The pressure is rising and so are the claims
Australian workplaces are under strain.
The AHRI Psychosocial Risks Report 2025 found a significant increase in the number of psychosocial hazard complaints and claims in the 12 months to October 2024. The top two causes?
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High job demands
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Conflict or poor workplace relationships and interactions
Behind these statistics are real people — overwhelmed employees, stretched managers, and teams losing connection amid constant change.
Research shows that chronic job demands (like excessive workload or role ambiguity) are among the strongest predictors of burnout and disengagement (Bakker & Demerouti, 2017). When these demands are left unmanaged, organisations see higher absenteeism, turnover, and even compensation claims — costing Australian businesses billions annually.
At Steople, we believe these issues aren’t just HR challenges; they’re leadership and data challenges. When leaders are equipped with the right insight — through assessment, feedback, and coaching — they can spot the warning signs early and create healthier, higher-performing teams.
Leadership capability: The missing piece in psychosocial health
Despite clear evidence that leadership capability is critical to wellbeing, only 28% of employers invest in building leadership and management capability to reduce psychosocial risks.
That gap matters. Studies in organisational psychology have consistently found that leader behaviours — empathy, fairness, communication, and clarity — are among the strongest protective factors for mental health at work (Kelloway & Barling, 2010). Leaders shape not only performance but also the emotional climate of the workplace.
This aligns with our experience at Steople.
When we work with organisations through our Leadership Development Programs, Psychological Safety Assessments, and Coaching for Behaviour Change, we see measurable improvements in team wellbeing, trust, and engagement. Leaders learn to recognise early signs of distress, manage workloads constructively, and foster environments where people feel safe to speak up.
Because leadership isn’t just about delivering outcomes, it’s about creating the conditions where people can thrive.
Data and dialogue: The foundation for sustainable culture
The AHRI report reinforces that psychosocial risks are no longer peripheral concerns; they sit at the heart of sustainable organisational performance.
This finding echoes decades of research linking wellbeing and productivity. Studies by Gallup (2023) and Harter et al. (2002) found that teams with high engagement and psychological safety outperform others across every major metric — from retention to profitability.
But psychological health isn’t built through one-off wellness initiatives. It requires data-driven insight and consistent dialogue.
That’s why Steople partners with organisations using our Assessment and Survey Tools, such as:
- Steople High-Performance Teams Survey™ — helps identify where collaboration and civility are breaking down.
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Steople Leading for Performance and Wellbeing 360 Assessment — gives leaders the self-awareness to manage psychosocial risks through behaviour change.
- Steople Engagement & Wellbeing Survey™ — measures employee perceptions of workload, support, culture, and purpose.
When leaders and teams have clear, objective insight into what’s working and what’s not, they can take targeted action that strengthens culture and wellbeing long-term.
From compliance to capability
Psychosocial risk management is now embedded in Australian workplace legislation — but focusing solely on compliance misses the opportunity for transformation.
Effective organisations treat psychosocial health as a strategic capability. They invest in building psychologically safe cultures, where people can raise concerns, seek support, and experiment without fear of blame. Research by Edmondson (2019) shows that teams high in psychological safety are more innovative, collaborative, and resilient in the face of change.
At Steople, we help clients move beyond minimum standards by:
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Developing leaders who can respond constructively to stress and conflict.
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Designing roles and structures that balance job demands with autonomy.
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Embedding wellbeing practices into daily rhythms — from coaching to team reflection sessions.
Our approach blends psychological science with pragmatic leadership development, helping organisations reduce risk while unlocking the human potential that drives performance.
Building workplaces where people flourish
As workplaces evolve through technology, hybrid models, and shifting expectations, psychosocial health is emerging as one of the defining challenges of modern leadership.
But it’s also one of the greatest opportunities to redesign work in a way that’s both productive and humane.
The evidence is clear:
✅ Strong leadership capability reduces psychosocial risks.
✅ Data and assessment turn intuition into insight.
✅ Wellbeing and performance aren’t opposites — they’re interdependent.
