Derivation of interventions in digitalized psychosocial risk assessment—practical report and integration for counselling contexts

Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. Zeitschrift für angewandte Organisationspsychologie https://doi.org/10.1007/s11612-025-00791-7 HAUPTBEITRÄGE – THEMENTEIL Derivation of interventions in digitalized psychosocial risk assessment—practical report and integration for counselling contexts Benedikt Graf1 · Stefan Eberz2 · Jonas Gerstmann3 · Conny Herbert Antoni4 Accepted: 29 January 2025 © The Author(s) 2025 Abstract This article from the journal Gruppe. Interaction. Organization. shows how many and which process steps of a psychosocial risk assessment can be digitised in a meaningful and cost-effective way and how this can be done with the participation of the entire workforce in hybrid settings. This case study presents a digitalised PRA process in an organization with 1220 employees, in which a questionnaire and workshops were used to identify psychosocial risks. Based on 326 psychosocial risk ratings, 198 health-promoting measures were derived. The entire derivation process is presented and evaluated descriptively in this article. Digitising the process steps of the psychosocial risk assessment frees up time and resources to successfully derive interventions to reduce psychosocial risks in organizations, which many organizations fail to do. Keywords Psychosocial risk assessment · Intervention derivation · Digital workshops · PRA process model Ableitung von Interventionen bei der digitalisierten Gefährdungsbeurteilung psychischer Belastungen – Praxisbericht und Integration für Beratungskontexte Zusammenfassung Dieser Artikel aus der Zeitschrift Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. zeigt, wie viele und welche Prozessschritte der Gefährdungsbeurteilung psychischer Belastungen sinnvoll und kostengünstig digitalisiert werden können und wie dies unter Beteiligung der gesamten Belegschaft in hybriden Settings geschehen kann. In dieser Fallstudie wird ein digitalisierter PRA-Prozess in einem Unternehmen mit 1220 Mitarbeitenden vorgestellt, bei dem ein Fragebogen und Workshops zur Ermittlung psychosozialer Risiken eingesetzt wurden. Aus 326 psychosozialen Risikobewertungen wurden 198 gesundheitsfördernde Maßnahmen abgeleitet. Der gesamte Ableitungsprozess wird in diesem Artikel dargestellt und bewertet. Die Digitalisierung der Schritte des Prozesses setzt Zeit und Ressourcen frei, um erfolgreich Interventionen zur Reduzierung psychosozialer Risiken in Organisationen abzuleiten, was vielen Organisationen nicht gelingt. Schlüsselwörter Gefährdungsbeurteilung psychischer Belastung · Maßnahmenableitung · Digitale Workshops · PRA Prozessmodell 1 Introduction  Benedikt Graf 1 Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany 2 Leadership and Police Management, Rhineland-Palatinate Police University, Büchenbeuren, Germany 3 Blue walnut GmbH, Berlin, Germany 4 Work and Organizational Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany Over 80% of organizations in Germany do not conduct a psychosocial risk assessment (PRA) although they are obliged to do so (Beck and Lenhardt 2019; Pavlista et al. 2022). But even if organizations conduct a PRA, often interventions derived within the process fall short of what is required and possible (Lenhardt 2017; Müller 2016), for example, by focussing only on behaviour-related interventions, such as anti-stress trainings. One reason for this is that a PRA project might require changes in work design K B. Graf et al. and structural changes that are likely to be complex and perceived controversial and therefore require a time and resource intensive participatory approach to involve the different stakeholders (Eberz et al. 2022b; Schuller 2019). Often external consultants are tasked to manage this complex process, which increases financial costs and thus binds even more resources. A PRA is usually carried out in situ and requires the identification of psychological risks either via questionnaires or time-consuming work analyses (Jonassen et al. 1998; Traum et al. 2020). As many stakeholders are involved in a PRA (Langenhan et al. 2013), regular joint organization and information meetings must be held to steer the process. Workshops are often held throughout the organization following questionnaires in order to derive measures. For this purpose, consultants often travel to the organization and conduct them in the organization. The digitalisation of PRA process steps might be a promising approach to reduce the necessary time and financial investments of a PRA. Survey and feedback research has shown that the digitalisation of employee surveys reduces the effort involved in evaluating, aggregating and visualising the results (Borg 2003). Furthermore, standardized short digital workshops reduce personnel costs and travel expenses for external consultants (Hermann-Ruess and Ott 2014). In addition, PRA in larger organizations require multiple meetings with many stakeholders (e.g. supervisors, management, staff council, steering committee) to ensure commitment and to plan the complex process. The effort and costs caused by these meetings can also be reduced by conducting them digitally. Digitalisation may therefore help organizations and consultants to simplify the complex PRA process and save resources. However, there are also potential risks, such as the digitalisation of workshops leading to a lack of engagement or participation (Gumienny et al. 2012). In addition, digital communication can be limited especially when conflictual issues arise, which must be discussed and moderated in a solution-oriented approach in order to derive interventions (Hermann-Ruess and Ott 2014). Overall, it is still an open question how interventions in a digital PRA-process can be derived and decided on (e.g., Schuller 2019). To contribute to this debate, this study describes a digital PRA-project, focussing on how interventions can be successfully derived digitally, and discusses the benefits and risks of this digital PRA process. For practitioners, this paper shows a practice example, which digital methods can be useful to develop interventions against psychosocial risks in the workplace and provides a practicable guide for consultants. For research, this paper contributes to the analysis of the possibilities and limits of digitalized PRA based on the PRA process model. K 2 The Salutogenic Process Model This research is based on the salutogenic (health-oriented) PRA process model (Eberz et al. 2022a) and assumptions about the analysis of psychosocial risks in change management (Di Tecco et al. 2023; Mathisen et al. 2017). Psychosocial risk analysis is a specific form of organizational development. It aims at reducing psychosocial stressors and promoting the health of employees at the workplace based on participatory risk analysis and prevention. Many basic models of organizational development are not tailored to the prevention and health-promoting process of PRA and respective responsibilities, resources and knowledge (cf. La (...truncated)