Tackling psychosocial safety is about understanding the workplace and setting a culture where there is a genuine preparedness to listen and to act on what has been heard. It means having discussions that include the words ‘stress’, ‘overload’, ‘insufficient resources’, claims of ‘harassment’, and similar. These keywords flag the psychological health of an organisation’s employees. Understanding and knowing what employees are thinking and feeling is not about the “vibe”; it is about scientific measurement and interpretation. An employer who says, “Yes, I have a great team, and they’re all happy to achieve the goals” probably has no idea of their employees’ psychological state and won’t until they ask employees in a way that allows them to be open and honest. Unfortunately, in most organisations, that isn’t the case, and bosses can always argue that they can’t respond to something they don’t know.

Delivering a solution – SHEPS

The Science of Happy Employees book shares insights into what employers can do to assess their staff’s happiness and enhance the level of psychosocial safety in the workplace. The SHEPS online assessment tool measures it.