Managerial Practices to Reduce Psychosocial Risk Exposure: A Competency‐Based Approach

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1506
• Published date: 01 December 2018
• Author: France St‐Hilaire,Rébecca Lefebvre,Marie‐Hélène Gilbert
• Date: 01 December 2018

Managerial Practices to Reduce Psychosocial

Risk Exposure: A Competency-Based Approach

France St-Hilaire*

Université de Sherbrooke

Marie-Hélène Gilbert

Université Laval

Rébecca Lefebvre

Université de Sherbrooke

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the behaviours a manager can

use to reduce subordinates’exposure to psychosocial risks.

Although leadership appears signif‌icant in the prediction of

employees’mental health, recent studies tend to emphasize

the importance of managers’behaviours without identifying

them concretely. To create an inventory of specif‌ic manage-

ment behaviours, two qualitative studies, involving 210

workers (in Quebec and in France) were conducted.

Semi-directed interviews were used with managers and

subordinates to identify management behaviours associated

with psychosocial risks. Results show a taxonomy of 92

behaviours grouped into 24 competencies and eight broad

themes. The results def‌ine the role for managers in

supporting the mental health of their subordinates more

concretely. © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley &

Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: managers’behaviours, competency develop-

ment, psychosocial risks, mental health at work, mental

health interventions

Résumé

Cet article a pour objectif d’identif‌ier les comportements du

gestionnaire qui réduisent l’exposition des subordonnés aux

risques psychosociaux. Bien que le leadership apparaisse

être un déterminant important pour prédire la santé mentale

des employés, de récentes études mettent de l’avant

l’importance des comportements des gestionnaires, mais

sans les identif‌ier concrètement. Af‌in de développer un

inventaire des comportements spécif‌iques de gestion, deux

études qualitatives auprès de 210 travailleurs (au Québec

et en France) ont été menées. Des entrevues semi-dirigées

ont réalisée auprès de gestionnaires et de subordonnés af‌in

d’identif‌ier les comportements de gestion associés aux

risques psychosociaux. Les résultats révèlent une taxinomie

de 92 comportements regroupés en 24 compétences et 8

thèmes généraux. Ces résultats permettent de déf‌inir le rôle

du gestionnaire au regard de la santé mentale de ses

subordonnés de manière plus concrète. © 2018 ASAC. Pub-

lished by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mots-clés: comportements des gestionnaires,

développement des compétences, risques psychosociaux,

santé mentale au travail, interventions en santé mentale

Introduction

Mental health at work (MHW) is a relevant issue

nowadays. In Quebec, more than a third of workers in

2007-2008 reported a medium or high level of psychological

distress (Vézina et al., 2011). In France, the proportion of

workers who report strain is 38% of those with lower

incomes, and 28% of those with higher incomes (EQLS,

2014). The negative consequences associated with mental

health problems at work affect not only individuals, but also

organizations by diminishing performance (Demerouti,

Bakker, & Halbesleben, 2015) and innovation (Gomes, Curral,

& Caetano, 2015). Society as a whole is also affected because

of the high costs associated with these problems (such as

health care and legal proceedings), which account for 17%

of payroll expenses in Canada (Towers Watson, 2012).

Scholars have revealed a link between work environment

and MHW (see Nieuwenhuijsen, Bruinvels, & Frings-

Dressen, 2010). Studies also suggest that interventions on

work environment, working conditions, and leadership may

be more effective than with individuals (Kelloway,

Sivanathan Francis, & Barling, 2005; Kuoppala, Lamminpää,

Liira, & Vainio, 2008). In particular, some authors believe

*Please address correspondence to: France St-Hilaire, Department of Man-

agement and Human Resource Management, Université de Sherbrooke,

2500 de l’Université Boulevard, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, J1K 2R1.

Email: france.st-hilaire@usherbrooke.ca

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences

Revue canadienne des sciences de l’administration

35: 535–550 (2018)

Published online 26 July 2018 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/CJAS.1506

Can J Adm Sci

35(4), 535–550 (2018)© 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 535

that managers’leadership is an important factor in the mental

health of employees (Donohoe & Kelloway, 2014; Kelloway

& Barling, 2010). Leadership development is also recognized

as a promising avenue in MHW (Kelloway & Barling, 2010;

Kelloway et al., 2005).

Managers’leadership style has been associated with

subordinates’psychological health (seen in Gilbert,

Dagenais-Desmarais, & St-Hilaire, 2017; Kelloway &

Barling, 2010; Westerlund et al., 2010) and physical health

(in Nixon, Mazzola, Bauer, Krueger, & Spector, 2011).

