Program name | Psychosocial Risk Assessment |
Owners | Microsoft Occupational Health and Safety |
Revision date | September 8, 2025 |
The controlled version of this document can be found on the Global OHS website at aka.ms/SafetyHubPrograms. Printed copies may be out of date and should be destroyed or marked as archived immediately after use.
Microsoft is committed to fostering employee mental health and wellbeing by conducting mandatory psychosocial risk assessments and taking responsibility for managing psychosocial risks in the workplace. Psychosocial risk assessments must be integrated into broader business processes, and leadership and employee participation is crucial in promoting a culture of wellbeing.
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Purpose
The purpose of this document is to summarize Microsoft systems and processes that meet global regulatory and legislative requirements to conduct a psychosocial risk assessment within our workforce.
Scope
For the purpose of assessing regulatory and legislative requirements around psychosocial risk assessments, Microsoft is leveraging the ISO 45003 Standard: 2021 Occupational health and safety management—Psychological health and safety at work—Guidelines for managing psychosocial risks as the comparative assessment framework.
Summary of 45003 standard
The ISO 45003 standard provides guidance on the management of psychosocial risks and promoting wellbeing at work, as part of an occupational health and safety (OHS) management system. Please note, ISO 45003 does not require employers to assess wellbeing outcomes such as stress, anxiety, depression, wellbeing, and mental health status of our employees. Rather by assessing occupational hazards and developing action plans to improve these areas, it is assumed Microsoft is contributing to a workplace that is promoting wellbeing. The most important factor is that the assessment of psychosocial risk is completed in a manner that is consistent with other OHS risks, and integrated into the organization's broader business processes. In addition, it is critical that employees participate in the process of managing psychosocial risks.
The context of psychosocial factors in the workplace is rooted in the impact of external and internal issues and the needs of employees. Examples of these include:
| External issues | Internal issues | Needs of employees |
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The key areas associated with psychosocial risk in the workplace are 1) how aspects of work are organized, 2) social factors at work, and 3) work environment, equipment, and hazardous tasks. By assessing these areas, Microsoft is helping gain an understanding of the contributing workplace factors in promoting wellbeing at work. Below are examples provided by ISO 45003 that can be assessed during a psychosocial risk assessment. The ISOS 450003 standard provides these as examples rather than prescriptions. It is up to each employer to customize their assessment based on workplace risks.
| Aspects of how work is organized | Social factors at work | Work environment, equipment, and hazardous tasks |
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Leadership commitment to Microsoft's culture of wellbeing
Microsoft's senior leadership and board of directors have prioritized this topic and as such have invested in mental health in several areas over the past several years. Microsoft is deeply committed to supporting the mental and emotional wellbeing of our employees and their families as an indispensable element of our holistic wellbeing approach.
At Microsoft, we believe that leadership is important at all levels of the company and we empower managers and employees to continually strive to achieve our "aspire to" culture by focusing on our core values: Respect, Integrity, and Accountability. Our managers are expected to deliver success through empowerment and accountability by modeling, coaching, and caring. Our manager expectations reflect valuing each person for who they are and what they bring. We provide ongoing manager training to help each manager succeed in supporting their team while helping them connect their purpose to the company's mission.
In terms of board governance, the board and the compensation committee engage with senior management, including human resources executives, across a broad range of human capital management topics. Management prepares and reviews with the board a variety of materials on wellness-related topics including culture, benefits, employee retention, and diversity and inclusion.
Senior leaders at Microsoft regularly and publicly discuss workplace mental health. They do so internally via team- and organization-focused communication channels, and externally on LinkedIn and in the media with a specific focus on good-work principles and wellbeing.
Manager accountability
Everyone has a right and responsibility to report concerns and make Microsoft a great place to work. Managers have a special responsibility to listen and act when someone reports a concern to them. See Raising Integrity Concerns for more information about the role of the manager. In addition, Microsoft managers are required to take Manager Excellence training, which addresses their role in creating a psychologically safe environment.
Workplace concerns at Microsoft
Each employee at Microsoft plays a role in ensuring that the culture we seek matches the day-to-day realities employees experience. It's important that employees report experiences that fall short of our aspiration, or are outside our business conduct and workplace policies.
Microsoft is committed to providing a work environment consistent with the company's values and policies. Microsoft takes workplace concerns seriously.