When organisations invest in their leaders and measure what matters, they don’t just comply with regulation — they create workplaces where people feel valued, connected, and motivated to perform at their best.
At Steople, we call that sustainable success through people.
If your organisation is ready to strengthen its psychosocial health and leadership capability, we can help.
Contact us to learn more
Self-awareness is essential, and self-reflection is the key to gaining it. But awareness on its own isn’t enough.
How many times have you heard someone say, “I know I need to change,” yet nothing shifts? Maybe you’ve even said something similar yourself.
Leaders aren’t always aware when they’re being overly reactive, caught in the details, or avoiding difficult conversations, but their teams feel it. They notice when trust is low and communication starts to break down. Recognising the issue is just the first step.
The real transformation happens when insight leads to action and that’s where behaviour change coaching becomes a game-changer.
The Missing Link in Most Coaching Programs
Many coaching approaches stop at awareness. They deliver a great psychometric report, a few compelling insights, and maybe even an inspiring conversation. But without a structured follow-through, the momentum stalls and nothing actually changes.
What makes Steople’s coaching approach different is our commitment to helping clients move from insight → clarity → action → reinforcement. We don’t just coach for awareness; we coach for lasting and meaningful change.
Applying the Model: How Behaviour Change Coaching Works
Let’s look at how the Steople Positive Behaviour Change Model shows up in practice.
Case Example: From Micromanagement to Empowerment
Rajini, a senior leader in an accounting firm, scored highly on drive and analytical thinking, but struggled with delegation and trust. Feedback from peers described a tendency to “take over” and “get in the weeds.”
Stage 1: Awareness
Psychometric data and 360° feedback helped Rajini recognise this pattern and its unintended impact: disempowering their team.
Stage 2: Desire
With support from their coach, Rajini connected this behaviour to their identity as a “problem-solver”, realising that holding on too tightly was limiting both team growth and strategic focus.
Stage 3: Skill-Building
Together with their coach, Rajini practiced setting clearer expectations, using coaching-style questions, and holding space during team check-ins.
Stage 4: Practice
Over eight weeks, Rajini committed to stepping back in meetings and allowing direct reports to present updates. Rajini journaled their reflections and shared progress with their coach.
Stage 5: Feedback
Midway through, Rajini invited feedback from team members, who noticed a shift in tone in Rajini’s approach and letting go of tasks. This validation was a key motivator for Rajini to continue practising these new skills.
Stage 6: Measurement
By the final session, Rajini self-rated against the behavioural goal of “delegates appropriately” and tracked improvements in team engagement survey scores.
Outcome:
Rajini increased delegation and team accountability, which provided them more time for strategic focus. This was a real and noticeable positive shift in behaviour, which is measurable and meaningful.
Coaching as a Catalyst, Not a Crutch
At Steople, we don’t create dependency on coaching. We create self-generating growth. The coach acts as a catalyst, challenging thinking, introducing tools and resources, and holding space for reflection. But ultimately, the power lies with the coachee.
Using our Steople model, leaders learn how to:
- Translate feedback into action
- Reinforce new habits through repetition
- Build their own accountability loops
- Measure their growth in ways that align with business goals
- Make changes that are meaningful to the leader and impactful to others
What Makes Steople Coaching Stick?
✔ A psychologically grounded model
✔ Personalised behavioural goals
✔ Real-time practice and feedback
✔ Organisational alignment
✔ Measurement over time
✔ Great relationships between coach and coachee
It’s this holistic approach that enables Steople to drive meaningful and measurable behaviour change across all levels of an organisation.
Up Next
In the final article of this series, we’ll explore how to scale this impact: embedding a culture of feedback, growth, and continuous development at the team and organisational level.
Curious how coaching could shift behaviour—and culture—in your business?
Contact us to learn more.
If you think investing in employee wellbeing is just a “nice-to-have” or solely HR’s responsibility, it’s time to reconsider. Groundbreaking research from the McKinsey Health Institute (Jeffery et. al., 2025) reveals a compelling truth: companies that genuinely prioritise their people’s health consistently outperform their competitors. And not by a small margin.
