Understanding the effects of change on workers

How change and disruption can affect workers

Change and disruption can adversely impact workers’ mental health for several reasons. The change itself and/or the transition phase may:

• impact the workload of already stressed workers
• introduce new hazards or difficulties in the way work is done
• erode workers’ sense of autonomy, belonging or competence, which are fundamental human needs 
• elicit ‘change fatigue’ due to multiple instances of change in a short period, combined with low or inadequate support to adjust and cope.

These impacts can create psychosocial hazards.

Two people can experience the same change very differently. One person may barely notice a software upgrade, whereas another can find that same change extremely challenging. Similarly, organisation leaders can feel the impact of a merger very differently; one may see it as an opportunity to enter new markets whereas the other may become paralysed by indecision.

Common psychosocial hazards associated with change and disruption

These are some common psychosocial hazards and how they are impacted by change and disruption:

Poor change management – Can interfere with workers’ sense of control and certainty.

Lack of role clarity – Can often increase during the transition phase of change, as well as after the change.

Inadequate reward and recognition – Can lead to excessive negative feedback if output is rewarded rather than the effort put in to learn new ways of working.

Low job control – Changes that are imposed on workers without consultation or that originate from external sources.

Job demands – Stress associated with learning new ways of working or being unable to do parts of a new role.

Traumatic events – Disruptions and disasters that are traumatising by their nature, or that bring up memories of a previous trauma.

Poor support – Leaders who lack interpersonal capabilities to manage change, and workers and leaders who are not coping and lack capacity to support others.

Remote and isolated work – Often requires specific organisational change management responses when disruption occurs.

Harmful behaviours – Behaviours such as bullying and harassment, that can increase during times of job insecurity and conflicting work demands are often found during organisational change.

Poor organisational justice – Unclear policies and processes that result in poor information handling, failures to address issues and situations that are seen as unfair.

Poor physical environment – Events that impact the quality of the work environment, disrupt maintenance schedules or result in hazards not being addressed. 

Managing psychosocial hazards

It is understandable for people to experience stress when faced with these psychosocial hazards. However, prolonged and overwhelming stress increases the risk of mental ill-health. Workers’ mental health can be impacted by the organisation’s response to change. An organisation that plans for and manages change can mitigate the negative effects on mental health. 

Central to managing change and disruption is identifying and minimising the psychosocial hazards it can create. All employers have legal obligations to manage and minimise health and safety risks in the workplace, including psychosocial risks, as far as is reasonably practicable. 

SafeWork Australia offers a 4-step approach to managing risks, including psychosocial risks:

1. Identify hazards, which are anything that increases the risk of work-related stress leading to psychological and/or physical injury. 
2. Assess risks, by understanding the nature of the harm the hazard could cause, how serious the harm could be and the likelihood of it happening. 
3. Control risks, to either eliminate them (if possible) or minimise them as far as is reasonably practicable. 
4. Review control measures, to make sure they work as planned. 

The Protect module provides more information about psychosocial hazards and the 4-step process. 

The rest of this module covers the change and disruption lifecycle, and the actions organisations can take before, during and after the change to prevent mental ill-health from developing. 

At the heart of managing hazards associated with change and disruption is providing workers with coping resources that outweigh the stress they are experiencing.