Building Trauma Informed Workplaces — Empowerment (Part 1)

At the core of trauma and traumatic experiences is powerlessness; a lack of control and choice over what is happening around you or to you, this feeling of helplessness can lead to lasting impacts on an individual’s sense of self and power over their own lives.

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.

This is part five of the series on building Trauma Informed workplaces; if you haven’t read the introductory article, you can read it here.

As we build trauma informed workplace cultures, we are focusing on seven foundational principles based on work created by SAMSHA for trauma informed care. These principles help organizations build workplace cultures where everyone can be successful, regardless of whether or not they have experienced trauma.

The principles are as follows: Safety, Trust & Transparency, Community, Collaboration, Empowerment, Humility & Responsiveness, and Cultural, Historical, & Gender issues.

Because of the scope and importance of empowerment, we will be tackling this principle in two articles, the second to be published next week.

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 will look at the concept of empowerment in a trauma informed culture in four distinct parts- choice, strengths leveraged, recognition, and growth.

Choice

Traumatic experiences remove choice and control. Environments that offer choices create space for individuals to maintain or even regain a sense of control over their lives and decisions.

Each person’s experiences and needs are unique, by providing choice, it enables everyone to make decisions based on their needs, preferences, and readiness, promoting a sense of empowerment. Support and the overall work environment can then be more tailored to each individual to best meet their needs at any given time.

These types of environments help build confidence and self-esteem. Trauma survivors may have had their autonomy violated during the traumatic experience. By offering choices, trauma-informed cultures prevent retraumatization and minimize the risk of triggering traumatic memories or reactions. This person-centered approach also fosters a sense of trust, collaboration, and respect regardless of experiences of trauma.

How can you create Choice at work?

When we encourage prioritizing choice, it can be misconstrued as letting your team do whatever they want. This is not the case, organizational objectives and goals are key to a successful organization and that sense of purpose is meaningful in the context of creating a trauma informed culture as well.

Instead of thinking of ‘providing choice’ as a free-for-all, instead, ask yourself “How can I offer a choice in this situation?” throughout your work with your teams. That choice could be the manner in the way the work is performed, a flexible work environment, or a choice between options you’ve already vetted. Remember, creating choice doesn’t need to be complicated.

What about when choices can’t be offered?

Of course, situations occur where choices are not available, perhaps you as the leader do not have a choice or the organization or team needs to move in unison, so individualizing may not fit into a scenario. When this inevitably occurs, there are a few options to leverage to still focus on centering autonomy for your team.

Employee Voice

When the scenario does not allow for choice, make sure to create space for individuals to voice their feedback, concerns, and other ideas related to the issues at hand. This could allow for ways to find unique solutions or crowdsource potential alternatives or areas to address that may have been overlooked. If you cannot provide choice, at least make sure your teams are heard.

Transparency

When choice is not an option, another important tool is transparency. Explain the why behind the actions and why choice is not an option in this scenario. Creating a sense of understanding and taking the time to offer explanations can help minimize many of the negative effects that could result from a lack of choice.

Providing choice isn’t about letting people do whatever they want, however they want- it’s not realistic. The truth is, we are almost never in complete control of situations and circumstances in our lives. The key is strategically using choice to create autonomy and a sense of personal power. It will also be a powerful in driver of ownership and commitment for your team as well.

Strengths Leveraged

Utilizing your strengths fosters a sense of self-efficacy, empowerment, and overall well-being. Recognizing and utilizing personal strengths promotes a belief in one’s ability to overcome challenges and regain control over their life. This empowerment can be a powerful factor in healing for those who have experienced trauma as well.

A strength-based approach at work focuses on building resilience by identifying and leveraging an individual’s existing strengths and resources. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), resilience plays a crucial role in recovering from trauma, and it involves utilizing personal strengths to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity. Engaging in activities that align with one’s strengths can increase positive emotions, sense of purpose, and satisfaction in life.

It makes sense that we all feel better when we are doing something that we are good at, and a lot of great research has been done around the power of leveraging strengths at work.

Gallup has been leading the way in leveraging strengths at work since the creation of CliftonStrengths by Don Clifton over 25 years ago. Included in these decades of research are these impressive statistics-

• On average, companies have seen a 7% increase in employee engagement just by having employees take the CliftonStrengths assessment.
• Organizations that choose to keep that buzz alive, by committing to building the strengths of each associate and weaving a strengths philosophy throughout their organization, can see a 23% increase in employee engagement.
• Teams that received strengths-based development have achieved 19% increased sales, 29% increased profits, 59% fewer safety incidents, and 72% lower turnover (specifically in high-turnover organizations).

Thanks to the team at Gallup and a network of strengths-based advocates and coaches, strengths-based cultures have been implemented in numerous organizations and there are incredible resources to support any size organization in these efforts. Check out more information at CliftonStrengths. I also offer strengths-based coaching for individuals and teams, and you can learn more here.

Creating choice and fostering an environment where strengths are leveraged are two huge components of a trauma informed culture. I invite you to reflect on both and how you can integrate them into your workplace over the next few days.

We’ll cover Recognition and Growth in part 2 of this article next week. Make sure to hit ‘follow’ to ensure you don’t miss part 2 of ‘Empowerment” and the rest of these discussions on building trauma informed workplace cultures.