Indirectly influencing change to increase Psychological Safety , Presented by, Diana Sheenan

1. Indirectly influencing change to
increase psychological safety
Diana Sheehan Dip. Couns. BSc(Psych) MBL
Executive Director - Daly & Ritchie
© 2023 Daly & Ritchie Consulting P/L

2. What we are covering…
1.The unique challenges managers face
2.The strategies managers have used to
positively impact change
3.How their courage influenced others to
improve psychological safety and wellbeing

3. Increasing psychological safety….
• Rural - Local government council
increased EAP engagement from 0.5% to 12% in six months
• Remote - Mining
went from 0 sites to 4 sites in 12 months
• City - Marine
reduction in psychosocial hazards by 40%
design and delivered training resulting in a 92% satisfaction rating
• You as a WHS professional

4. Indirectly Influencing change…
1. Understand yourself and others
2. Look for opportunities
3. Be prepared

5. Understanding yourself…
• What does psychological safety mean to you?
• What is important to you?
• Why is it important to you?
• What are your triggers?
• Who annoys you and why?
• When are you at your best?

6. Understand others…
Positive Fearful Negative Indifferent

7. The positive manager
• Openly show compassion an empathy for
others
• Embrace change and innovation
• Understand the link between psychological
safety and productivity
• Understand their WHS obligations

8. The fearful manager
• Nothing to see here
• Practice avoidance techniques
• Gives you excuses
• Will not answer your calls
• The team may or may not engage

9. The negative manager
• Will not engage
• May sabotage your attempts
• Tell you that you are not wanted
• Will follow protocols that are advantageous
to them
• The team will tell you exactly how they feel

10. The indifferent manager
• Doesn't really care
• Polite but not engaging
• May tell you what they think you want to
hear
• Dose not want to get involved
• You can never find them

11. Increasing psychological safety….
• Rural - Local government council
increase in EAP engagement from 0.5% to 12% in six months
• Remote - Mining
increase in engagement from 0 sites to 4 sites
• City - Marine
reduction in psychosocial hazards by 40%
design and delivered training resulting in a 92% satisfaction rating

12. Unique challenges – rural local council…
• 2017-2020 worse drought on record
• 2019-2020 bushfires
• 2019-2021 Covid-19 and border closures
• 2021 floods
• 2023 shortage of workers
• 2023 declared a drought area

13. Unique challenges – rural local council…
• Mental fatigue
• Physical fatigue
• Financial fatigue
• Concern for workers families
• Limited mental health support

14. Strategies to positively impact change…
• Introduced an outreach service
• Increased frequency of onsite visits
• Educated workers and managers about
mental health
• Commence education about psychosocial
hazards
• Connected workers, managers and families
to community, state and federal supports

15. Improved psychological safety because they…
• Knew the views of the executives
• Knew and understood their workforce
• Knew their WHS and IR legislation
• Knew their policies and procedures
• Knew what their resources were including
financial
• Knew what they wanted to achieve

16. Mining, remote and isolated…
Site 1
Mining
Site 3
Mining
Site 2
Mining

17. Unique challenges – Remote mining…
Site 1
• Redundancies
• Contractors' roles ceasing
• FIFO and DIDO workers
• Impact on township
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
1

18. Strategies to positively impact change…
Site 1
• Took a proactive approach
• Introduced outreach services
• Understood the concerns of their direct reports
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
2

19. Improved psychological safety because they…
Site 1
• Understood their workforce
• Concerned about safety
• Knew what they wanted to achieve
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
3

20. Unique challenges – Remote and isolated…
Site 2
• Mine end of life
• FIFO and DIDO workers
• Isolated work environment
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
1

21. Strategies to positively impact change…
Site 2
• Duplicate the same strategy as site 1
• Approximately 300 miners including
support staff and managers
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
2

22. Improved psychological safety because they…
Site 2
• Adopted a system that they new worked
• Addressed psychological safety by focusing on change
• (manager) changed their belief and addressed the immediate
needs of miners and other workers
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3
3

23. Unique challenges – remote and isolated
Site 3
• Work-related fatality
• Impact on family
• Impact on colleague and all workers
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3

24. Strategies to positively impact change…
• Intensive onsite EAP support
• Outreach services
• Engaging with all employees and
contractors
• Working with managers and their
teams
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3

25. Improved psychological safety because they…
• Visually recognised the impact that this
accident had on people
• Observed the importance of having a
counsellor onsite
• Changed their views on psychological
safety because of the effect this
accident had on themselves and others
Site 1
Site 2
Site 3

26. Unique challenges – Marine
• Diverse customer base
• Faced paced environment
• Aggression and violence

27. Strategies to positively impact change…
• Gain an understanding of underlying issues
• Collect data through interviews
• Design and deliver training
• Introduce psychosocial hazards
• Reporting of psychosocial hazards
• Place a consultant/counsellor onsite to gather further data
post training

28. Improved psychological safety because they…
• Improved psychological safety
• Increased the understanding, knowledge and reporting of psychosocial
hazards
• Reduced psychosocial hazards by 40%
• Put in place training that obtained a 92% satisfaction rating
• (HSE manager) know what they want to achieve and continue to educate
other managers about psychological safety and psychosocial hazards

29. Indirectly Influencing change…
1. Understand yourself and others
2. Look for opportunities
3. Be prepared

30. Understand yourself and others…
1. Increasing psychological safety when in a
political environment
2. You're in my turf – People and Culture
and/or Human Resources
3. Not in my backyard - people with hidden
agendas
4. WHS fatigue – more paperwork
5. Bias and ignorance towards psychological
safety and psychosocial hazards

31. Look for opportunities…
• Take a holistic approach to WHS
• Think outside the square and look towards the future
• Talk to others within WHS or other disciplines to see
what they are doing
• Develop a brains trust and collaborate
• Observe what is going on around you
• Listen to what people are saying and what they are
not saying
• Observe the behaviours of people
• Have some common sense

32. Be prepared by…
• Understanding organisational politics
• Being there for the marathon
• Having data, statistics and more data
• Know where the funds are coming from
• Know your legislation so that you can provide solutions quickly
• Be patient, tenacious and do not give up!

33. Indirectly influencing change to increase psychological safety
Thank you
Diana Sheehan Dip. Couns. BSc(Psych) MBL
Executive Director - Daly & Ritchie