How Trauma Informed Is Your Workplace?
Free Download by The Wounded Workforce ®
Is Your Workplace Truly Safe for Everyone?
Discover How Trauma-Informed Your Organization Really Is
70% of US adults have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. These experiences don't disappear when people walk through your office doors—they show up in how employees interact, perform, and engage with their work every single day.
A trauma-informed workplace isn't about becoming therapists or diagnosing trauma. It's about supporting a population that needs support in all areas of their life by creating environments where everyone can thrive, regardless of their background or past experiences.
Why Building Trauma-Informed Workplaces Matters Now
The shift is being led by Gen Z and Millennial workers who aim to break their own generational cycles, and forward-thinking organizations are recognizing that traditional workplace approaches aren't sufficient for today's workforce.
When organizations embrace trauma-informed principles, they create:
- Higher employee engagement and retention
- Reduced burnout and turnover
- Enhanced psychological safety and trust
- Improved collaboration across teams
- Stronger organizational resilience during challenges
- More inclusive cultures that support everyone
The Seven Principles That Transform Workplaces
The Wounded Workforce's Seven Principles of Trauma Informed Workplace Culture provide a comprehensive framework for organizational transformation:
🛡️ Safety Physical, psychological and financial safety—ensuring employees feel secure in all aspects of their work experience, from fair policies to livable wages.
🤝 Trust & Transparency Building trust throughout all levels of the organization using thoughtful transparency about decisions, changes, and organizational direction.
👥 Community Fostering a sense of belonging and mutual support throughout the organization, at all levels, and at all points of the employee journey.
⚡ Collaboration Recognizes positional power and organizational power dynamics and how to thoughtfully remove power barriers through structure while involving employees in meaningful decision-making.
🔄 Empowerment Creating choice and autonomy for your team because at the root of a traumatic experience is a lack of choice or power. This doesn't mean giving teams carte blanche, but finding ways to create meaningful choices within responsibilities.
🌱 Humility & Responsiveness Creating safe avenues for employees to voice concerns and needs, with organizational commitment to take meaningful action and learn from mistakes.
⚖️ Cultural, Historical & Gender Issues Recognizing and addressing systemic barriers while respecting and accommodating cultural differences across your workforce.
Take the Assessment: Where Does Your Workplace Stand?
Our comprehensive Trauma-Informed Workplace Assessment evaluates your organization across 21 key questions that reveal how trauma-informed your culture really is. Each question addresses critical aspects of the employee experience that either support or undermine psychological safety.
Assessment Areas Include:
- Clear, consistent policies that are fairly applied
- Safe reporting without fear of retaliation
- Transparent communication about organizational decisions
- Employee involvement in decisions affecting their work
- Opportunities for skill development and growth
- Acknowledgment and learning from mistakes
- Equitable hiring and promotion practices
Understanding Your Results
0-28 Points: Early Stages Significant opportunity for improvement exists. It's a big task to think about building a trauma-informed workplace, but the thing about big tasks is they're built by a whole bunch of little tasks.
29-56 Points: Developing You have some trauma-informed practices in place. Focus on consistency and expanding successful initiatives across all areas of your organization.
57-84 Points: Strong Foundation You're well on your way to a trauma-informed culture. Continue refining your approach and become a model for other organizations.
Real-World Impact: What This Looks Like
We're looking for ways to avoid re-traumatizing you, as a survivor of any kind of trauma. And we're also looking for ways to just minimize harm in general.
Instead of: Micromanaging how tasks are completed
Try: Can you offer a choice in how something is accomplished? Can you offer choice in priority, project assignment, work partners?
Instead of: Punitive responses to mistakes
Try: Learning-focused conversations that acknowledge systemic factors
Instead of: Top-down decision making
Try: Involving employees in decisions that directly affect their work
Ready to Transform Your Workplace?
Understanding where you stand is just the beginning. After over 16 years of working in corporate HR, Stephanie founded The Wounded Workforce™ and is committed to the mission of building Trauma Informed Workplaces where everyone can be successful.
🎓 Trauma Informed Workplace Advocate (TIWA) Get certified in the basics of trauma informed workplaces to advocate for more trauma informed practices and cultures in your organization. Perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about trauma and help build trauma-informed workplaces.
🎓 Trauma Informed Workplace Practitioner (TIWP) Get certified as an expert in trauma informed workplaces to work to build trauma informed practices and cultures in your organization. Deep dive into each of the seven principles with practical implementation strategies.
Important Boundaries
It's always important to remember our role—and that is not to diagnose or treat trauma. Every survivor's story belongs to them, and it's up to them when, if, and how they share it.
It's not about digging into people's individual history, so much as it's about understanding how we can create a workplace that honors different trauma histories and doesn't perpetuate further harm.
Take Action Today
Step 1: Complete the assessment to understand your current state
Step 2: Identify your top 3 priority areas based on the seven principles
Step 3: Explore our certification programs to build lasting change
Step 4: Start implementing small changes that make a big difference
Building trauma-informed workplaces isn't just the right thing to do—it's essential for creating organizations where everyone can truly thrive.
The Wounded Workforce®: Building Trauma Informed Workplaces where everyone can be successful
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