Reporting options
Anonymous reporting is available at the Microsoft Integrity site via our third-party hotline provider. This option allows employees to remain anonymous and still work with our Integrity Team to provide the information needed to ensure a fair, thorough, and timely investigation.
Types of concerns
Experiences that fall short of our aspiration, or are outside our business conduct and workplace policies, are concerns. Here are some examples:
Inappropriate behavior
If an employee experiences or observes behavior in our workplace that falls short of the diverse and inclusive culture we are striving to create, we want to hear from employees.
Harassment or discrimination
Our policy on Harassment and Discrimination is very clear: it won't be tolerated. If employees have experienced or witnessed harassment or discrimination, employees should report the concern to the team they are most comfortable with.
Business conduct and compliance
Microsoft's commitment to our values and a diverse and inclusive culture requires that the way we behave and treat each other are characterized by respect and integrity. Employees should speak up by telling Microsoft if they are aware of or have a concern about compliance with our Standards of Business Conduct, programs, or the law. The Microsoft Integrity site provides more information on reporting business conduct and integrity concerns.
Security intelligence monitoring
Microsoft continually monitors external and internal threats of violence through our Security Intelligence Monitoring. When a threat is identified it is triaged and reviewed by a team of security experts.
Thriving at Microsoft
A key north star at Microsoft is that our employees thrive at work. To thrive is to be energized and empowered to do meaningful work. Microsoft regularly communicates to our employees about thriving, leveraging our Essentials campaign to help promote awareness of resources via company-wide emails that put our wellbeing Benefits into the context of daily work and make the conversation of what is truly essential in balancing work and life an ongoing one with employees.
In addition, we tackle taboo topics through our semiannual global mental health campaigns that address mental health topics straight on, including tough topics such as depression, anxiety, and suicide. We established a company-wide “It’s OK to not be OK” campaign and built awareness about resources for support.
Although we have invested in this work internally, we have also worked to advance the agenda of destigmatizing and addressing mental health more broadly. In the fall of 2019, we joined the US Department of Veteran Affairs and the Hiring our Heroes program with about 50 other companies to create a Pledge for Public and Private Sector Employers, memorializing our commitment to prioritize mental health and emotional wellbeing in the workplace. As part of this group, we helped create and contributed to building the Practical Guide for Employers on Wellbeing in the Workplace.
Microsoft signed the 2022 Thrive Global #MentalHealthPledge to commit to continue prioritizing the wellbeing and mental health of our employees through uncertain times. Microsoft has also engaged with external experts on challenging but critical conversations around important topics, including mental health. As one example, we hosted Dr. Kayla Follmer for an incisive conversation on mental health in the workplace. This session can be viewed on Microsoft’s Inclusion Journey website.
Wellbeing and mental health resources at Microsoft
Over the past several years, Microsoft has increased our investment in several wellbeing and mental health resources. A few key highlights include:
- Invested in global wellbeing programs called Wellbeing @ Microsoft. Accessible to all employees globally, Wellbeing @ Microsoft is a holistic offering focused on employees’ physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing. Employees can access resources on managing stress and anxiety.
- Expanded our Employee Assistance Program services globally and increased our free annual counseling sessions to 24 per year, an increase of 3 to 12 sessions depending on the country. Employees can also access unlimited coaching on a range of wellbeing topics via this program.
- Added new global mental health benefits such as Headspace, Happify, and Talkspace (US only), and offer monthly global webinars on different mental health topics. We have had over 40,000 employees engage with at least one of these programs so far.
- Started a Global Wellbeing champion employee group, which currently has about 350 employee members who meet monthly with the goal of influencing wellbeing within their business groups.
- Partnered with Heart on My Sleeve and Armour Limited to create and launch Real Conversations About Mental Health for all global employees, as well as a Manager Stories segment. The training has been taken by more than 2,500 employees, enabling them to take a deeper dive into how to ask for help, and how to respond in the role of supporter.
- Demonstrated thought leadership and investment in employees' experience with our new Microsoft Viva product that focuses on the wellbeing of employees, including features to help plan focus time, use Headspace during the workday, plan for breaks, and more.
Microsoft Health and Safety Risk Assessments
Microsoft’s risk assessment process is governed by our OHS Management System. The Global OHS Team continuously identifies and evaluates health and safety risks and opportunities. This dynamic process is integrated with Microsoft´s evolving OHS strategy and is supported by rigorous documentation, real-time monitoring, and periodic evaluation through the Variation Request, Management of Change, and Management Review processes.
