Trauma-informed Workplaces - Why We Need Them and What Do They Look Like

date: 2024-02-31

author: Ivana Mrgan

What is prevalent, unequally distributed and frequently ignored in the workplace? You guessed it - trauma. In total, 70% of respondents globally experienced lifetime trauma (WHO, 2017). This is with an average exposure of approximately 3 traumatic events.

Prior trauma history predicted both future trauma exposure and the future PTSD risk in this study. Not worried enough? Keep reading.

Although 80% of workers reported that workplace stress affects their wellbeing, only 38% of those who knew about their organization's mental health services would feel comfortable using them (MHA, 2021).

At the same time, 3/4 of managers overestimated the rate of wellbeing improvement in the last year (Deloitte, 2023). It goes without saying. Trauma-informed workplaces need to happen.

They can increase safety, overall health, and wellbeing. By extension, they boost productivity and a sense of agency. This is strenuous, difficult, and challenging work, but oh so needed.

With the surge of mental health issues on a global scale, residuals of the global pandemic and compounding societal challenges - we all need to act and we need to act soon. So what do trauma-informed workplaces look like? Hopefully, you will be able to spot these

  • Empathetic leadership
  • Holistic approach to wellbeing
  • Healthy organizational culture
  • Designated point of support
  • Sense of community and peer support
  • Boosting protective and mitigating risk factors

If your company is still getting there, it might be your time to inform, educate, advocate, and pass the baton. In the meantime, go and check out the great work done by the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy & Practice (CTIPP) team. This content is partially based on their Trauma-Informed Workplaces Toolkit.

Not all difficulties linked with mental health are related to work, but they affect workplace wellbeing levels and occupational health. It is therefore important to introduce systemic changes to reduce or eliminate organizational risk factors. To complement these efforts, you can support employees by facilitating access to wellbeing activities, workshops and individual counselling.

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