As our ways of working evolve, organisations are encountering new psychosocial risks, including digital overload and tech-facilitated harassment. How can HR help keep these hazards in check?

Managing workplace psychosocial risks such as stress, harassment and low job control has long been a priority in most organisations, with the recent introduction of a new Code of Practice to manage psychosocial hazards at work only intensifying the spotlight on these issues.

However, the breakneck speed of technological advancement, combined with changes to our ways of working, means today’s leaders are also encountering psychosocial hazards that never crossed their predecessors’ desks.

Mass digitisation and remote work also carry the potential to exacerbate familiar hazards by creating new avenues for inappropriate or harmful behaviour at work, requiring even more vigilance from employers to manage these risks. 

HRM spoke with two experts to uncover some of the new and pressing challenges organisations are facing when it comes to managing psychosocial safety, and the steps HR, managers and leaders can take to keep these risks in check.

1. Workplace technology-facilitated sexual harassment

Workplace technology-facilitated sexual harassment (WTFSH) is becoming more and more prevalent in Australian workplaces, according to a recent report by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS).

Concerningly, the report’s findings show that one in seven Australians admit to using technology to engage in workplace sexual harassment, including inappropriate messages, calls, emails or social media communications. This behaviour was more commonly perpetrated by men (24 per cent) than women (seven per cent).

Given that these findings are based only on employees who admitted to harassing others at work, the actual number of people who could have engaged in this behaviour is likely to be even higher, says Alex Newman, Associate Dean Faculty and Professor of Management at Melbourne Business School. 

What’s more, this form of harassment can be extremely difficult to monitor.

“There are a lot of privacy concerns around monitoring [employees’ activity],” he says. “Some organisations do it, but I think a lot of organisations are scared to because of privacy issues, so there is a huge potential for [WTFSH] to occur.”

Tech-enabled harassment is just as likely to occur outside the workplace as inside it, he says, and he has noted an increase in harassment via social networking sites in recent years. 

Given how difficult this behaviour can be to monitor, Newman suggests that employers’ best tool to manage and prevent this behaviour is appropriate training.

“For some people, because they’ve been brought up in this digital world, that separation between personal and work lives isn’t always that clear,” he says. “That’s why training where inappropriate behaviour is outlined in detail is really important.

“[Employers] also need to make it easier to report digital sexual harassment – there need to be mechanisms where people are able to report it without fearing the consequences.”

From a legal perspective, HR should ensure policies and codes of conduct are properly updated to account for the risk of tech-enabled harassment.

“There should be proportional, consistent responses to people who engage in inappropriate behaviours,” says Newman.

Creating an environment where WTFSH is less likely to occur in the first place requires leaders to drive a deeper cultural shift, he says.

“As a leader, role modeling the kinds of behaviours you expect from people working for you is really important… It’s about creating an inclusive culture that is respectful to all people. 

“I think fostering diversity in leadership is the key to having more inclusiveness and respect. Unless we get people who are from diverse backgrounds into leadership positions, things don’t change.”

 “As a leader, role modeling the kinds of behaviours you expect from people working for you is really important.” – Alex Newman, Associate Dean Faculty and Professor of Management at Melbourne Business School

2. Digital overload

Particularly since the proliferation of remote and hybrid working, the volume of digital tools and communications employees need to navigate on a daily basis often leads to a feeling of being overwhelmed with technology.

According to a recent study by OpenText, 80 per cent of Australian workers experience ‘information overload’, driven by factors such as having too many messages and apps to check each day, which is up from 60 per cent in 2020. Over a quarter (27 per cent) reported having to access 11 or more accounts, resources, tools and apps every day.

“If you’re on the computer the whole time, constantly trying to read people’s social cues when you can’t see a whole person, and maybe there’s a delay in the internet connection, it involves much more cognitive effort from the brain and it can make you very fatigued,” says Caroline Knight, senior lecturer in management at the University of Queensland Business School. 

