MADISON, Wis.–The Filene Research Institute has published a new paper on “Trauma-informed Strategies to Support Credit Union Employees During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
Authored by Dr. Hammad N’cho, executive director of N’cho Behavioral Group, the paper examines pressing questions as employees begin returning to offices about how to move forward and provide adequate support for employees in an environment impacted by trauma exposure. N’cho’s recommendation is credit union leaders prioritize these six trauma-informed approaches.
“Whatever the situation of their staff (in office, remote, preparing to return to office), credit union leaders should anticipate some level of trauma exposure amongst their employees,” wrote N’cho. “A trauma-informed strategy for supporting staff could prove helpful in preparing your credit union to respond to new and evolving staff needs.”
According to N’cho, to facilitate healthy work environments, strategic return-to-office procedures must actively center on one guiding principle: avoid employee re-traumatization. Below is a synopsis of the six areas on which N’cho recommends CUs focus:
Ensuring Credit Union Employee Safety
“For credit union employees returning to work, safety concerns can be expected to focus on limiting virus spread within the workplace,” wrote N’cho. “A review of strategies for cleaning workspaces, social distancing of employees and enhancing hand sanitization, paired with robust policies for mask-wearing and sick leave can facilitate a sense of safety among coworkers.”
Enhancing Trustworthiness and Transparency
“Exposure to traumatic events can produce elevated levels of anxiety and stress in the workplace,” noted N’cho. “Ensuring that policies and procedures are communicated transparently and with empathy is essential in this context. To achieve this, protocols for returning to office must anticipate employee concerns, be easily understood, and made readily available to staff in advance of their return date. Create opportunities for staff to share feedback and show responsiveness to their suggestions and concerns.”
Peer Support
N’cho wrote that peer support programs are a proven approach to navigating challenging circumstances in and out of the workplace. “The strength-based framework can help co-workers render aid to one another, share resources, and explore effective coping strategies. As we should also expect there will be employees returning to office after having recovered from COVID-19, peer support groups can facilitate emotional recovery and diminish workplace stigma.”
Collaboration and Mutuality
Traumatic experiences often produce a sense of loss of agency and control over one’s life, observed N’cho.
“Such feelings of powerlessness can be detrimental to emotional functioning and impair work performance,” said N’cho. “A trauma-informed approach addresses this by encouraging collaboration and mutuality between leadership and the workforce and affords employees involvement in the circumstances that impact their work lives. This might take the form of anonymous surveys and other opportunities for engagement that encourage feedback, facilitate dialogue, and build trust.”
Empowerment, Voice, and Choice
A trauma-informed employee support strategy seeks to empower staff by providing them with resources and agency within their workplace, according to N’cho.
“An effective approach in this regard can be to initially focus on the resource needs of the least empowered members of the workforce,” he wrote. “For example, do the least empowered members of your workforce have adequate access to healthcare? As COVID-19 renders an entire workplace as vulnerable as the most vulnerable person in it, review of healthcare afforded to employees at all levels is warranted. Another resource to provide for returning staff is readily available, culturally responsive counseling services. This can take the form of a referral list of mental health resources, donated hours from local therapists, or providers that are directly contracted by the credit union.”
Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues
N’cho noted a well-designed trauma-informed policy is responsive to the experiences of employees who have been uniquely impacted by the pandemic.
“The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon the American populace is still emerging. It has become apparent however, that the virus is having a disproportionate impact among certain groups. For example, African Americans represent approximately 12% of the U.S. population but account for 24% of all COVID-19-related deaths,” N’cho wrote. “A well-designed trauma-informed policy is responsive to the experiences of employees who have been uniquely impacted by the pandemic. Creating spaces organized specifically for staff from underrepresented groups, for example, can effectively encourage peer support.”
The full article can be found here.