Microsoft maintains a formal Risk Assessment program that meets compliance expectations and internal standards. This program systematically identifies, assesses, and controls potential hazards and undesired events across all operations.
Risk assessments for Microsoft employee tasks must be conducted by qualified individuals with expertise in hazard identification and control selection. Suppliers are responsible for conducting their own risk assessments in accordance with their internal systems while ensuring alignment with Microsoft’s expectations.
All risk assessments must be documented, reviewed, and updated periodically—or immediately when operational changes introduce new hazards. If an incident investigation reveals an unassessed hazard, the relevant risk assessment must be revised accordingly.
Risk management outcomes, including control effectiveness, incident trends, and audit findings, are monitored through performance indicators and dashboards. These data insights inform strategic decisions and drive continuous improvement.
Psychosocial risks at Microsoft
Due to the nature of our work at Microsoft, psychosocial risks have been identified as an inherent risk present for our employees.
Microsoft systems and processes aligned to ISO 45003 standard. One of the main ways that Microsoft assesses psychosocial risks in the workplace is through our Employee Listening system, a fundamental part of Microsoft’s culture with the overwhelming majority of employees participating throughout the year.
Employee Listening
Microsoft’s Employee Listening system’s mission is to empower the people who empower the planet by driving continuous progress in making Microsoft an exceptional place to work and supporting an evolving culture with a growth mindset. The purpose of the Employee Listening system is to:
Engage employees
Support agency and voice for employees, explore topics that matter in the moments that matter, empower employees to share opportunities for improvement across their teams, and help their managers and leaders learn and grow.
Empower managers
Provide actionable content and clear insights to support conversations and change—while building on manager capabilities—and bring teams together to shape the employee experience. Help managers identify strengths and developmental opportunities to model, coach, and care.
Enable leaders
Offer more frequent visibility into org-level needs to support prioritization and decision-making, and to help leaders identify strengths and developmental opportunities to build capability.
Enlighten HR
Further support opportunities to develop great leaders and managers and address issues in the work environment and culture with richer, more focused insights.
Employee Listening is made of several various methodologies to understand the current environment at Microsoft. The main listening systems include Employee Signals, Manager and Leader Signals, and Daily Signals.
Employee Signals
Employee Signals is a short, focused survey, administered twice a year and designed to generate insights, learning, and action to help employees thrive. The survey offers employees ongoing opportunities to share what's on their mind, and signals how we can take action at all levels, from the immediate team to the broader organization.
Employee Signals provides clear insights to help employees thrive, giving employees the opportunity to share general sentiments about their leaders, managers, and culture at Microsoft. Managers receive actionable results from Employee Signals along with guidance on where to focus efforts to make the greatest impact on their team's experience. Managers facilitate team-level conversations and engage employees in a discussion of insights and actions for improvement.
In addition to the scaled questions, employees are given the opportunity to provide comments for each question section. These comments are provided to managers with more than 10 employees.
Other surveys as part of Employee Listening
Employee Listening also includes Daily Signals, Manager and Leader Signals, Onboarding Survey, Internal Mobility Survey, Exit Survey, business-specific surveys, and data from Microsoft 365.
Daily Signals
Daily Signals is a daily sample-based survey. Each employee receives an invitation on an average of three to four times a year. The purpose is to inform our policies and drive change at organizational levels to improve the employee experience at Microsoft. In addition, Daily Signals helps senior leaders and Microsoft monitor employee feedback about the culture, climate, and employee experience within their organization and at Microsoft. This enables Microsoft to track progress over time and assess whether employee sentiment has changed.
Manager and Leader Signals
Asking for and learning from feedback is one way we activate a growth mindset. Managers and leaders benefit from regular feedback to understand how they are doing in their role and to help them learn and grow. Applying insights gained from feedback enables managers and leaders to bring out the best in their people and deliver success for their teams and the organization.
Manager and Leader Signals provides behavioral feedback—grounded in Microsoft's Manager Expectations and Leadership Principles—to help managers and leaders identify strengths and opportunities for development.
Onboarding Survey
The Microsoft Global Onboarding Survey is an online survey of the newly hired Microsoft employees intended to obtain valuable information about the employee onboarding experience. The purpose of the Global Onboarding Survey is to develop an understanding about the effectiveness of onboarding at Microsoft and the actions that could improve it.
