Progress over Time
The Health Care and Social Assistance Industry is ranked 13 out of 19 in terms Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing in 2021. It scored 65.1 for their overall Thriving Index, which is below the National Average of 65.6. This is a drop of 1.6 points from 2020.
This industry has been particularly hit by the pandemic, so it understandable that there is a dip across all domains this year. Although there has been an overall decline across all five domains, there has been growth in some elements within the capabilities, culture and policy domains.
In this, we can see team leaders are making sure workers have the resources to do their work even though it is reported that workers feel their leadership is not seen to be encouraging, or accessible to their workers. It appears that team leaders have taken on this task to build strong connections and cohesion.
At ground level, this has subsequently led to a rise in one of the indicators in the culture domain, where workers are reporting they are committed to their work team. With so much on the plate within this industry at this time, there was still a rise in the indicator within policy outlining there was easy access to private counselling and support, which is an important asset considering the times.
What’s working well
When we reflect on the pandemic and the front line workers of this industry, it is good to note that there was a rise of 1.9% in the policy domain where workers reported that it was easy to access to confidential counselling and support.
This has been further supported by a 1.7% in an area of the capability domain where team leaders have been reported to be making sure their workers have the resources they need to do their work well, and would include other resources aligned to practice and further to counselling support.
These positive factors have translated into a rise of 1.4% in the culture domain where workers reported being committed to their team. If you feel like someone has your back, there is more connectedness to the shared vision of the team.
Areas to focus on
Within this industry…
Psychosocial Risk Profile
Inappropriate workload
Low recognition
Poor change management
Poor management support
Low job control
Poor role clarity
Poor workplace relationships
Poor working environment
Traumatic events
Key:
Table – Psychosocial Risk Profile for Health Care and Social Assistance industry
Highest Psychosocial Risk
The highest psychosocial risk facing the Health Care and Social Assistance Industry is low recognition and inappropriate workload.
How can you manage this risk?
Leaders play an important role in managing psychosocial risks. In this industry leaders can focus on recognising workers for their efforts and making sure workloads are manageable.
Key Insight
Hospital workers are struggling, especially with leadership
The hospital sector moved further away from thriving in every domain, resulting in an overall thriving workplace score of 64.7 out of 100 (down 2.4 points compared
to 2020). Leadership was a particular challenge, dropping 3.7 points to 59.9. Hospital workers report that fewer leaders are encouraging good mental health practices and acting as champions for their teams. Recognition of their hard work has also dropped over the last 12 months as the pandemic drags on.
What workers say
People working in medical and other health care services, and in residential care services, also experienced a drop in their overall thriving workplace scores (down 1.7 points and 1.5 points respectively). While leadership proved a challenge for both sectors, connectedness was actually the biggest issue for those in medical and other health care services (down 3.4 points since 2020.
People working in social assistance services (including childcare) reported the only improvement in the industry with an overall thriving workplace score of 68.4 (up 1.2 points on 2020), largely driven by policy improvements (up 3.4 points to 63.3).
Learn More
As leaders, we always need to make sure we’re prepared to adapt and respond calmly to any unforeseen turbulence along the journey but this is not straightforward.
HeadsUp ‘Developing strategies for a healthy workplace’ provides a framework for your workplace to promote mental wellbeing, minimise workplace risks to mental health, support people experiencing mental health issues and reduce stigma associated with mental health conditions.
Check out WorkSafe Victoria’s page on how to promote workplace recognition and reward.
Explore a TED Talk by Psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive, and introduces us to an unsung mechanism for stress reduction.
SuperFriend’s Be Your Best at Work: Positive Strategies for Success course provides individual team members with clear knowledge and practical ways to foster a positively engaged and thriving workplace.
