Psychological and social support icon  Psychological and social support

The level of social and emotional integration, trust and support within and among all work relationships.

“Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.” – Dalai Lama

Overview

What is psychological and social support?

Psychological and social support comprises all supportive social interactions available at work; either with co-workers or supervisors. It refers to the degree of social and emotional integration and trust among co-workers and supervisors. It refers also to the level of help and assistance provided by others when one is performing tasks. Equally important are the workers’ perceptions and awareness of organizational support. When workers perceive organizational support, it means they believe their organization values their contributions, is committed to ensuring their psychological well-being and provides meaningful support if this well-being is compromised.

An organization with good psychological and social support would be able to state that:

  • The organization offers services or benefits that address worker psychological and mental health.
  • Workers feel part of a community and that the people they are working with are helpful in fulfilling the job requirements.
  • The organization has a process in place to intervene if an employee looks distressed while at work.
  • Workers feel supported by the organization when they are dealing with personal or family issues.
  • The organization supports workers who are returning to work after time off due to a mental health condition.
  • People in the organization have a good understanding of the importance of worker mental health.

The more psychological and social support workers have, the more involved, committed and satisfied they are. Workers are happier and more productive, want to stay working with the organization for the long-term and are much more likely to ‘go the extra mile’ by engaging in organizational citizenship behaviours that help others.

Psychological support is especially helpful in protecting against stress and trauma at work. Workers who are emotionally distressed or dealing with a mental health issue will be more likely to seek and receive appropriate help. This helps them stay safe and productive at work – and, if absence from work is required, helps them get back to work quicker and stay at work.

Workers without psychological and social support are more likely to withdraw from work and have higher absenteeism rates. Conflict and staff turnover are more likely. Work stress may lead to physical symptoms (such as fatigue or headaches) or emotional symptoms (such as anxiety or burnout). This leads to increased costs, negative effects on productivity and a greater risk of accidents, incidents and injuries.

FAQs

  • Get a sense of your staff’s needs and concerns regarding mental health. Some ways to do this are conducting an anonymous survey, placing a suggestion box in a staff room or adding mental health as an agenda item at a staff meeting. Share this information with all team members; this is a great first step in combating stigma towards mental health. It also demonstrates your organization’s commitment.
  • Develop formal and informal networks to support management in dealing with mental health issues. Regular monthly meetings and peer mentorship or coaching are great places to start.
  • Widely share information on mental health and psychological resilience. Cover these topics in monthly e-newsletters or hold a webinar series on mental health. Make sure internal and external referral lists for community and mental health resources are available and shared widely. Communicate broadly about internal processes and supports for those who may be struggling to stay productive at work while dealing with personal or mental health issues.
  • Create a workplace culture where it’s safe to discuss mental health issues without fear of discrimination or reprimand. Have senior leaders share their commitment to mental health. If appropriate, having leaders share their personal or family experiences can be a powerful way to demonstrate commitment.
  • Consider adding psychological health and safety as a standing agenda item for regular staff meetings.

  • Provide education to all staff on understanding signs and symptoms of mental health issues. Many public-domain, free resources exist; consider sharing these on a company intranet or through staff newsletters.
  • Create opportunities for training and mentoring to enhance interpersonal and people management skills. Consider dedicating a certain amount of time or money annually on workshop or continuing education opportunities. The explosion of virtual, on-demand training offerings provides many cost-effective (and often free) options.
  • Provide specific training so people leaders can adequately support those who are facing possible mental health difficulties. Ensure they understand signs, symptoms and how to start a conversation about mental health.
  • Allocate necessary tools and supports (including time and coaching support) so leaders can succeed in psychologically supporting employees.
  • Review third-party providers of psychological and counselling supports to ensure evidence-based treatment approaches are being utilized. Ask your third party providers to provide details on the credentials and approaches their providers take.
  • Consider identifying and training internal champions to offer peer-to-peer support to those struggling with mental health issues.

