Workplace counselling in the changing world of work : an industrial psychology perspective

Abstract

Workplace counselling is psychological support provided by the employers to the employees who are experiencing psychological and social problems. The changing world of work, highlighted by the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), introduces many changes such as digitalisation and automation in all sectors of work, which may influence employees’ wellbeing. Organisations and employees are confronted with the challenges of continuously adjusting and adapting to the changes introduced by the changing world of work. The onset of COVID-19 has exacerbated the implementation of these changes in all industries – for instance, the manner in which people live and connect, and how work is done, and these changes alter what work means to individuals. However, the main threat of the 4IR is job loss, which will exacerbate the inequity. Many employees experience fear and anxiety that these new technologies, such as digitalisation and automation, will eventually replace them in organisations. Thus, organisations should provide workplace counselling, which is the most appropriate support to provide to employees who are distressed. Within organisations, workplace counselling is mostly rendered by industrial psychology practitioners in their role as workplace counsellors. The objective of the present study was to explore workplace counselling in the changing world of work as viewed from an industrial psychology perspective. A qualitative research design was employed in this study based on social constructivism. The researcher used a qualitative descriptive research strategy to provide a vehicle for the narratives of industrial psychology practitioners concerning rendering workplace counselling in the changing world of work. For data-collection, a homogeneous sampling technique was applied. The target population were industrial psychology practitioners (N=22) registered as psychologists and intern psychologists in the category of industrial psychology. The researcher used semi- structured interviews, which were conducted online through teleconferencing applications such as Zoom and Microsoft teams; and content analysis was employed to analyse the data. The participants indicated that employees find it difficult to adjust to the 4IR because change is taking place at an increasing pace. Such employees are finding it challenging to keep up with it. The participants also indicated that in the changing world of work, technology is essential for optimal functioning. Most participants believed that the onset of COVID-19 led to change accelerating in the workplaces and some participants indicated that COVID-19 drove the 4IR. The findings of this study also highlighted that an industrial psychology practitioner's role in the changing world of work is to enable the organisations to be prepared for the changes presented by the 4IR, by providing counselling, coaching, training, and development initiatives. Furthermore, the results of this study highlighted that organisation should implement an agile approach during change management. This study also recommended that organisations should implement proactive and reactive workplace counselling to facilitate support for the employees in their attempt to deal with transition in the new world of work.