Between 2021 and 2024, the “Well-being 100” — a portfolio of companies rated highest for employee wellbeing on the job platform Indeed — significantly outperformed major market indices like the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Russell 3000. (Jeffery et. al., 2025, De Neve et. al., 2024) This research clearly shows that employee wellbeing is not just an ethical imperative; it’s a powerful business advantage that directly affects your bottom line.
Sourced From: Jeffery et. al. (2025) Thriving workplaces: How employers can improve productivity and change lives. McKinsey Health Institute.
The Reality Check: Where Does Your Workforce Stand?
McKinsey’s comprehensive global survey (De Neve et. al., 2024) of over 30,000 employees across 30 countries paints a sobering picture. Only 37% of employees reported experiencing good holistic health, a broad concept encompassing mental, physical, social, and spiritual well-being. Meanwhile, about 20% showed signs of burnout, an alarming figure for any organisation.
The challenges vary by industry. Higher burnout rates were observed in sectors such as accounting, retail, agriculture, and arts/media. On the other hand, industries like education, engineering, and human resources tended to report better wellbeing scores and lower burnout levels.
One notable insight is the heightened risk faced by employees juggling caregiving responsibilities alongside work, a segment that requires tailored organisational support to avoid burnout and disengagement.
From an economic perspective, McKinsey estimates that improving employee well-being could unlock up to $11.7 trillion in global economic value. This stems from increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and presenteeism (when employees are physically at work but not fully functioning), better talent attraction and retention, and significantly lower healthcare costs.
Why Leadership Is the Critical Link Between Wellbeing and Performance
While these findings are enlightening, they also raise a crucial question: how do organisations translate data and insights into meaningful action?
The answer lies in leadership. The McKinsey research highlights that leadership commitment and behaviours are foundational to embedding well-being into workplace culture. Leaders who understand and model behaviours that promote wellbeing help foster environments where employees feel valued, supported, and motivated, directly impacting organisational success.
At Steople, we have taken these insights to heart by developing the Leading for Performance and Wellbeing Assessment™, a 360-degree leadership assessment designed to identify and cultivate the critical behaviours that drive a healthy balance between performance and wellbeing.
What Does Effective Leadership for Wellbeing Look Like?
The Steople Leading for Performance and Wellbeing model™ highlights seven key leadership capabilities:
- Builds Capability and Accountability: Effective leaders empower employees with the skills and responsibility they need to succeed.
- Purpose and Direction: Leaders provide clear vision and meaning behind work, which fuels engagement.
- Consistency: Predictable, fair behaviours build trust and psychological safety.
- Authenticity and Genuineness: Sincere interactions foster real connection and loyalty.
- Emotional Adaptability: Leaders who demonstrate resilience and flexibility inspire their teams to do the same.
- Supportiveness: Genuine support motivates beyond transactional relationships.
- Trust: The cornerstone of positive workplace relationships and collaboration.
These aren’t abstract ideals; they are measurable behaviours that translate directly into increased employee well-being, engagement, and performance.
How Steople Helps Bring This Leadership Model to Life
We know leadership development requires more than theory—it demands practical tools and measurable outcomes. That’s why Steople offers an integrated approach:
- Organisational Insights: Our bespoke surveys and data analytics reveal your organisation’s unique culture and wellbeing landscape, identifying areas for targeted improvement.
- Engagement, Performance & Well-being Surveys: We measure what truly matters across all levels—from CEO to frontline staff.
- Leadership Assessments & Coaching: Our Leading for Performance and Wellbeing™ assessment delivers personalised insights and development plans to strengthen leaders’ critical capabilities.
- SCORE Program: An award-winning initiative designed to reduce workplace stress and incivility, enhancing retention and overall morale.
- Mental Health Ambassador Training: Our Working Wellbeing program equips employees to become skilled mental health champions who support colleagues and foster resilience.
- Workshops & Espresso Series: Practical sessions on topics such as boundary management, mindfulness, gratitude, and mental health tailored for leaders and teams.
