A Qualitative Investigation into High Psychosocial Safety Climate University Work Groups

Abstract

Psychosocial safety climate (PSC) is conceptualised as employees’ collective view of the organisation’s regard for psychological health, expressed through enacted policies, practices and procedures. While empirical evidence validates the PSC theoretical model, there is limited qualitative research examining the operationalisation of PSC in action. We used the context of high PSC work sites in a large public organisation (within the education sector) to explore the interplay between multilevel aspects, including the work environment, managerial practices, and individual level job-design. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with two managers and three workers across two work groups. Interview questions were taken from the Health and Safety Executive’s Management Standards Indicator Tool and were also informed by the PSC-Hierarchy of Control framework. Using a grounded theory approach, analysis revealed three main themes: (1) a shared sense of meaningful work and social support, (2) high job crafting, and (3) high managerial support for psychological health. We propose a bi-directional feedback model, in which there is a cyclical relationship between PSC and the primary themes; these themes are an expression of PSC, yet simultaneously reinforce PSC’s value-based sub-constructs. This study also provides practical recommendations that may cultivate a work group PSC conducive to positive employee wellbeing. Findings may inform future research that focuses on primary psychological health interventions at the work group level.