Internal Mobility Survey
The Microsoft Global Internal Mobility Survey is an online survey of employees who transfer within Microsoft. The employees who transferred internally are invited to take the survey 90 days after their transfer date. The purpose of the Microsoft Global Internal Mobility Survey is to learn more about employees' perceptions of and experiences of transferring within Microsoft to inform our policies, practices, and guidance for these transitions.
Exit Survey
The Microsoft Global Exit Survey is an online survey of full-time employees who choose to leave Microsoft voluntarily. The purpose of the Microsoft Global Exit Survey is to develop an understanding of the reasons employees decide to voluntarily leave Microsoft, where they go, and the actions that could be taken to reduce future voluntary turnover. This survey is intended to obtain valuable information about the employee experience at Microsoft.
Business-level surveys and data points
A specific business within Microsoft also might choose to conduct research via a topic-specific survey to assess the total ecosystem. Data from Microsoft 365 might also inform psychosocial risks. For example, this might include analysis of productivity, work patterns, high/low demand times, etc.
Employee Listening methodologies
Questions used within the Employee Listening System are customized based on industrial-organizational psychology benchmarking, the needs of Microsoft, and also innovative research to design questions that most accurately reflect Microsoft as an organization. The Employee Listening surveys design team comprises subject-matter experts in industrial-organizational psychology. They assess survey results and conduct research regularly to continually improve the Employee Listening process. A general overview of the psychometrics process the Employee Listening team employs is as follows:
Develop/write items (in partnership with stakeholders) using scientific/psychometrics best practices (e.g. making sure items aren't double-barreled, ensuring referents are clear, etc.).
Pilot items as the research content and run analysis to understand item performance
Read the comments for each question to see if how employees interpreted the question matches what was intended to be measured
Run focus groups to get an extensive understanding of how employees think about what we ask in the survey (e.g. Employee Signals)
Run a correlation matrix to see if any items are redundant
Run exploratory factor analysis to understand how many latent constructs the items measure
Run confirmatory factor analysis to see how well items load/cross-load on each factor
Run a random forest model to see what items and how well they predict each of the three outcome items, including the demographic variables
Run a relative weights model to cross-validate the random forest model and percentage variance explained for each item
Continually run criterion-related validity analyses after survey administrations
Examples of Employee Listening mapping to ISO 45003 example risk assessment areas
| ISO 45003 Psychosocial Risk Areas | Employee Listening Dimension | Employee Listening Question (Comparison against October 2022 as way of example for legal analysis. Note Employee Signals changes each year based current company climate.) |
Job Control/Autonomy Job Demands | Thriving | I am empowered to do my best work. The work I am doing is meaningful to me. Given my current situation, I feel like I am able to remain productive at work. I have the opportunity to regularly learn new knowledge and skills (e.g. from my colleagues, work experiences, or learning resources). |
Role and Expectations
| Teaming
| The members of my team share a clear, common understanding of our top priorities. |
| Interpersonal Relationships | Global Diversity & Inclusion Collaboration | I see my coworkers make an effort to understand, empathize, and act in support of others in my workplace. I feel included in my team. I understand what is expected of me on a daily basis to contribute to a more diverse and inclusive environment at Microsoft. My team is effective at collaborating with other teams. Daily Signals: I am satisfied with the quality of connection I have with my coworkers. |
| Organizational/ Workgroup Culture | Culture | My team supports one another in making changes to improve our culture. In my team, we speak openly and honestly with one another, even when the message may be difficult. Daily Signals: I'm seeing evidence of positive change in Microsoft's workplace culture. Daily Signals: MSFT's Senior Leadership team give employees a clear picture of the direction in which MSFT is headed. |
| Leadership | Leadership | I have confidence in the overall effectiveness of my organization's leaders (Reports to level 2 and their direct reports). I get the level of information I need from my organization's leaders (Reports to level 2 and their direct reports). Daily Signals: I have confidence in the overall effectiveness of my organization's leaders (my Reports to Email Level 1 and their directs). |
| Career Development | Career | Overall, I feel that my career goals can be met at Microsoft. My job makes good use of my skills and abilities. In the next year, I expect to have experiences that will be valuable in meeting my career goals. |
