Understanding a trauma-informed approach to managing change

What is trauma?

Research shows an estimated 75% of Australians will experience a potentially traumatic event in their lifetime.[1] This is an event (or series of events) that has lasting adverse effects on a person’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional or spiritual wellbeing. 

What is traumatising for one person may not be for someone else. Several factors such as the situation and a person’s biology, psychology and previous experiences determine how traumatising the event is. Trauma is more common among some populations, such as people experiencing family and domestic violence, First Nations peoples, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQIA+) communities and refugees. People in certain occupation groups, such as health and social assistance, armed forces and emergency services, are also more likely to experience trauma.

People do not leave their trauma at home, so trauma is something that leaders need to know about.

In a change and disruption context, trauma is particularly relevant in 2 situations:

• when implementing change (internal, anticipated change) in an organisation with populations and/or occupation groups where trauma is more prevalent
• when unanticipated change or disruption causes trauma in workers.

What is trauma-informed change management?

Trauma-informed change management embeds 5 principles into systems and behaviour:

1. Safety: Look after the physical and emotional safety of workers (e.g. check in, provide support and ensure interactions are respectful and engaging).
2. Transparency: Provide clear information about what will be done, by who, when, why and under what circumstances. 
3. Choice: Consider individual choice when determining how next steps are undertaken and provide everyone with clear and appropriate messages about their rights and responsibilities. 
4. Collaboration: Emphasise a ‘doing with’ rather than ‘doing to’ approach by minimising hierarchy, eliciting feedback and involving everyone in planning and evaluating the approach to change. 
5. Empowerment: Recognise and build on individual strengths and skills to formulate change plans and actions and communicate a realistic sense of hope for the future.

Managing trauma responses in the workplace

As an employer, it is not your role to diagnose and treat people experiencing trauma. But, you can support workers and address trauma by implementing a trauma-informed approach based on these 4 Rs:

Realise: Increase awareness so that people understand trauma and how it can affect workers (i.e. the effects of trauma are a coping mechanism not simply poor performance). 

Recognise: Equip people to recognise common signs of trauma. Training can give managers the skills to offer support rather than default to a performance management lens.

Respond: Implement appropriate responses to trauma at both a team and organisational level. At a team level, it means leaders notice signs of distress and link people with relevant supports and resources. At the organisation level, it means policies, processes and practices are sensitive to the reality of trauma.

Resist re-traumatisation: Actively create an environment of psychological safety, and quickly address psychosocial hazards such as bullying and harassment. It is important to consider occupations where experiencing trauma is more likely, because team and organisational supports act as protective factors even in these environments.

The key to a trauma-informed approach is compassion. As a people manager or leader, part of your role is to show concern for others. 

How to talk to someone in crisis

Here are some tips on how to talk to someone in your workplace experiencing trauma:

• Look: Make sure your workers are physically and psychologically safe and help them meet their (and sometimes their families’) basic needs like food, water, shelter and any financial assistance. Provide repeated, simple information. 
• Listen: Normalise their responses (e.g. “It makes sense you feel like this”, “You’ve been through something really difficult”). Listen to what they are saying and ask them about their worries and needs. 
• Link: Encourage contact with support networks (e.g. “Who are your key supports right now? Is there anyone I call for you?”). Sometimes, it may mean helping people deliver bad news, e.g. telling their family they have been made redundant. Rehearsing the conversation with them might be useful.
   

[1] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Mental health services in Australia: stress and trauma. 2022.