- Acceptance & Commitment Training: Interactive sessions that build psychological flexibility, helping individuals manage stress and stay aligned with personal and organisational values.
Why This Matters — And Why It Matters Now
The McKinsey study—and decades of psychological research—make one thing clear: employee wellbeing is inseparable from organisational success. Happier, healthier employees are more productive, more innovative, and more loyal. They take fewer sick days, perform better while on the job, and stay longer, reducing costly turnover.
But creating this environment requires leaders who are equipped, accountable, and genuinely committed to fostering a culture where wellbeing and performance coexist.
Steople’s Leading for Performance and Wellbeing model™ offers a proven, practical pathway to develop those leaders. Paired with our evidence-based programs, we help organisations unlock their people’s full potential — for the benefit of employees, investors, and customers alike.
Take Action Today: Invest in Leadership, Invest in Your People
The future of work demands that we rethink leadership and wellbeing as inseparable pillars of success. If you want to move beyond talk and make tangible progress in creating a thriving workforce, the time to act is now.
Connect with us to explore how Steople’s leadership and wellbeing solutions can help you build stronger, more resilient teams, equipped to meet today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities.
Whether you’re facing high turnover, low engagement, or simply want to future-proof your organisation, we’re here to partner with you. Together, we can turn insight into impact.
Reach out today at info@steople.com.au for a no-obligation conversation or to schedule a complimentary organisational wellbeing snapshot, or visit steople.com.au to learn more.
Interested in reading the full studies? Find the links below:
Jeffery, B., Weddle, B., Brassey, W., & Thaker, S. (2025). Thriving workplaces: How employers can improve productivity and change lives. McKinsey Health Institute.
De Neve, J.-E., Kaats, M., & Ward, G. (2024) Workplace Wellbeing and Firm Performance. University of Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre.
By Audrey McGibbon, Co-Author, GLWS
“Is wellbeing a fad?”
We were asked this question recently and our instinctive response was “We hope not!”. Not given how much positive change we have seen come about through the recent focus on wellbeing. But, thinking more about it, it’s a fair question. Wellbeing/wellness programs and initiatives have popped up like mushrooms all over workplaces – and in some quarters, this could feel a little like ‘jumping on the bandwagon’. But our true response is a firm no – that like many other ‘themes’ of recent times (diversity, psychological safety, even engagement), wellbeing is an essential ingredient in creating a workplace culture where people do their best work, are creative and innovative, collaborate effectively and perform sustainably at a high level to meet organisational objectives.
There probably are people within organisations addressing wellbeing as a fad, perhaps implementing a few ‘lunch ‘n’ learns’, supporting a ‘get fit’ campaign and encouraging healthy eating at work. Nothing wrong with any of that, but they are unlikely to achieve lasting change in behaviour. Or, for that matter, any of the desirable outcomes from seeing a real uplift in wellbeing – such as reduced absenteeism, increased engagement, innovation and retention, and sustainable high productivity and performance. (If you are yet to be convinced that these are the outcomes that investment in wellbeing can bring, then please ask and we can guide you to the evidence). That’s because these programs, by and large, are not very ‘sticky’ – and, without fundamental shifts in how the leadership of the organisation engages with wellbeing, are doomed to under-achieve, if not fail.
For wellbeing to stick, and for organisations to see the benefits, it needs to be embedded in the expectations and behaviour of all leaders.
Wellbeing as a core leadership capability
We all know that initiatives in organisations have to be supported from the top to stand a chance of getting off the ground, surviving and achieving their objectives. With wellbeing, we would like to see this go one stage further – indeed, we believe this is fundamental to realising the cultural shifts required to truly embed wellbeing.
It’s time to view wellbeing as an essential leadership capability.
Organisations expect leaders to have well-developed skills in people leadership, emotional intelligence, stakeholder relationships, strategic thinking, problem-solving and so on. In this day and age, shouldn’t we also expect leaders to be capable of developing wellbeing?
And by developing wellbeing, we mean:
- Attending to their own self-care,
- Attending and promoting ‘other-care’ for the people they lead,
- And being champions of wellbeing across their organisations.