| Supervision | Manager Excellence | I have confidence in the overall effectiveness of my immediate manager [manager name]. My manager [manager name] takes action to help me meet my career goals. Employee Signals research survey: My manager [manager name] treats employees with respect and dignity. I receive feedback from my manager. |
Civility and Respect
| Voice | The members of my team share a clear, common understanding of our top priorities. There is a climate of trust within my team. Daily Signals: I see my coworkers make an effort to understand, empathize, and act in support of others in my workplace. |
| Work-Life Balance | Work-Life Balance | I am satisfied with the balance between my work and personal life. |
| Recognition and Reward | Performance/Deal | I have a good deal at Microsoft (i.e. there is a reasonable balance between what I contribute to Microsoft and what I get in return). I feel recognized when I do good work. |
| Workload and Work Pace |
| Daily Signals: Microsoft values and promotes flexible work approaches that allow me to work the way I work best. Assessed through open-ended comments on Employee Listening. |
| Job Security and Precarious Work |
| Assessed through open-ended comments on Employee Listening. |
| Support/Training | Learning and Development | I can easily find learning resources relevant to me. I have sufficient time for work-related learning. My organization prioritizes my learning as critical to our business success. |
| Working Hours and Schedule | Hybrid | I feel supported to work in the way that is best for me in terms of when and where I work (e.g. work hours, geographic location, working on site or from home). I am confident in my team's ability to work together effectively despite when and where we physically work. |
Workplace Violence/Harassment | Daily Signals: I know how to report ethical concerns and the potential violations of the standards of business conduct. At Microsoft, we hold team members accountable for unethical behavior. |
Other ways for assessing psychosocial risk factors at Microsoft
Microsoft leverages supplemental processes to continually assess psychosocial risks in the workplace. These additional methodologies include reporting of workplace concerns through our open-door policy, security intelligence monitoring, anti-harassment and anti-discrimination open door policy and OHS policy, job risk assessments, exposure monitoring, medical surveillance, and emergency preparedness.
Workplace concerns at Microsoft
Microsoft is committed to providing a work environment consistent with the company's values and policies. Microsoft takes workplace concerns seriously.
Reporting options
Microsoft strongly supports an open door policy (FTE only) for resolving problems quickly and fairly. You should choose whichever reporting option you are most comfortable using:
Speak to manager, skip-level manager, or any Microsoft manager OR
Request to speak to an HR Manager through AskHR OR
Report to the Workplace Investigations Team (WIT) (formerly the Employee Relations Investigations Team) OR
Submit a report on the Microsoft Integrity site.
Anonymous reporting is available at the Microsoft Integrity site via our third-party hotline provider. This option allows employees to remain anonymous and still work with our Integrity Team to provide the information needed to ensure a fair, thorough, and timely investigation.
Types of concerns
Experiences that fall short of our aspiration, or are outside our business conduct and workplace policies (FTE only), are concerns. Here are some examples:
Inappropriate behavior
If an employee experiences or observes behavior in our workplace that falls short of the diverse and inclusive culture we are striving to create, we want to hear from employees.
Harassment or discrimination
Our policy on Harassment and Discrimination (FTE only) is very clear: it won't be tolerated. If employees have experienced or witnessed harassment or discrimination, employees should report the concern to the team they are most comfortable with.
Business conduct and compliance
Microsoft's commitment to our values and a diverse and inclusive culture requires that the way we behave and treat each other are characterized by respect and integrity. Employees should speak up by telling Microsoft (FTE only) if they are aware of or have a concern about compliance with our Standards of Business Conduct, policies, or the law. The Microsoft Integrity site provides more information on reporting business conduct and integrity concerns.
Security intelligence monitoring
Microsoft continually monitors external and internal threats of violence through our Security Intelligence Monitoring. When a threat is identified it is triaged and reviewed by a team of security experts.
Anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy
Microsoft has an anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy (FTE only). Complaints of harassment or discrimination can be promptly reported in accordance with the Open Door Policy (FTE only).
OHS policy, risk assessments, monitoring, and surveillance
Microsoft Occupational Health and Safety Program is a systematic approach to preventing workplace injuries and illnesses through risk assessment, hazard controls, and worker training. The written programs define the minimum compliance expectations for equipment, materials, and job duties specific to Microsoft worksites. These programs are incorporated into local plans to address specific work that occurs in that business.