  • Strive to understand the root cause of issues. When, where and how did the communication breakdowns begin? What factors have contributed over time? What worker and workplace factors are contributing? Try to identify specific, actionable next steps that can be taken to resolve issues.
  • Understand what systemic issues exist within the work environment; whether related to leaders, workers, or overall organizational culture. Brainstorm some specific, tangible ways these issues could be approached.
  • Encourage and model open and respectful workplace communication where individual and collective team strengths and weaknesses can be discussed. Ensure this across all levels of the organization.
  • Encourage respectful workplace communication where mental health issues can be openly discussed in the same way physical health issues would be discussed.
  • Ensure all staff are aware of internal and external benefits and resources to address workplace stress and how to effectively approach conflict.

  • If possible, provide benefits that support worker mental health. If your organization does not have a benefits program, consider public domain resources that you can share (e.g. mental health screening tools, supported self-management workbooks). Many free, evidence-based resources exist.
  • Provide information on early intervention supports (e.g. crisis line numbers, community agencies/support groups, registered mental health professional services).
  • Have formal and informal accommodations for mental health issues. Formal accommodations are typically documented and ongoing, and have a medical reasoning, while informal are typically more time-limited or temporary. Consider creating return-to-work and stay-at-work policies and programs.
  • Have processes to address occupation-specific risks to psychological health, as well risks to specific subgroups (e.g. members of the LGBTQ+ community; workers who are ESL/immigrants).

  • Maintain regular, supportive communication with those off work due to mental health concerns. Depending on the situation, this may be daily or weekly, but certainly should be at minimum monthly. Consider sending supportive ‘thinking of you’ messages. Keep team members informed on a need-to-know basis of important or meaningful workplace events or changes (e.g. a key team member retiring). Regularly ask if there is anything you or the workplace can do to help or support.
  • When appropriate, support workers in finding regulated treatment providers who are trained in evidence-based treatment approaches. Publicly available resources for mental health issues are extremely limited, and navigating the system and knowing what to do and where to get help or support can be overwhelming. As such, the workplace can play a very important role here in supporting workers.
  • Have an identified team member who facilitates work returns. Ensure this individual is knowledgeable about mental health and trained in psychologically safe skills, strategies and approaches.
  • As required, collaborate with workers to create detailed return-to-work plans. Include a range of options for coping with mental health concerns as they may arise. Note that generally a graduated return to work will be preferable to a full return to work. Make sure to create plans to ensure sustained work return, including strategies to deal with possible recurrence of symptoms or challenges. Ensure at minimum weekly check-ins for the first one to three months, or longer as required.

  • Conduct regular (e.g. yearly) pulse check surveys. Consider administering the free Guarding Minds at Work worker survey that provides a risk report of strengths and areas for improvement as they pertain to psychological health and safety and the national standard.
  • Encourage active engagement from workers. Provide a platform for workers to voice their current needs when it comes to psychological health support. This can easily be a “what is working” versus “what is not working” discussion on an internal messaging channel or a standing agenda item on regular team meetings.
  • Ensure people leaders are comfortable with (appropriately) normalizing inherent difficulties faced within the workplace. The reality is that human beings are incredibly complex, and managing issues related to people isn’t always simple or straightforward. This opens communication avenues. Workers will feel validated in their struggles and more open to identifying their specific support needs.
  • Strive to eliminate stigma for those facing mental health challenges. This makes it more likely workers will reach out for help earlier. Early detection and treatment, in turn, reduces the impacts of mental health issues.

Action

Next steps: Committing to a psychologically and socially supportive workplace

A work environment where the organization is supportive of employees’ psychological health concerns and provides assistance as needed.

  • improved overall psychological health of employees
  • increased productivity
  • reduced employee turnover
  • reduced costs from work absence (e.g. sick time, disability costs)
  • successful/sustainable return-to-work when there is an absence

  • Do issues related to psychological and social support present a greater risk to particular groups of employees (e.g. new employees, certain jobs, shift workers, etc.)?
  • What are the strengths in your workplace in terms of psychological and social support (e.g. what do you do well and what should you continue doing)?
  • What could your workplace do to improve in this area (e.g. what could you do more of and what could you do less of)?
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Psychological and social support is psychosocial factor 2 from CAN/CSA-Z1003-13/BNQ 9700-803/2013 – Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace. Retrieved from: https://www.csagroup.org/article/cancsa-z1003-13-bnq-9700-803-2013-r2018/. See also Guarding Minds at Work (Samra et al.): Retrieved from https://www.guardingmindsatwork.ca/resources.