Turning positive duties into positives

The introduction of positive duties for the elimination of sexual harassment and psychosocial hazards does represent a step up in employer’s obligations and, if you just look at such things from a risk management perspective, you will see them that way.

And one of the problems that that traditional approach to risk management creates is that it is just about fixing problems rather than optimising solutions.

But what happens if you flip the narrative from just a deficit approach (what risks do we have?) to a strengths-based approach ( what are we doing well and what can we do better?)?

For example, try swapping:

• “Unreasonable job demands” for “What do reasonable job demands look like for us, what are we doing well here and how can we get better?” and
• “Inadequate reward and recognition” for “What are the ways that we recognise and reward our people, what’s working well and what can we do better?” and
• “Violence and aggressive behaviour” for “We know our people encounter violent and aggressive behaviours in the course of their work – what are we doing to prepare them for that and to support them in dealing with that hazard, what is working well and what can we do better?”

Taking that balanced approach really changes the mindset and the conversation as well as being a much more effective way to build a psychologically safe work culture built on open communication, a shared commitment to continuous improvement and trust.

That’s what our Better Workplace Projects are all about and it is one way how we can help your workplace to deal with your positive duty in a positive way.

If that has you interested, call us on 1300 108 488 or email info@poswork.com.au to book your free first consultation.