Occupational Health and Safety Program (FTE only)
Emergency preparedness and response
Microsoft's policy is to provide a safe and secure work environment. In such an environment, employees, contingent staff, and vendors can work creatively and productively, while being prepared to act quickly and decisively at the time of an emergency. The building Emergency Response Plan (ERP) is part of a comprehensive and fully integrated emergency management program designed to provide a safe and secure work environment. The plan is updated and maintained by Microsoft Emergency Management in conjunction with Microsoft Real Estate and Security. Microsoft's ERP plan includes key information from the building ERP, including contact information and instructions for responding to a wide range of potential emergency situations. The plan provides emergency preparedness and response information including instructions and guidelines to protect the safety and wellbeing of employees, contingent staff, vendors, and visitors who may be on the premises at the time of an emergency. The plan addresses common emergency situations, such as medical emergencies and power outages, as well as potential natural, technological, or human-induced disasters that may occur in each region. The building ERP applies to all Microsoft-owned and leased facilities.
Procurement, contracting, and outsourcing at Microsoft
Microsoft includes in our supplier code of conduct accountability of health and safety to our contractors.
Microsoft Suppliers are required to develop and implement health and safety management practices in all aspects of their business. Without limitation, Suppliers must: a. Ensure compliance with all applicable occupational health and safety laws and regulations, including but not limited to requirements that address occupational safety, emergency preparedness, occupational injury and illness prevention, industrial hygiene, physically demanding work, ergonomics, machine safeguarding, sanitation, food, and housing and provide compliance evidence upon Microsoft request. b. Provide a safe and healthy work environment for all employees, take action to manage and minimize the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment, and implement controls to protect sensitive populations. c. Establish an occupational health and safety management system that, at a minimum, demonstrates that health and safety management is integral to the business, allows for leadership and encourages employee participation to set policy, roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities, provides for risk and hazard identification and assessment, and provides appropriate communication channels for employee access to health and safety information. This management system must include procedures and processes to address incident recordkeeping, investigation, correction action, and continual improvement. d. Prohibit the use, possession, distribution, or sale of illegal drugs.
Manager and leadership review and action plan development
At Microsoft we learn, live, and share our Culture. More can be found at Culture (Microsoft internal only). Our Cultural values are respect, integrity, and accountability.
We gather employee and manager feedback through a variety of listening systems to improve the employee experience: Daily Signals, a daily survey sent to select employees each day; Employee Signals, an employee experience survey administered twice per year; Employee Listening Systems, which include Manager and Leader Signals and Perspectives; AskHR; Viva Insights; Yammer; focus groups; 1:1 conversations; Q&A themes; and more. These systems provide us with rich insights to understand where we can improve. These insights are invaluable on many issues and help inform our approach to efforts like hybrid workplace flexibility and our ongoing commitments to diversity and inclusion.
We're also grateful to the employees who lead and engage in nine Microsoft's Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to build community and promote awareness and inclusion worldwide through regional chapters. These groups provide support across a range of identities and help employees connect across the company. The ERGs also help us identify opportunities where we can work to drive systemic change and help us ensure that our work stays connected to the needs of the communities our company represents.
Microsoft Managers and leaders are expected to engage their teams and organizations in discussions of Employee Listening results and actions. Microsoft follows the Reflect, Discuss, and Act framework as steps for teams to take action on improving the organizational culture and reduce psychosocial risk factors in the workplace.
Reflect
After the survey closes, report-eligible managers (those with five or more responses from their team) can access the Employee Signals reporting portal in Glint. Responses from these teams will get rolled up to the next manager in the organization. In the Glint reporting portal managers can view their results on all Employee Signals items, begin to look for trends and notable findings, and gain a general sense of team sentiment. From the reporting portal, managers can also access and download a Team Conversation Guide (FTE only) for help planning for and discussing results and next steps with their team. Managers without access to their own team's results should coordinate with their manager on an approach to sharing and discussing results and actions for the team.
Discuss
At the team level: During the team discussion of Employee Signals insights, managers should share the results with their team. Leveraging the Team Conversation Guide, managers should facilitate a discussion to help the team discover strengths and opportunities.
The specific logistics and timing of the conversation are dependent upon team size and geographic distribution—with consideration for the hybrid workplace—but should ideally take place within two to three weeks of the release of Employee Signals results.
At the organizational level: Leveraging the Org Results Template (FTE only), found in Glint and HRweb, leaders can share a summary with their organization. They should also use the results to have discussions with their leadership teams and use insights to shape and adjust people initiatives and strategy.
Act
At the team level: Within the Employee Signals reporting portal in Glint, Microsoft-curated actions and resources are available for each survey item. During the team conversation, the manager and team discuss areas to focus on, then brainstorm possible solutions—leveraging these Microsoft-curated suggested actions as appropriate.
