Psychosocial Factors; Their Effects on Employee Performance

The American Psychological Association defines Psychosocial factors as social, cultural, and environmental phenomena and influences that affect mental health and behavior. These influences include social situations, relationships, and pressures, such as competition for education, health care, and other social resources; as well as rapid technological change; work deadlines; likewise, changes in social roles and status.

Psychosocial factors are psychological sensations or experiences that relate to the individual’s physical and social status. Psychosocial factors, for example, consist of burden, feeling of tension, social help, low job control, work fulfilment.

When psychosocial factors occur at work, they can have a severe effect on the well-being and health of employees. These impacts can be seen through sleep deprivation, irritability, anxiety, as well as depression.

Psychosocial factors in the Workplace

According to the World Health Organization, Psychosocial factors at work refer to interactions between and among the work environment, job content, organizational conditions and workers’ capacities, needs, culture, likewise personal extra-job considerations that may, through perceptions and experience, influence health, work performance and job satisfaction.

Hence, Workplace psychosocial factors are interactive results between work organization factors and workers’ capacities, needs and experiences.

13 psychosocial risk factors in the workplace include;

Psychological Support

Employees that feel they have psychological support have greater job attachment, job commitment, job satisfaction, job involvement, positive work moods, desire to remain with the organization, likewise organizational citizenship behaviors.

However, when psychological support is missing in the workplace, there’s increased levels of absenteeism, conflict, loss of productivity and greater risks of accidents.

Organizational Culture

Organizational culture includes the expectations, experiences, philosophy, and values of an organization that guide the behavior of members; and it is expressed in their self-image, interactions with each other as well as with the outside world.

In a healthy organizational culture, humility, openness, trust, honesty and fairness are essential traits. Of these, trust is vital for any positive and productive social process within any organization; hence the importance of organizational trust. It is a predictor of a cooperative environment, a behavior of organizational citizenship; it encourages organizational dedication and ensures employee loyalty..

Clear Leadership and Expectations

The importance of leadership cannot be overemphasized. Hence, the result is usually clear as day. Clear and effective leadership increases employee confidence, resiliency and trust; hence, decreasing their frustration and conflict that could arise from an otherwise poor leadership.

Organizations with clear leadership, experiences reduced sick leave, and reduced early and an enhanced employee performance. A leader who demonstrates a commitment to maintaining his or her own physical and psychological health, can influence the health of employees as well as the health of the organization.

Civility & Respect

Lars Andersson defines workplace civility as “behaviors that help to preserve the norms for mutual respect in the workplace; civility reflects concern for others’. A workplace where employees are respectful and considerate in their interactions with one another, is a productive workplace.  In addition, incivility in the workplace can have an impact on productivity and commitment to the organization.

Employees in organizations that promote civility often have greater job satisfaction. Therefore, in such organizations, improved on-the-job confidence, better teamwork, greater interest in personal development, commitment to organizational goals; and a growing sense of oneness between employee and organizational interest, as well as enhanced supervisor-staff relationships is often the experience.

Psychological Competencies & Requirements

Employees tend to do better when there is a strong association between employees’ interpersonal and emotional competencies, their job skills and the position they hold. By strong association I mean, employees possess the technical skills and knowledge for a particular position as well as the psychological skills and emotional intelligence to do the job. 

Growth & Development

Encouraging and providing an environment that supports employee growth and development is crucial. Furthermore, it isn’t a surprising knowledge that employee development increases goal commitment, organizational commitment and job satisfaction.

This is why organizations that promote employee growth and development have a stronger commitment to their jobs and the organization as well. Look within the archive of your experience, you will find that organizations where employees receive encouragement and support in the development of their interpersonal, emotional and job skills grow exponentially compared to organizations where employee development is lacking. Promoting employee development ensures an increase in goal commitment, organizational commitment and job satisfaction.

Recognition & Reward

In our everyday life, when your contribution to development is recognized, when your efforts are rewarded, you will find that you want to do more. This is also applicable at the workplace. Recognition helps employees to feel valued; it also gives them a sense of satisfaction and recognition of their contributions to the success of their team and company.

Employees who receive appropriate recognition and reward have more energy and enthusiasm, a greater sense of pride and participation in their work, and are more likely to treat colleagues and customers with courtesy, respect and understanding.

Involvement & Influence

Employees working in a linear and controlled environment, adding nothing creative to organizational development through innovation, often become tired of monotony and thus become redundant. Creativity and innovation, which are invaluable components of the vitality of the workplace and of organizational growth, should therefore be encouraged and allowed to thrive as much as possible.

When you show employees, they have meaningful work-output, they become increasingly engaged; they become confident, and take pride in their work and the organization at large. This feeling increases the willingness to make extra effort. 

Workload Management

Workload Management refers to a process of distributing tasks among employees as well as monitoring the work progress over time. The objective of workload management is not only to ensure tasks assigned are carried out within the stipulated timeframe; but also, to maintain a healthy balance in terms of the amount of work each team member needs to do.

It is crucial to have adequate workload management; this is because there is a unique and apparent relationship between job demands, intellectual demands and job satisfaction. Heightened job demands reduce job satisfaction, while intellectual demands or decision-making latitude, increase job satisfaction. 

Engagement

Employee engagement is the degree to which employees are enthusiastic about their jobs; it is also a degree to which they are committed to the company, and put unapparelled effort into their work.

Employee engagement includes a wide spectrum of activities and attitude; hence, it can be physical, emotional or cognitive. Engaged employees feel connected to their work because they can relate to, and are committed to, the overall success of their company.

Balance

Where will you place personal life, work and family on the scale of preference? Which of these will otherwise form the balance in the equilibrium scale?

Finding balance between work, family and personal life is crucial to your wellbeing. Therefore, it is crucial for every workplace to have that flexibility. Greater workplace flexibility enables employees to minimize work-life conflict by allowing them to accomplish the tasks necessary in their daily lives.

The workplace is where employees spend the most time, hence, there is the need to integrate activities that fosters healthy employee bonding.

Psychological Protection

Psychological safety in the workplace is shown when employees feel capable of putting themselves on the line, asking questions, seeking feedback, reporting errors and issues, or proposing a new idea without fearing negative consequences for themselves, their job or their career. A psychologically safe and healthy workplace actively encourages employees’ emotional well-being while taking all reasonable steps to minimize mental health threats to employees.

Protection of Physical Safety

Employees who work in an atmosphere perceived to be physically safe are most likely to feel secure and involved. Hence, higher levels of workplace safety confidence result in lower rates of psychological distress and problems with mental health.

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