More specif‌ically, transformational leadership is recognized

as having a positive correlation to well-being (Skakon, Niel-

sen, Borg, & Guzman, 2010). Leader-Member Exchange

(LMX) and transformational leadership (Kanste, Kyngäs,

& Nikkilä, 2007) are negatively correlated with burnout

(Harm, Credé, Tynan, Leon, & Jeung, 2016), as well as sub-

ordinates’stress (Harm et al., 2016).

Whereas some studies have examined the correlation be-

tween leadership and mental health (including Arnold,

Turner, Barling, Kelloway, & McKee, 2007; Kuoppala

et al., 2008), others have focused on the relationship between

management behaviours and subordinates’MHW. These

studies clearly show that the manager’s behaviours have an

impact on subordinates’mental health (Kuoppala et al.,

2008; Skakon et al., 2010; Tafvelin, Armelius, &

Westerberg, 2011; Westerlund et al., 2010). More precisely,

managers’behaviours can prevent burnout (Kanste et al.,

2007) and promote psychological well-being (Arnold et al.,

2007, 2010). Conversely, abusive, controlling, aggressive

or punitive behaviours, or simply a lack of leadership skills,

greatly increase subordinates’stress or negatively affect their

mental health (see Gilbert et al., 2017; Kelloway et al., 2005;

Tepper, 2000). Gilbert et al. (2017) have compared the ef-

fects of leadership style and management practices on mental

health at work. They show that management behaviours,

which are more tangible manifestations of leaders’behav-

iours and actions, impact employees’mental health more

than a transformational leadership style.

Although this growing literature revealsa correlation be-

tween managers’behaviours and employees’MHW, less is

known about identifying the competenciesspecif‌ically related

to exposure to stressors. We know little about the competen-

cies of particular management approachesor the concrete be-

haviours of managers when dealing with psychosocial risks.

The present study aims to bridge this gap by identifying and

mapping specif‌ic management practices (observable behav-

iours) related to the psychosocial risks of subordinates.

Theoretical Context

How Can Work Environment Inf‌luence Subordinates’

Mental Health at Work?

The relationship between the work environment and

MHW has been demonstrated for many years (as by Nielsen,

Rugulies, Hansen, Christensen, & Kristensen, 2006).

Several theoretical frameworks address the dimensions of

the working environment which constitute stressors. The

most common concern work stress models. It is now well

established that an imbalance in the work environment

between control and demand (as workload; Karasek,

1979), associated with a lack of social support (Karasek

& Theorell, 1990), causes a stress response in workers. Ac-

cording to Bakker and Demerouti’s model (2007, JD-R

Model), these are two processes (or two types of working

conditions) that would explain either a reaction of burnout

or one of commitment to work. Exposure to excessive de-

mands (in terms of efforts required, or extreme pressure

on physical or psychological skills) will lead to exhaustion,

while access to resources to perform the work (such as sup-

port and control) will encourage commitment (through the

motivational process). In addition to demand, control, and

support, recognition at work is also an important resource

for the workers. Recognition is at the heart of another

model: the effort-reward imbalance model (Siegrist,

1996). The feeling that the rewards received do not corre-

spond to the efforts made represents a risk to physical

and psychological health. The balance between recognition

and the level of investment at work has been associated

with lower stress, and consequently with better mental

health (Siegrist, 1996). However, stress models have limita-

tions. Already in 1999, Sparks and Cooper said that these

models do not succeed in capturing all the characteristics

of the working environment that affect employees’MHW.

More recently, some authors (for example, Cadieux &

Marchand, 2015) have highlighted the limitations of work

stress models in our understanding of the complexity of

stressors in the working environment, especially for jobs

in a knowledge economy.

The psychosocial work environment is another frame-

work for numerous, broad-ranging stressors at work. The

psychosocial work environment approach is distinctive in

that it is not related to a specif‌ic theory. Cox et al. (2000)

group psychosocial risk factors according to the context

and the content of work. As in the previous models, there

is control/autonomy, but we have also added career devel-

opment, function and culture of the organization, interper-

sonal relationships, role, and work–life balance.

Regarding the content of work, risk factors are work envi-

ronment, task organization, workload, and work schedule.

Kelloway and Day (2005) present a model of a healthy

workplace in which, in addition to the previously named

risk factors (work-life balance, interpersonal relationships,

content, and work characteristics), includes the safety of

the work environment; a culture of support, respect, and

fairness; and employee involvement. In the long version

of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ;

Kristensen, Hannerz, Høgh, & Borg, 2005), 18 work envi-

ronment dimensions are measured, grouped in three main

domains: demands at work (such as quantitative demands),

MANAGERIAL PRACTICES TO REDUCE PSYCHOSOCIAL RISKS EXPOSURE ST-HILAIRE ET AL.

Can J Adm Sci

35(4), 535–550 (2018)© 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 536