Industrial-organisational psychologists’ evolving role in workplace counselling: a cross-temporal qualitative study in South Africa (2023–2024)

Abstract

Orientation: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic reshaped workplace dynamics, intensifying employee mental health needs and expanding the counselling-related responsibilities of industrial-organisational psychologists (IOPs) in South Africa, despite evidence of limited preparedness. Research purpose: This study explored how IOP professional practice in workplace counselling shifted during the post-acute and later post-pandemic periods, examining role evolution through the job demands–resources (JD-R) framework and a capability lens. Motivation for the study: Prior research found that IOPs were underprepared for heightened counselling demands during COVID-19. This study investigated how counselling practices, boundaries and training needs evolved between 2023 and 2024. Research approach/design and method: A cross-temporal qualitative design with phenomenological elements was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 registered South African IOPs (n = 10 in 2023; n = 14 in 2024), recruited through convenience and snowball sampling. Data were analysed thematically and compared across cohorts. Main findings: Four themes emerged: sustained counselling demand with expanded expectations and ongoing role ambiguity; a shift from acute pandemic distress to chronic strain (e.g. burnout, digital fatigue, adjustment challenges); integration of counselling into organisational practices through culture-building and hybrid modalities and continued development needs, particularly supervised exposure and clearer ethical boundaries. Comparison indicated greater normalisation of counselling work in 2024 alongside persistent competence concerns. Practical/managerial implications: Findings indicate sustained expansion of IOP counselling work, underscoring the need for curriculum reform, supervised training pathways, stronger referral networks and clearer professional guidance to ensure ethically bounded, adaptable counselling capability. Contribution/value-add: This study offers novel cross-temporal evidence of how IOPs’ workplace counselling role shifted and normalised between 2023 and 2024, and advances theory by combining the job demands–resources model with a capability lens to distinguish demand–resource imbalance from the institutional conditions that constrain ethical, competent practice.