Definition - What does Psychosocial mean?
Psychosocial refers to the cognitive and social factors that prompt a conditioned response from external stimuli influencing behavioral cues that shape our perception about the workplace based on positive or negative circumstances. The psychosocial work environment is a coined expression that revolves around the multi-tiered structure that represents the positional status of employees inside a company and their holistic contribution to the workforce.
SureHire explains Psychosocial
Because work is essential to an individual’s livelihood, psychosocial aspects often project a self-awareness and an identity with colleagues who forge a synergistic relationship for promoting buoyancy in a company. The efforts-rewards model serves as the underlying premise for job placement and career advancement following the simple criteria in which the job demands meet the rewards, such as wages and promotions. Many psychosocial elements can modulate a company’s image in terms of establishing clear business objectives, appointing proper management, and awarding commendations to loyal employees in fostering morale, increasing productivity, and deterring turnovers.
Psychosocial Risk Factors (PSR) such as work-related stress can lead to cognitive impairment, hypertension (high blood pressure), and sleep deprivation, among other detrimental health effects. Although stress is a normal physiological function, the human body primes itself to regulate a moderate workload. A comprehensive outlook that draws the parallels between effectively mediating the individual needs of an employee alongside their colleagues will help nurture positivity and enhance job performance, in turn streamlining productivity.
Employers and employees need to maintain an open line of communication for the psychosocial welfare necessary for building an archetype of a robust, self-perpetuating business under stressful conditions. Adverse psychosocial factors may cause individuals to experience symptoms that might carry etiological repercussions such as anxiety/depression, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal diseases (MSD), and sleep disorders. Employee assistance programs (EAP) often incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as a vehicle for targeting negative thought patterns and realigning a positive frame of mind to boost the psychosocial atmosphere.