The team should identify one to two actions to collectively shape improvements to their experience. When trying to learn or grow, making a couple of small adjustments frequently is more effective than trying to make a big change all at once. The manager, on behalf of the team, can then enter the actions the team commits to in the portal. The manager has the option to make that visible at different layers within the organization. We encourage periodic check-ins on the team's progress.
At the organizational level: Leaders should have discussions with their leadership team on what organizational-level actions they can commit to. Leaders should share any org-level actions with their organization.
Over the next five to six months the manager and team should follow through on taking the actions they committed to, checking in with one another as needed. At the next Employee Signals administration, the team should come together again to review progress on the focus areas, discuss what they learned based on previous actions and new insights from the survey, and determine new actions or appropriate adjustments to existing actions. Leaders and their leadership teams should implement the actions they committed to and provide updates on progress to the organizations.
Microsoft all-up results are also available on HRweb (FTE only) and could be available for an auditor if needed. (Microsoft internal only)
Work organization and social control measures at Microsoft
Managers and their teams can refer to the following resources for many work and social control measures at Microsoft:
Career development items: For additional information and available resources, see Employee Career and Development SharePoint.
Learning items: The learning questions were developed, in part, based on the Microsoft Learning Strategy Whitepaper three strategic pillars: Foster a Learning Culture, Build Capability and Empower Learners, and Fuel Innovation and Growth.
Inclusion items: For help building inclusive behaviors and practices, see Awareness, Curiosity, and Courage; Core Priority for D&I (FTE only); The Neuroscience of Smarter Teams; Allyship at Microsoft; and D&I Learning Path for managers.
Hybrid and work-life flexibility items: Learn more about Hybrid workplace and flexibility with Flexibility at Microsoft and Hybrid Workplace Flexibility Guide (FTE only).
Culture items: Learn more about Microsoft's culture.
Management Excellence items: For curated resources supporting model, coach, and care, see Management Excellence at Microsoft, Microsoft's Core Priority for all Managers, and Management Development.
Changing how we work helps change the company. One of the ways Microsoft facilitates change is in our approach to performance and development (P&D). With a mission as ambitious as ours—empowering every person and business on the planet to achieve more—it is important that we share an understanding of how each of us individually, and all of us collectively can play a part in advancing our bold ambitions and reaching our goals.
Perhaps the most important driver of our success is culture—who we are, who we aspire to be, and how we work together. We fundamentally believe that we need a culture founded in a growth mindset. This starts with a belief that everyone can grow and develop; that potential is nurtured, not predetermined; and that anyone can change their mindset.
We need to be always learning and insatiably curious. We need to be willing to lean into uncertainty, take risks, and move quickly when we make mistakes, recognizing that failure happens along the way to mastery. We need to actively seek feedback, new ideas, and fresh perspectives from those different from ourselves. Applying a growth mindset to our work every day, seeking feedback, and iterating allow us to see our impact over time and the difference we are making above and beyond a list of activities. It is through this lens that we can measure our success and support development for our employees.
The objectives of our approach to performance and development are:
Drive impact-oriented collaboration that seeks diverse perspectives and ideas, ultimately making a difference for our customers.
Provide timely, actionable feedback that enables each employee to learn, adjust, grow, and deliver increasingly greater impact.
Create mutual accountability for driving team, business, and customer results.
Reinforce a high-performing and transforming organization.
Provide top rewards to those who contribute the greatest business impact.
Performance and development at Microsoft is ongoing and brought to life through the following:
Feedback: Getting informal/formal feedback from a variety of sources to help activate a growth mindset. Ask for and provide perspectives throughout the year.
Connects: Having Connect discussions with your manager to discuss your impact for the past period, what you're learning and applying to deliver great impact and your priorities going forward.
1:1s: Having frequent discussions throughout the year with your manager to discuss progress against key deliverables, learning and how you're applying it, interests and areas of curiosity, and the priorities going forward.