“The risk is that there’s no cutoff period, so you end up just always being on. And, now we’ve got the new bill coming through around the right to disconnect, it’s super important [to address this]. But at the same time, it’s not a one-size-fits-all.”

Given that many employees now work on flexible schedules, enforcing strict work and communication hours might alleviate digital overload for some, but might create more stress for others, she explains. Just as employees who work a traditional 9-5 day should not feel pressured to respond out of hours, employees on flexible schedules should not be pressured to be online outside of their chosen hours.

What’s more, her research has demonstrated that excessively monitoring employees’ digital activity can lead to increased stress overall. 

As a result, helping employees manage digital overload means empowering them with the tools and autonomy to create their own balance, she says.

“There needs to be a cultural shift in organisations so they’re not expecting people to respond [at all hours]. For example, we often see people have in their email signatures things like, ‘My work hours might be different from yours, so don’t feel obliged to respond now.’

“I think people still need the flexibility to be able to work when it’s best for them, but not to feel forced to always be ‘on’ because that will just lead to burnout and fatigue.”

According to Newman, hybrid working and the return to work create an opportunity for employees to reconfigure their schedules to ensure some time is spent away from the digital realm.

“Your days in the office could be the time where you [limit] technology use – that’s when the meetings occur and you engage [with colleagues],” he says.

“Certain organisations also have a touch point every day where the team gets together and they discuss things and then agree not to email until the next day when they can touch base again.”

Rather than monitoring employees’ activity to manage digital overload, he suggests using employee pulse surveys to guide policy and interventions.

“Ask the employees whether they’re feeling stressed or overloaded, and ask for their solutions about how we can reduce the amount of traffic.”

“In the hybrid [and remote] workplace, the relational aspects of work can get eroded. There’s research showing that relationships stagnate, and we don’t necessarily develop new ones.” – Caroline Knight, senior lecturer in management at the University of Queensland Business School

3. Increasing loneliness

The prevalence of digital communication tools means that, in some ways, we have never been more connected. However, a recent report shows that almost a third of Australians are experiencing loneliness. 

The research, conducted by mental health network Ending Loneliness Together, found that Australians who feel lonely are 4.6 times as likely to have depression, 4.1 times as likely to have social anxiety and twice as likely to have chronic diseases. Loneliness has even been linked to premature death. 

“In the hybrid [and remote] workplace, the relational aspects of work can get eroded,” says Knight.

“There’s research showing that relationships stagnate, and we don’t necessarily develop new ones. It can mean that you don’t have the general chit-chat – it’s more about just getting a task done. It’s that disconnection and isolation which then leads to that feeling of loneliness.”

Many people also find it easier to reach out about work and mental health struggles in a face-to-face setting, she adds, and lack of exposure to colleagues can make employees feel that they are the only ones experiencing difficulties. 

To help overcome this, Knight suggests a number of ways employers can facilitate greater connections among employees in dispersed locations.

“One thing you can do is create peer buddy systems so people feel there’s someone they can reach out to. Or, you could have an agreement where individuals organise themselves into groups and connect when they’re working from home. 

“Anecdotally, I also know a couple of colleagues who work closely together, and sometimes they’ll just have Zoom on while they work.”

In a hybrid setup, ensuring employees get the most out of their face time with colleagues on the days they are on-site can help mitigate loneliness on the days they work remotely. Enhancing workplace design can be an effective tool to facilitate this, says Knight.

“I’ve recently been working with an organisation in Brisbane that has made its organisation much more open-plan. It’s got lots of collaborative spaces, and everything is like glass, so you can see everybody, and you can just go up and talk to people. And it’s very much meant to say, ‘This is where we connect.’”

While strategies to manage loneliness will vary greatly by industry and individual, she stresses the universal importance of a supportive, trusting environment in preventing loneliness, isolation and stress among employees.

“It’s those small little check-ins – just saying, ‘How are you?’ – that really add up to make a massive difference.”

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