Here is our attempt at a fuller definition of ‘enabling wellbeing’, and we offer this up as a gift to stimulate your minds on what might work in your own organisation: “Making purposeful and well-informed choices to optimise wellbeing for self and others, role-modelling wellbeing as a priority, embedding reliable disciplines and influencing positive change in the system for others.”
How your organisation can enable Wellbeing
To make wellbeing an essential skill, it needs to be documented within your organisation’s frameworks and integrated into performance reviews.
We propose you:
- Update your organisation’s leadership capability framework to include wellbeing as a
clear and explicit expectation. - Redesign or augment your leadership development initiatives to include leaders’ development of this capability as a core component of every leadership development program, at all levels of leadership.
- Build engagement in your wellbeing strategy to a point where you can set wellbeing KPIs as part of every leader’s performance targets.
- And finally, evaluate performance and reward leaders for their success in enabling wellbeing. After all, what gets measured, gets done. The world is changing. Leaders are under more pressure to perform and respond to rapid organisational, social and technological change than ever before. The best of the best will understand, model and uphold positive wellbeing practices in the workplace.
Leaders who role-model and prioritise the wellbeing skills and behaviours taught to them will become an organisation’s most powerful enablers of improved employee wellbeing and all the possible benefits that come with it. But it’s only strong leadership, behavioural and cultural change driven by wellbeing data that will deliver.
Speak to a PeopleScape consultant about your Wellbeing strategy today
As many of you know, this last year has been quite a roller coaster for my family. My dad’s diagnosis and eventual move into a memory care facility has turned our world upside down. The last six months have consisted of auctioning off the family farm equipment, selling my parent’s home of 45 years, and getting my mom packed up and moved into a newly renovated house. I know my family and I are not the only ones out there dealing with significant life events such as death, loss of a job, divorce, a major illness, bankruptcy, etc. We have all been a part of or known circumstances in which bad things happen to good people.
I recently read a book that was extremely impactful in helping understand and sort through some of the feelings that come with such life-changing events. Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, written by Sheryl Sandberg recounts the story after her husband tragically passed away when a friend offered to go to her children’s parent-teacher conference with her. Through her grief, she stated that she did not want her friend to go with her…at that moment she only wanted her husband. Her friend wisely said, “Well, Option A isn’t available, so we are going to kick the sh** out of Option B.”
We all want to live in a world in which we get to live Option A. It’s a magical world where everyone stays married, we are uber successful in a job we love, no one gets sick and no one dies tragically. Option B is more realistic and is comprised of a world in which the worst happens and we have to adapt and lean on our friends and family. None of us escape Option B at one time or another…and so, of course, much of what happens in our personal life then negatively impacts our professional life. That is why we set out to answer two questions in this blog: How can we, in our own life, handle those tough times in a more effective way? What can we do or say when our friends and co-workers are experiencing a significant loss or life-changing event?
What To Do When Life Hands You Option B
Two years ago, Sheryl Sandberg was leading a good life. She was the chief operating officer of Facebook and author of the legendary New York Times bestseller Lean In. She was a renowned business leader and a role model for women around the world. She was happily married to Dave Goldberg, the CEO of Survey Monkey, and they had two young children. Then the unthinkable happened. On a family vacation in Mexico, her husband, Dave, died unexpectedly of heart failure while exercising in the gym. He was 48.
Since that tragic event, Sandberg co-authored her new book with Wharton Business School professor, Adam Grant, chronicling her own progress from a state of overwhelming, paralyzing grief to being able to appreciate life in a new way. Grant was already an acquaintance of Sandberg and her family, and attended the shiva, the Jewish period of mourning, at Sandberg’s home. As the guests were leaving, Sandberg asked Grant to stay. “I was thinking, OK, he’s a psychologist…. I looked at him, I’m sure hysterical, I was like, ‘What do I do? How am I going to get my kids through this? Tell me what to do.’”
