Managing the Risk of Psychosocial Hazards at Work Code of Practice. Friend or Foe to SMBs?
Like most small to medium businesses (SMBs), I was totally overwhelmed by the introduction of the managing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work code of practice. To me, even the name of the code was unnecessarily complicated, making it fraught with risk of mispronunciation.
My few endeavors at becoming acquainted with this beastly topic brought out fears and limiting beliefs aplenty. Thoughts like “this is totally impractical” and “it’s asking even more of SMBs who are already too thinly stretched”. Fears like, “I don’t have the time or resources to become compliant” and “worrying about every potential mental health risk to my employees is bound to create a mental health risk of my own”.
One of the great lessons Mindset Coaching taught me is, where fear and limitations are present there is always an equal and opposite perspective of growth and expansion. With my core belief firmly embedded in the power of developing people, I sat down, rolled up my sleeves and got to work.
Unsurprisingly, as my perspective shifted, instead of seeing obstacles everywhere I started to see endless opportunities for SMBs.
Opportunities like normalizing discussions in the workplace around mental health and wellbeing (#win). Business owners collaborating with employees to better understand and cater to their unique needs and pressure points (#doublewin). A means for toxic business cultures to be brought to the surface and reshaped, which has profound impacts on culture, productivity and business outcomes (#SMBwin). Employees being empowered to take ownership of their workplace culture, where they spend more than a third of their waking hours after all (#employeewin).
With positive perspectives aplenty, one obstacle remained. The code is complex and subjective, yet it applies equally to SMBs no matter their resources, size and revenue. Implementing the code requires access to a combination of legal expertise, human resources experience and knowledge of business operations.
Lucky for me, I was in the box seat. With over 10 years legal experience in employment relations, the added benefit of owning my own SMB for 6 years and having guided countless SMBs in their employment relations pursuits, I have what it takes to decipher the overwhelming nature of the code in practical terms.
Here are some of my favorite take-aways:
whilst the code itself appears complex, it’s largely smoke and mirrors. At its core, it is relatively simple and doable;
most SMBs get overwhelmed by focusing on 100% compliance, then they fail to make a start;
a start requires a policy document introducing the gist of the code and its intent. Make sure you couple that with “in case of an event or trigger, employees are responsible to report and communicate this to [insert appropriate officer]”;
upon the occurrence of an event or trigger, actively listen to your employee and ask open ended questions regarding potential lessons and solutions;
once you have all of the data, devise a strategy that is reasonable and suits both the employee and the SMB;
solutions can look like a reduction of workload for a period, re-allocating certain high-risk duties to other employees, providing additional training or putting a procedure in place; and
make file-notes as you go. Better yet, communicate those to other employees (minus the confidential information) to further demonstrate pro-active compliance.
Of course, the above is not all there is to compliance, but it is a much better start than zilch. It also endeavors to demonstrate that implementation can be more practical than the name of the code (and its associated penalties) suggest.
So in the words of A Cinderella Story, “don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game”.
Better yet, attend our 1-Day Intensive Program specifically designed for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs). This unique program breaks down the complex code into manageable, implementable steps, tailored to the needs of each participating SMB.
It’s not just a seminar; it's an interactive workshop where businesses actively work with pre-prepared legal templates, risk assessment frameworks, and mitigation procedures.