Employees First and Trauma-Informed Workplaces

Hi Elizabeth,

Can you say more about what you mean regarding “employees first?”  I write about trauma and the workplace some in my blog, but I might be able to find more resources depending on what you’re really interested in.

mrchrisfreeze.com/blog

Respectfully,

Chris

I would also love to hear more about 'employees first'!

After adapting the workplace power and control wheel to schools, I was inspired to create what I believe is the "opposite" of power and control in the workplace, personal responsibility and empowerment; not sure if this is aligned with what you are looking for: https://www.risetoresilience.o...lity-and-empowerment

Workplace adaptation for schools with original workplace adaptation source: https://www.risetoresilience.o...-and-control-schools

Elizabeth,

Excellent inquiry!  In the past, I studied organizational sustainability and in that pursuit, encountered a lot of research that has been written about in cultivating authentic employee engagement.  What I have found in the research is that the EXACT tenets/principles of what cultivates high employee engagement also is trauma-informed.  I encourage you to check out the work Sirota - The Enthusiastic Employee

https://www.amazon.com/Enthusi...p;s=books&sr=1-1

Harvard Business Review and Stanford Social Innovation Review (https://ssir.org/) also has worthy pieces of work that may help you answer some of what you are looking for.  Happy Nerding Out! 

@Christopher Freeze posted:

Hi Elizabeth,

Can you say more about what you mean regarding “employees first?”  I write about trauma and the workplace some in my blog, but I might be able to find more resources depending on what you’re really interested in.

mrchrisfreeze.com/blog

Respectfully,

Chris

Hi Chris,

Essentially, putting employees needs, safety, wellbeing and growth first, with the understanding that this creates a ripple effect of flourishing for any type of service, industry or business. Here's an article by Forbes with an author interview on his book Employees First: https://www.forbes.com/sites/k...ket/?sh=1aa7680612c4

It feels aligned with TIC...enlightened society really. It feels like common sense to invest in the wellbeing of people, but it obviously isn't aligned with capitalist thinking (which is killing everyone in western societies,.. huge bummer).

Cheers! e

@Emily Read Daniels posted:

Elizabeth,

Excellent inquiry!  In the past, I studied organizational sustainability and in that pursuit, encountered a lot of research that has been written about in cultivating authentic employee engagement.  What I have found in the research is that the EXACT tenets/principles of what cultivates high employee engagement also is trauma-informed.  I encourage you to check out the work Sirota - The Enthusiastic Employee

https://www.amazon.com/Enthusi...p;s=books&sr=1-1

Harvard Business Review and Stanford Social Innovation Review (https://ssir.org/) also has worthy pieces of work that may help you answer some of what you are looking for.  Happy Nerding Out!

Hi Emily,

Makes perfect sense doesn't it? Investing in people's wellbeing = the wellbeing of society. It's not rocket science...it's neuroscience! I love nerding out. Thanks for the resources!

-e

Great question!  Our book, "Supporting the Wounded Educator: A Trauma-Sensitive Approach to Self-Care" was released in February, 2020 and is specific to understanding one's own exposure to trauma/secondary trauma and how that contributes to personal & professional wellness.  One whole chapter is geared to "professional self-care strategies" with the goal of cultivating thriving work cultures.  After all, self-care is really ineffective if we are walking into toxic work cultures every day, right?  We've had several groups begin book studies (there are 'Reading, Reflection, & Discussion Points' at the end of each chapter), and the feedback about the depth of conversations happening has been exciting!  The book is available through Routledge at https://www.routledge.com/Supp...p/book/9780367429287.  It's currently on sale, but you can also use code ADC21 to get 30% off list price.  Our website is www.hope4thewounded.org if you'd like to get a feel for our work, as well.  You can find a free survey on the home page that many have used in their workplace to gauge different thoughts (21-Question Survey on Empathy, Education, & Wounded Students).  Hope this helps!

@Joseph Hendershott, Ed.D. posted:

Great question!  Our book, "Supporting the Wounded Educator: A Trauma-Sensitive Approach to Self-Care" was released in February, 2020 and is specific to understanding one's own exposure to trauma/secondary trauma and how that contributes to personal & professional wellness.  One whole chapter is geared to "professional self-care strategies" with the goal of cultivating thriving work cultures.  After all, self-care is really ineffective if we are walking into toxic work cultures every day, right?  We've had several groups begin book studies (there are 'Reading, Reflection, & Discussion Points' at the end of each chapter), and the feedback about the depth of conversations happening has been exciting!  The book is available through Routledge at https://www.routledge.com/Supp...p/book/9780367429287.  It's currently on sale, but you can also use code ADC21 to get 30% off list price.  Our website is www.hope4thewounded.org if you'd like to get a feel for our work, as well.  You can find a free survey on the home page that many have used in their workplace to gauge different thoughts (21-Question Survey on Empathy, Education, & Wounded Students).  Hope this helps!

Thank you so much! 

Also, congrats! I'm sure this was a long awaited book launch!

@Elizabeth Fitzgerald posted:

Also, congrats! I'm sure this was a long awaited book launch!

Thank you!  It was most definitely a long time in the making, and the timing of the launch was definitely interesting.  Who knew a pandemic would be just around the corner??