Making Managers’ Jobs Easier & More Rewarding with Trauma Informed Workplaces
What if I told you 70% of your employees are showing up to work with something that makes managers’ jobs even harder?
You’d really want to know what that is and I don’t blame you.
Managers’ jobs are already very difficult. They were difficult before the pandemic, but now with changing expectations from both employees and leaders- often in direct opposition (I’m sure you’ve seen those articles about the ‘battles’ on WFH and Hybrid work), a manager’s job is harder than it’s ever been.
On top of all of that, 70% of US-based adults self-identify as having experienced one or more traumatic events in their lives, according to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. So, your managers are also dealing with the challenges of how trauma shows up at work.
According to the 2023 Gallup State of the Global Workplace report, 56% of managers reported feeling a lot of daily stress and only 34% are thriving at work. Mountains of data point to managers having the greatest impact on an employee’s experience at work, their likelihood to be engaged, and whether they stay or exit the organization. Yet, the data also shows that managers are also struggling.
Managers need better resources and tools to do their jobs supporting their teams and also better tools and resources to better support themselves.
A lot of great resources and training programs already exist to support managers, but they are often focused on specific areas or milestones of the management role rather than being all-encompassing. So managers may have all this disparate training and tools to try to manage and work through to cobble together the best version of manager that they can be.
What is often missing is a foundation to build their management style- to make it their own, but still leverage best practices and tools that make sense for them and their teams. The key to creating this foundation is trauma informed workplace cultures.
What is a Trauma Informed Workplace Culture?
Trauma informed cultures center supportive, informed environments where everyone has the opportunity to be successful. It prioritizes eliminating workplace trauma and actively avoids re-traumatizing survivors.
It is important to note that Trauma Informed Cultures DO NOT seek to diagnose or treat trauma. Nor should there be an expectation that individuals are under any obligation to share their traumatic experiences.
I’ve interpreted the Trauma Informed Care Principles developed by SAMHSA in 2014 to focus on application to all organizations and a focus on internal culture versus a client-focused approached.
At the core of Trauma Informed Culture are seven principles that help ensure supportive environments for all members of the team- regardless of their experience with Trauma.
The Seven Principles of Trauma Informed Workplace Cultures
At a high level, these principles are as follows. You can also learn more about each principle in depth by clicking the article linked to each.
Safety is the foundation of a trauma informed culture; because when we are unsafe, it’s hard to be focused on much else. As we look at Safety in the context of trauma informed workplaces, it is best represented by a three-legged stool. Safety is built by the three legs of physical safety, psychological safety, and financial safety. If any of the three are missing or damaged- your stool won’t work and you won’t be able to build a robust, trauma informed culture on it.
Trust exists within various relationships and to build a trauma informed culture, you must seek to build trust at every level within the organization- peer to peer, within a team, employee to manager, team to leader, among teams, and for the organization as a whole.
Transparency is an excellent tool to build trust. Sharing information in and open, candid and frequent way with your team helps them understand what is going on in the organization and helps them better connect their roles to the company overall.
A strong, supportive community can buffer against the negative effects of trauma. When individuals have access to supportive relationships, such as family, friends, trusted co-workers, or community groups, they are more likely to receive emotional support, understanding, and validation. Connecting with others who have gone through similar experiences can make you feel understood and realize your reactions and emotions are valid. A supportive community can also be pivotal in rebuilding trust.
In the context of the workplace, community refers to a sense of belonging, connection, and mutual support among employees within the organization. It is a collective identity that extends beyond individual roles and departments, and many communities exist within a single organization.
Collaboration is key to a trauma informed culture, tackling the challenge of power imbalances and how those imbalances can be misused to harm or traumatize others. By acknowledging and addressing power, you create a much better environment for everyone on your team.
Because a feeling of lack of control or helplessness can be so tied to trauma, empowerment is one of the most important principles in creating a trauma informed workplace culture.
Empowerment in the context of a trauma informed workplace is about more than choice, it is also about environments where individuals feel valued and that they are making a meaningful contribution. For that reason, we examine the concept of empowerment in a trauma informed culture in four distinct parts- choice, strengths leveraged, recognition, and growth.
Imperfection is unavoidable, in trauma informed cultures, the key is to recognize this with humility and respond in a meaningful way — both to repair potential harm and to help the organization learn and grow more inclusively.
Cultural, Historical, & Gender Issues
There is of course an intersection of the work of trauma informed workplaces and DEI initiatives. These organizational priorities should exist both independently and interdependently to ensure they are leveraged to address both DEI efforts and trauma informed efforts fully. But make no mistake, to address the lived experiences of all employees, organizations should have robust and thoughtful diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
How to Create Trauma Informed Managers in your Organization
Trauma informed organizations and managers realize a host of benefits in terms of engagement, retention, productivity, and overall improved work environments.
Trauma informed cultures are also specifically cultures, not programs. It is a way of approaching how you conduct every aspect of your business and work environment. Creating an environment and culture will help managers naturally gravitate towards the right actions, behaviors and resources versus having to scramble to find the right tool or resource out of hundreds in any given moment.
Start with Awareness and Education
To start your journey building trauma informed managers in your organization, and building a trauma informed organization as well, begin with awareness and education.
Trauma can be a loaded word, and many people have many different things come to mind when you bring up the idea of talking about trauma in the workplace. Some may even have concerns about sharing private details of their own traumatic experience (as a very important side note, that should never be an expectation at any workplace).
Starting from a place of shared understanding of what trauma is, how prevalent it is in our community, and how it may show up at work is an excellent place to start this journey.
Showcase what Trauma Informed Management Looks Like
Draw direct connections between each of the principles and what that looks like in terms of management in your organization and showcase those as best practices for your managers to leverage.
Trauma informed cultures rely on processes, programs, and systems around the seven principles, make sure management and leadership processes follow these same standards. If the standards are already ingrained, it is much easier for your managers to make the right choices and move forward in a trauma informed way.
Create Peer Support Systems for Managers
Just like everyone, managers need support! Create formal or informal support systems for managers to provide each other with support and community in their roles. Management roles can be complex and challenging, having someone to talk to who can relate to what you’ve been through and can relate can make all the difference.
And remember, your managers are your employees too- so they deserve that community support that’s identified in the third principle of trauma informed workplaces too!
Acknowledge and Learn from Imperfections
You and your managers are never going to be perfect. As the principle of humility and responsiveness teaches us, the key is making sure you acknowledge your mistakes, take action to correct them, and learn from them. Create safe spaces for managers to both offer and receive feedback on their management style and team performance overall.
Trauma informed workplace cultures benefit the entire organization and give managers the much-needed support and resources needed to reach their full potential. Managers can also become your greatest advocates in instilling trauma informed principles in your culture — make sure to give them the support they need.