Promotions: are one way we recognize and invest in your development and your career. They are an increase in level that can happen when the scope and responsibilities of your current role expand or when you take on a different role at a higher level. Learn more: Promotions
Annual Rewards: are one way that we recognize impact. At the end of each fiscal year, your manager determines your impact and recommends rewards, which can include merit, bonus, and stock (based on eligibility). Learn more: Annual Rewards
Monitoring, measurement, analysis, and evaluation of psychosocial risk at Microsoft
Microsoft continually monitors and measures our progress to achieving our "aspire to" culture. For example, over the past few years, Microsoft implemented six key focus areas to address necessary improvements to advance our culture and provide all employees of all identities with greater information. These workstreams span behavior, workplace investigation outcomes, manager expectations, rewards and promotion accountability, representation and pay transparency, and the hybrid workplace. Continuing our commitment to our employees to advance our culture (Microsoft internal only) page gives Microsoft employees a central resource for a range of actions and progress focused on commitments toward our employees, including representation, equal pay, workplace investigations, and other areas. Continuous improvement is a core part of building's Microsoft Culture. Microsoft looks across the various data sources (employee listening systems, program evaluation, incident reports, audits, etc.) to understand areas of improvement and address within the organization.
Country-specific regulations
| Country | Regulation | Description |
| Australia | Psychosocial hazards | Safe Work Australia | Psychosocial hazards: under the model WHS laws, a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) must manage the risk of psychosocial hazards in the workplace. |
| Canada | (COHSR) Part XIX Section 19.1 | Requires employers to "develop, implement, and monitor a program for the prevention of hazards" that includes the following components:
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| Germany | The Occupational Health and Safety Act (Arbeitsschutzgesetz) requires employers to identify necessary occupational health and safety (OHS) intervention based on an assessment of working conditions (cf. section 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act). | Employers must measure the psychological hazards of workplaces or working conditions. In addition, measures must be derived and their effectiveness verified. |
| Belgium | In Belgium, the Act of 4 August 1996 on the wellbeing of workers in the performance of their work is the basic law in the field of health and safety at work. The Act explicitly refers to psychosocial aspects of work as one of the 7 domains of wellbeing at work (Article 4, Section 1, paragraph 2, 3°) | The Risk Assessment should include:
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| Ireland | Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act; Safety, Health, and Welfare at Work Regulations; Industrial Relations Act; Unfair Dismissal Acts; Employment Equality Acts; 19 published codes of practice; Standards for Occupational Health Services. | Legal and policy context relating to occupational health services (OHS), psychosocial risks, and mental health at work. |
| United Kingdom | Health and Safety at Work Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969; Workplace (Health, Safety, and Welfare) Regulations 1992; Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996; Reporting of Injuries, Diseases, and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 2013; Equality Act 2010; Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs); Management Standards for Work-Related Stress; Guidance standard on psychosocial risk management in the workplace–PAS1010. | Legal and policy context relating to occupational health services (OHS), psychosocial risks, and mental health at work. |
| Chile | Resolution N° 1448 exempt; updates protocol for monitoring psychosocial risks at work and leaves without effect Resolution N° 1433 exempt, of 2017, of the Ministry of Health. |
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| Colombia | https://www.fondoriesgoslaborales.gov.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Resolucion-2764.pdf Article 4. Battery of Instruments for the Evaluation of Psychosocial Risk Factors. The battery consists of a set of instruments that establishes the presence or absence of psychosocial risk factors in the workplace and outside the workplace, as well as the effects on the health of workers or on the work, as follows: 1. Battery instruments for the evaluation of psychosocial risk. The instruments that make up the battery and that must be used for the periodic evaluations of the psychosocial risk factors are the following: 1.1. Questionnaire on psychosocial risk factors in the workplace. 1.2. Questionnaire on psychosocial risk factors outside the workplace. 1.3. Questionnaire for the evaluation of stress. 1.4. General data sheet (sociodemographic and occupational). The application of the questionnaires must be carried out guaranteeing the reservation and confidentiality of the information, following the instructions and conditions established in the user manuals of each of the questionnaires of the battery. No modifications can be made to the form or content of these questionnaires as they would affect the validity and reliability of the instruments. |
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| Multiple Countries | https://www.lenus.ie/bitstream/handle/10147/631153/ijerph-18-03632.pdf?sequence=1 | Summarizes regulations for 12 countries. |
Other resources
European Agency for Safety and Health at work: Psychosocial risks and stress at work
Document revision history
| Revision Letter | Revision Date | Section & Page | Summary of Changes | Author/Approver |
| 1 | October 4, 2023 |
| Draft document | Colleen Daly |
| 2 | February 14, 2024 |
| Document publication | Colleen Daly |
| 3 | January 17, 2025 |
| Copy edit changes | Colleen Daly |
Appendix A: Sample Employee Communication
