My New Year's Resolution: Moving from "self-care" to a culture of staff wellness and resiliency

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Yes, fine infographic. Thanks!

that was wonderful too read about! 

Happy to find this great  infographic on Staff Wellness in Trauma Informed Organizations from the Center for Health Care Strategies!  I'll be sharing and posting it in my organization.

Leslie, I want you to know how much we appreciate your insights. Using this to start discussions on our leadership team and with our board of UrbanPromise.

Nina Esaki posted:

Thank you, Leslie, for a great article. Having been in the corporate HR world prior to switching into the human services field as an organizational change researcher, I also believe in the importance of concepts such as organizational trust and organizational justice. In addition to some of the "softer" aspects of organizational health, research suggests that healthy (and resilient) organizational cultures are also mindful of building structural systems - such as HR policies and processes (e.g., compensation, hiring and promotion, performance inspiration - a term I like to use rather than "management"), IT systems and financial systems that are supportive of employees and their work. There is burgeoning research that shows that organizations that have both the relational AND structural systems that support, rather than hinder, employees contribute to employee well-being (physical, mental, psychological, and emotional) and outperform those that do not.

Hi Nina,

Thanks for this response.  There is so much we can learn from the corporate world and I love the concept of "organizational trust and justice" and couldn't agree more that attention to relational and structural issues is imperative.  I will resolve to add these ideas to my thinking on staff wellness and resilience this year too.

Thanks, Jane, for your great question. Yes - I am familiar with organizations that have used ACEs science to support trauma-informed organizational change, but given the qualitative data I've gathered through focus groups, coupled with research and discussions with organizational health thought leaders (primarily from the business sector as well as from countries such as Canada and Denmark that have federal agencies funding research on this topic), I believe we would benefit from incorporating some underutilized organizational tools. For example, while in the corporate HR field, we used the Balanced Scorecard - a more well-rounded way to look at organizational performance than just finances (there is a heavy emphasis placed on human capital), and behavioral interventions (e.g., quarterly Town Hall meetings, internal customer satisfaction surveys to assess staff satisfaction with support received from the administrative departments, satisfaction with supervisor surveys, efficiency Action Teams to look for ways to streamline operations etc.). Believe these data driven, research-informed organizational tools promote organizational safety, trust and justice - critical to creating a healthy, resilient and high-functioning organization. We need data-driven human resources processes to track how healthy and resilient we truly are. Would welcome an e-mail offline to Nina@orgnavigator.com if anyone might be interested in discussing further. Thanks!

Hi, Nina: Are you finding any organizations that are incorporating ACEs science into their efforts to change organizational health?

Cheers, Jane Stevens

Thank you, Leslie, for a great article. Having been in the corporate HR world prior to switching into the human services field as an organizational change researcher, I also believe in the importance of concepts such as organizational trust and organizational justice. In addition to some of the "softer" aspects of organizational health, research suggests that healthy (and resilient) organizational cultures are also mindful of building structural systems - such as HR policies and processes (e.g., compensation, hiring and promotion, performance inspiration - a term I like to use rather than "management"), IT systems and financial systems that are supportive of employees and their work. There is burgeoning research that shows that organizations that have both the relational AND structural systems that support, rather than hinder, employees contribute to employee well-being (physical, mental, psychological, and emotional) and outperform those that do not.

Leslie,

Thanks for the suggestion of a new lexicon "staff wellness and resilience. "  Yes, an over emphasis on "self-care" by agencies or trainers can feel like one more burden for the professional caregiver- and may unwittingly exonerate agencies from creating healthier environments in which workers can safely share their stories and experiences of secondary trauma and feel supported. 

In our documentary film, "PORTRAITS OF PROFESSIONAL CAREGIVERS: Their Passion. Their Pain", we illustrate structures of staff support in child welfare, hospice work, and emergency management (firefighters/ EMTs). It was important to us in producing this film to move beyond the simplistic notion of "well, just take care of yourself more..."

Thanks for your fine article!

Vic    (www.caregiversfilm.com)

This is great!  I picture this being used in any client or student-serving entity.  I teach a class on social work at a community college, and it would be helpful to have a few gatherings with other staff several times a year.  Thanks-

I really appreciate this article Leslie.  I agree that the concept of self-care indicates that the responsibility lies solely on the individual employee.  Time and time again, I've seen this fail when the organization doesn't take steps to support it.  I also thought it was great that you provided some examples of steps an organization can take to move in the direction of building a culture of staff wellness and resiliency.  It can be simpler than we imagine it to be.  Thanks for sharing the insight you've gained in your site visit.  Looking forward to more.

Thank you so much for this. I love this piece and especially the emphasis on an organization, department, group taking responsibility for this as opposed to an individual.

It's a great model for parents and schools and communities to shift from what is wrong with who and why and how to fix it, the disease model, to asking if and how all are well and how wellness can be promoted, across the board.

I remember in grade school having a dentist come in to say, "If you aren't true to your teeth, they will be false to you" as a part of a talk on the importance of brushing. That stuck with me. Other times, when I was singled out by a teacher (for bed wetting), it just caused shame, didn't get at the original issue and made me feel bad. I'm a huge fan of emphasizing wellness for all while also understanding why this isn't available or intuitive or easy to everyone and how some might actually need a lot more support than others learning or letting go of trying not to die or be harmed. And what a brilliant model to start with our own work communities so we are practicing being self-healing communities as well as talking and teaching and sharing why and how it's useful.

Yes! Yes! Yes!
Cissy 

I think your point about talking about community responsibility for wellness is a really important one, Leslie. We really need to create a culture of wellness for all community members, including parents. That means treating burnout and overwork as signs that something that isn't working rather than achievements that are worthy of kudos.

Excellent article, Leslie. I am distressed by the situations when agencies tell their staff only that self care on their own time is important, and do not look at the agency's part of the equation.