Social support in the workplace – one of the most important protective factors
A journalist has covered a bus crash with many fatalities, several of them children. Early in the morning, the journalist drives home, numb from everything they have seen. Then a text message arrives from an older colleague: “I’ve just heard about the crash and I’m wondering how you’re doing. I once covered an accident like that myself and found it incredibly hard. Call me if you want to.” The journalist has never felt so understood.
That is social support. It rarely takes much, but it means a great deal. Here, you can learn what social support in the workplace is, the forms it can take, and how workplaces can make it a regular part of everyday working life.
What is social support?
Social support is the help, backing and understanding we receive from others. In the workplace, it comes from colleagues, from managers and from the organisation. Together with a sense of belonging to a community, social support is one of the most important protective factors in psychologically demanding work.
Research points in the same direction. Studies of deployed military personnel show that strong camaraderie and cohesion are associated with fewer symptoms of psychological strain. Informal contact and opportunities to discuss work with colleagues in everyday situations also appear to have a protective effect. Conversely, a lack of support at work is a risk factor for secondary traumatisation.
Four forms of social support
Social support can be given in four ways. They complement one another, and most workplaces need all of them.
Emotional support
Emotional support means being present, listening and showing that you understand. Colleagues can offer a particular kind of support that others cannot, however much they would like to. Someone who has sat opposite a young mother who is dying knows, without needing an explanation, how that feels. This can break the loneliness that might otherwise come with experiencing distressing events at work.
It does not have to be a long conversation. Some workplaces meet regularly on a “Fisherman’s Bench”, where people take turns sharing something that has made an impression on them while the others simply listen. The purpose is not to solve anything, but to share it.
Feedback
Feedback means helping one another understand what happened and the role each person played. Colleagues are often the ones who know best how the work is actually carried out.
How you say it matters a great deal. “I can see you’re shaken. It must have been a tough case if an experienced colleague like you is reacting this way” makes the other person feel acknowledged. “Well, you are new to the job” makes them feel weak and to blame. It is about keeping the focus on the incident, not on the person.
Feedback also requires honesty. In a close-knit group, the desire to belong can become stronger than the willingness to speak up, for example about a harsh tone towards the people you help. Regular discussions about what good work looks like make it easier to say so when something has slipped.
Professional support and advice
Professional support means sharing knowledge. This can happen through internal training, supervision or by talking through a difficult case with a colleague before, during and after the task. It can also happen by carrying out tasks together, so that experienced colleagues can show how they do things. As one experienced doctor puts it: even after many years, there is still a need to talk through complex cases with colleagues, and the sense of powerlessness is easier to bear when they offer support and understanding.
Practical support
Practical support means taking over a task from a colleague who needs it. Everyone takes turns being on top of things and struggling, whether because of a divorce, an ill parent, a threat at work or simply an unexpectedly busy period. A temporary redistribution of tasks can often be arranged quickly. It also sends a clear signal to the whole team that people look out for one another.
Instead of saying “take good care of yourself”, you can ask: “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Support from colleagues, managers and the organisation
Support comes from several directions, and each has its own role.
Colleagues are the people we spend the most time with and the ones who understand the work from the inside. The team does not hold formal responsibility. That lies with the manager. But colleagues have a human responsibility for one another, because they have a great deal of influence on each other’s well-being. Not everyone has a strong personal network to draw on. For them, colleagues are a vital resource.
Managers provide support by taking the initiative to talk when an employee has had a difficult experience and by showing genuine interest. Having a manager who appreciates your work and remembers to say so is also a protective factor.
The organisation sets the framework. It can provide time and space for support. For example, some workplaces have an arrangement where colleagues take turns keeping the last hour of the day free to listen to anyone who needs to share something before going home.
What can get in the way of support
Social support does not happen by itself. Some things can make it more difficult:
Offloading onto one another. It is good to share your experiences, but colleagues can also end up burdening one another. Anyone sharing a distressing story should ask whether the other person has time and start with the bigger picture, so the listener has a chance to prepare.
Isolating yourselves as a group. Distressing experiences bring colleagues closer together, and that is a good thing. But it must not mean shutting yourselves off from others, either professionally or personally.
Dark humour as the only response. Humour can provide a breather and strengthen team spirit. But if it becomes the only way of dealing with difficult experiences, the group can become hardened. And it can hurt new colleagues who do not share the same background for understanding it.
A culture where people don’t speak up. If it is not acceptable to say that you don’t have much energy on a particular day, your colleagues cannot help.
How workplaces can build social support into everyday working life
Social support works best when it is part of everyday working life and not just something that is set in motion when things have gone wrong. Here are some questions to consider:
- Who takes the initiative to contact a colleague after a difficult incident?
- Do we have regular opportunities to share what has made an impression on us?
- Can we quickly redistribute tasks when a colleague needs it?
- Do we talk about what good work looks like, so we can speak up when something has slipped?
- Does the manager know who has had difficult cases, and do they follow up with a conversation?
Some workplaces train selected employees in psychological first aid, so there is always someone who knows what to do when a colleague needs support. Professional help is an important supplement when needed, but it cannot replace the support of the people we work alongside every day.
The consultant goes home. The colleagues remain. The Institute for Strain Psychology helps workplaces strengthen the support they can give one another. Read more about our workplace health and safety courses.
Digital implementation courses for professionals in psychologically demanding work
Foundation Course in Strain Psychology
For a holistic approach to managing everyday high emotional demands and exposure to potentially traumatic events.
Foundation Course in Psychological First Aid
For collective crisis response when something unexpected happens — and the group must manage an extraordinary psychological strain together.
Foundation Course in Psychological Safety
Ensuring that tools and methods truly work in practice — rather than remaining well-written policies in contingency plans.
Foundation Course in Psychosocial Prevention
Creating a shared understanding of what proactive, collective prevention looks like in daily practice.
Q&A: Social support in the workplace
What is social support in the workplace?
The help, backing and understanding you receive from colleagues, managers and the organisation. It can take the form of emotional support, feedback, professional support and advice, or practical help with tasks.
Why is social support important?
Because it is one of the most important protective factors in psychologically demanding work. It cannot remove the strain, but it can reduce its impact. Conversely, a lack of support is a risk factor.
What is the difference between social support and collegial support?
Collegial support is the part of social support that comes from colleagues. Social support also includes support from managers and the framework the organisation provides.
What can a manager do to provide social support?
Take the initiative to talk after difficult experiences, show genuine interest, say so when work has been done well, and make sure there is time and a framework for colleagues to support one another.
Can you give too much support?
Support can be given in ways that do not help, for example by offering advice when the other person simply needs to be listened to. And colleagues can end up placing a burden on one another if they share distressing experiences without considering the person who is listening.