His response was something that might not have worked for everyone, she said, but for her was “incredibly comforting….He started summarizing research.” (Sandberg is a self-described “geek” who holds a B.A. in economics from Harvard) She said, “When anyone gives you any steps you can take — particularly for me, ones that social scientists had studied that they knew worked — that was a lifeline.”
How Can We Better Handle Our Own Option B?
What Sandberg learned, with the help of Grant, was that there are three myths people cling to that make it harder to spring back from adversity. Martin Seligman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, bases the three myths on research. He is widely considered the founding father of the positive psychology movement. Seligman proposed that our ability to deal with setbacks is largely determined by three P’s: Personalization, Pervasiveness, and Permanence.
- Personalization. Personalization refers to whether a person attributes a negative event to internal or external factors — in other words, whether it’s their fault. Sandberg said that after her husband died so unexpectedly, she blamed herself: “I pored over his medical records asking what I could have — or should have — done.” Once she read about personalization, however, she accepted that she couldn’t have prevented his death: “His doctors had not identified his coronary artery disease. I was an economics major; how could I have?
- Pervasiveness. Pervasiveness refers to whether a person sees negative experiences as global or specific, or as Sandberg says, whether “an event will affect all areas of your life.” Sandberg said she went back to work at Facebook 10 days after Dave died — and for a split second during a meeting, she was able to forget her grief and get absorbed in the discussion. At that moment, she realized that her professional life could still be rewarding and worthwhile, even after tragedy had struck in her personal life.
- Permanence. Permanence explains whether a person sees an event as stable or unstable, or how long they think the negative feelings will last. For months after Dave’s death, Sandberg said, “no matter what I did, it felt like the crushing grief would always be there.” Gradually, Sandberg said she learned that “we should accept our feelings — but recognize that they will not last forever. In other words, you don’t have to deny that you’re feeling sad or hopeless — but you can also take heart that one day soon, you’ll feel a little less sad and hopeless.”
What Can We Do When Others Struggle With Option B?
Keeping these three P’s in mind can have a positive impact when you do have to deal with your own Option B. But not only do we have to know how to survive these times ourselves, there will be people in our life that are dealing with negative events and knowing how to help those we care about can be significant. These are five tips that Sandberg suggests in order to acknowledge those difficult times:
- Ask “How are you today?” In Option B, Sandberg writes about how painful the casual greeting “How are you?” was to her after her husband’s death. It hurt, “because it didn’t acknowledge that anything out of the ordinary happened,” she writes. Instead, Sandberg suggests asking “How are you today?”—a formulation that shows you’re aware that the person is struggling to get through each day. For Sandberg, the phrase became a shorthand among her coworkers to express empathy.
- Instead of offering ‘anything,’ do something. The question, “Is there anything I can do?” seems innocuous enough, but Sandberg points out that it is the opposite of helpful, since most of the things the aggrieved wants either feel like an imposition or are impossible. (The Facebook exec’s example: “Can you invent a time machine so my kids and I can go back and say goodbye to Dave?”) A better approach is to do something specific, no matter how small, because “instead of trying to fix the problem, they address the damage caused by the problem.”
- Use “we” language and make your presence felt. One of the most painful parts of grieving, Sandberg recounts, is feeling alone. She writes: “Lots of people nicely tried to assure me, ‘You will get through this,’ but it was hard to believe them. What helped me more was when people said they were in it with me.”
- Share your problems, too. After the initial shock of the event fades, it’s important to restore balance in your relationship—and that means talking about worries and troubles even if they feel trivial when compared to those endured by the aggrieved. “I wanted those close to me to know that I was there to help carry their troubles too,” Sandberg writes.
- Follow the “platinum rule” of friendship. The golden rule of friendship is to treat others the way you want to be treated. The platinum rule, according to Sandberg, is to treat others the way they want to be treated. “Instead of making assumptions about whether or not someone wants to talk, it’s better to offer an opening and see if they take it.” In the end, everyone copes differently. The best way to be there for someone is just to be there—and make sure they know it.
Acknowledging our own and other’s struggles can be powerful. We hope some of these thoughts and ideas help you in some small way.