Definition: Work interaction refers to the quality of day-to-day interpersonal relationships between workers, including how conflicts are handled, whether relationships are respectful, and whether team members support one another. Poor work interaction encompasses incivility, persistent conflict, interpersonal friction, and dysfunctional team dynamics that fall short of formal harassment or bullying but still create psychological harm.
Overview
Not all interpersonal harm at work meets the threshold of bullying or harassment. A significant source of psychosocial risk is the persistent, low-level pattern of poor interaction: dismissiveness, disrespect, frequent conflict, exclusion from information, and team dynamics that are fractious rather than collaborative.
Incivility is a particularly important concept here. Uncivil behaviour involves rude, disrespectful, or inconsiderate actions that do not necessarily have hostile intent but that violate norms of mutual respect. Research shows incivility is contagious and escalates over time if not addressed. It also produces significant psychological costs: recipients of incivility report higher anxiety, lower job satisfaction, and reduced performance.
Team dynamics operate at a systemic level. A team with persistently poor interaction does not simply have a few difficult individuals. The patterns are usually embedded in how work is structured, how conflict is handled, how leadership models behaviour, and what norms are either tolerated or challenged.
Addressing this factor requires more than interpersonal skills training. It requires attention to the structural conditions that produce or sustain poor interaction.
Why it matters
Poor workplace relationships are among the most cited sources of stress and dissatisfaction in worker surveys. The costs include elevated absenteeism, higher turnover, and measurable reductions in team performance. For psychosocial risk management purposes, poor work interaction often precedes escalation to formal harassment and bullying incidents, making it a leading indicator and a prevention opportunity. The Model Code of Practice includes poor support from colleagues and supervisors and interpersonal conflict as psychosocial hazards.
Warning signs
Signs this is managed well
- Workers describe their teams as respectful, collaborative, and supportive
- Conflict is addressed openly and constructively when it arises
- Workers who raise interpersonal concerns are heard rather than dismissed
- Incivility is not normalised or tolerated in the workplace culture
- Leadership models respectful interaction at all times
Signs this is a risk
- Persistent low-level conflict between individuals or within teams
- Workers describe colleagues as dismissive, cliquey, or unsupportive
- Complaints about being excluded from information or decisions
- High rates of formal complaints in teams with underlying interaction problems
- Leaders who model or tolerate disrespectful behaviour
Control measures
- 1Establish clear behavioural expectations and model them from leadership downward
- 2Train managers to identify and address incivility before it escalates
- 3Create accessible and safe mechanisms for workers to raise interpersonal concerns early
- 4Review team structures and working arrangements that create friction points
- 5Address systemic causes of conflict, such as unclear accountabilities or competing team incentives
- 6Use regular check-in data to identify teams where interaction patterns are deteriorating
Legal context (Australia and New Zealand)
The Model Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work identifies 'poor workplace relationships and interactions' as a psychosocial hazard. This encompasses behaviour that does not meet the legal threshold for bullying or harassment but still creates harm. WorkSafe NZ's 2024 guidance includes workplace conflict and poor management behaviour under social and relational factors. Both frameworks expect organisations to manage poor interaction proactively rather than only responding to formal complaints.
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Regulatory timeline
How this factor has been formalised in Australian and New Zealand workplace health and safety frameworks.
Regulatory timeline
- 2022
Model Code of Practice names poor workplace relationships and interactions as a psychosocial hazard, distinct from formal bullying and harassment.
- 2024
WorkSafe NZ guidance identifies workplace conflict and poor management behaviour as social and relational psychosocial hazard categories.
Related factors
- Harassment and Bullying →Whether workers experience unwanted, repeated, or hostile behaviour from others.
- Support →Whether workers receive adequate support from their manager and colleagues.
- Leadership →The quality and consistency of management behaviour at all levels.