metaphorical psychosocial sunscreen on.

And to ensure you protect you and your workers from harm.

Reflection

What barriers to progressing your psychosocial safety initiatives are you experiencing?

  • Not enough information or clarity about what the research says
  • Lack of a compelling business case for change in my workplace
  • Change saturation – I just can’t get airtime for this initiative
  • Lack of internal resourcing – capacity and technical subject matter knowledge
  • Not sure where to start / Feeling overwhelmed
  • No one wants to take ownership of this
  • Other

If you want to discuss the barriers you’re experiencing and see how I can help you overcome these – you can click the link below to book a 30-minute no obligation chat.

About Tanya

Positive Change Drives Positive Results

A keynote speaker and author of 3 books with a career spanning more than 25 years in leading people, culture, projects and change, Tanya knows what it takes to cut through the noise and create positive change at work.

Known for her highly engaging approach alongside her evidence-based programs, Tanya’s programs are highly impactful which is why her clients continue to partner with her for years.

Working with CEO’s, Senior Executives, and People, Culture and Safety Teams, Tanya’s clients often say they are:

■ Wanting to create a mentally healthy and high performing workplace but don’t know how to start
■Struggling with team dynamics and culture challenges impacting on wellbeing and productivity
■ Implementing workplace change and want to ensure best practice so that it doesn’t fail or lose engagement of their teams
■ Going through complex change and people are stressed, overwhelmed and need to get change back on a more positive track
■ Are afraid of losing good people and the organisations’ reputation when tackling a significant change
■ Wanting to ensure their people thrive, not just survive.

View her books here.

Email: tanya@tanyaheaneyvoogt.com

Book in a 30-minute no obligation chat: click here.

Tanya Heaney-Voogt

Director & Principal Consultant
MBA, ICFACC, MAHRI, Dip Mgt, Dip Coaching, Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner
E: tanya@tanyaheaneyvoogt.com

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