Getting inside workload stress: Work pace, cognitive and emotional demands

Sarah is a legal assistant who is switched on from the minute she clocks on to the minute she clocks off. Whether it’s urgently printing and running documents to court, making rushed phone calls to clients, or typing up reports that are needed ASAP, she is forced to work at a breakneck pace without any real pause to eat or take a breather.

Work pace is the key psychosocial risk that Sarah is exposed to. If this pace keeps up all day, every day, Sarah is at high risk of harm. This is true even if Sarah can get done everything that she needs to and clocks off promptly at 5pm daily.

Johan is managing a team of field technicians through a large organisational restructure. Unfortunately, a quarter of his team is being made redundant. Johan spends most of his days in phone calls and meetings with upset people, some of whom are prone to lashing out verbally and casting blame towards him. Johan must work very hard to remain neutral and not respond negatively to these outbursts. Because he cares about his team, he also carries a lot of emotional weight from having to let them go.

The weight of emotional demand is the key psychosocial risk that Johan is exposed to. If this restructure drags out, and he doesn’t get the support he needs, Johan is at risk of harm. This is true even if Johan’s days aren’t particularly fast-paced and he can get everything done that he needs to.

Henry is a nurse at the local hospital. He gets everything done in his shift that he needs to but he lives in fear that he’s missed something important because he is holding so much in his head. At any given point in his shift, he has a long list of patients in his care, all of whom have different complex needs. He’s always caught between competing demands and having to make important decisions without all the information.

The overload of cognitive demand is the key psychosocial risk that Henry is exposed to. While the speed he works at is quite high, Henry thrives in a fast-paced environment, and he is good at taking breaks. The real problem is that his mind is overloaded, making him more prone to mistakes, and less able to switch off when his shift is over. In small doses this is OK, and even energising, but it is not sustainable long-term.

Now that we’ve understood what it is about people’s work that has the potential to cause harm (we can help you explore this through a [update link] Psychosocial Risk Assessment), we can design better solutions to help.

• Work pace. For work pace, we might work to provide structured breaks (with cover, if necessary) so that workers can recover from the fast pace of work and regulate any stress build-up. We also need to be careful that there are not unreasonable demands (e.g. from supervisors) causing a falsely inflated sense of urgency and that hiring processes are tailored to ensure a good person-job fit.
• Emotional demands. We might provide the worker with active support networks (e.g. professional supervision, EAP) to process their feelings, provide variety in their work so that there is time to emotionally recover from demanding tasks, and monitor emotional demands to ensure they are not unreasonable or ongoing.
• Cognitive demands. Here, it may be necessary to streamline systems and processes to reduce the mental load for workers (e.g. create integrated client management systems). Part of the puzzle might involve clarifying roles and responsibilities, particularly where workers are carrying a wider array of responsibilities than should be required in their role.
• Quantitative demands (workload). Take a look at the resources needed to achieve work outcomes without harming workers. In its simplest form, this might mean hiring additional workers to cover the surplus work (whether on contract, seasonally or permanently).

Let’s look at one last scenario to see how, with the right support and resources in place, even a high-stress situation can be managed effectively, minimising the risk of harm.

Kieran is a project manager handling multiple high-stakes projects, which often means high workload, fast pace and tight deadlines to making decisions. However, Kieran’s workplace has implemented structured workflows, regular check-ins with his supervisor to share the cognitive load, and a well-resourced team to support him to meet deadlines. Kieran manages the pace of his work by balancing his efforts with good breaks during busy work periods after learning this key skill from a [link update:] mental health workshop. Despite the inherent psychosocial hazards, the effective support and resources his organisation has in place help Kieran manage his tasks and wellbeing without feeling overwhelmed.

The key takeaway here is that you don’t know what will help workers until you really understand the work conditions, and the people who are experiencing them.