Trauma Informed Safety
You may have heard of 'trauma informed therapy' or 'trauma informed initiatives' in the past, but if you haven't, I'm going to break it down for you in a simple way.
Being 'trauma informed' is to be aware of and sensitive to the potential traumas that a person has gone through - from a 'people manager' perspective. It's understanding that their comprehension, their needs, and the way that they operate may be different than those who have not undergone or been impacted by personal trauma. It's being dedicated to being that understanding and flexible resource that they need to succeed with their traumas.
Trauma can be abuse of any kind (mental and physical), it can be continued bullying or mistreatment by a past boss, it can be derived from a situation of personal struggle or the constant mistreatment and degrading of their 'humanness'. This kind of trauma can cause all sorts of residual behavior in your workers. For example, a lot of physical trauma comes with PTSD, a condition in which the persons' brain will cause them to relive situations, emotions, and anxieties that they felt during the traumatic event.
These triggers can cause emotional responses that can sometimes hinder a persons' ability to even move (freeze response) or could even cause them to lash out in a way that is otherwise 'uncharacteristic'.
If you've ever had a worker lash out at a meeting, or react to another worker in a certain way that seemed way over the top for the situation at hand, there's a chance that a past experience has triggered a higher emotional response. This happens a lot in women who feel that they're being belittled or not taken seriously at work due to their gender. At times it can be hard to remain calm and collected if a situation brings back a terrible memory of misogyny or past emotional abuse.
Being trauma informed in the workplace can show in many ways. It can include additional training for your supervisory / managerial staff, it can be more flexibility in your company benefits or processes for these people, it can mean a higher level of compassionate conversation and 'checking in' regularly on certain employees.
Being trauma informed doesn't require any special certifications or training programs, it takes opening up the most human side of you and embracing compassion and empathy when working with your workers and developing the plans to keep them safe.
Trauma informed safety can look like many things:
continued and ongoing psychological health training
personalized one on one agendas that include personal check ins and mental health reviews
increased empathy and compassion training for your management team
robust benefits programs that include mental health practitioners and programs to help distressed or struggling workers
a private means of providing feedback for those too scared or struggle with anxiety to provide up front feedback
a policy of understanding and allowing workers to express what their needs are, and have those needs heard, considered, and met when within reasonably practicable to do so
improved culture around safety and accountability that eliminates bullying or ridiculing workers for speaking up / out against safety concerns
constant reminder that mental health safety and psychosocial safety is as paramount as physical safety - and emphasizing and enforcing this
Gone are the days of having rigid and tough workplaces with a 'you get what you get' attitudes. Employers have to listen to their workers and do everything that they can to reasonably accommodate any specific needs that the workers may have.
If your staff are coming to you concerned or upset over the treatment they're receiving from another worker - you have a legal obligation to investigate. If they are asking you for an adjusted schedule due to their mental health and it's not impeding their ability to do their job properly - you must find a way to accommodate. We have to be open and flexible to our workers individual needs - especially when they're related to their mental health or psychological safety.
The BEST part of this all... is that by being this type of employer, your workers basic needs and legislated needs are going to be fully taken care of. Which in turn will result in improved culture, better buy in, and higher productivity levels across the board.
Happier, safer, more secure staff... will be happier, more eager, and more willing to do the work - and love it - than they would be in the opposite environment.
What kinds of psychosocial health and safety initiatives have you put into place recently or that you think you could improve on?!