Compassionate Leadership Toolkit and Workshop-HHSA HR The Knowledge Center

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

According to the Crisis and Trauma Resource Institute, CTRI, (2021) “Trauma is prevalent in our world and impacts all of us … Our workplaces can be negatively influenced by the pervasive power of trauma, and they can also unintentionally amplify its impacts.” Knowing this, the Knowledge Center at the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) of San Diego County developed an action-oriented toolkit and workshop for supervisors to empower them with practical strategies to foster a trauma-informed approach toward compassionate leadership. The Compassionate Leadership through a Trauma-Informed Lens Toolkit is an interactive, discussion-based guide of actionable behaviors for supervisors. During a two-hour workshop, facilitators use the Toolkit to guide supervisors through a trauma-informed approach to promote safety, trust, choice, empowerment, and collaboration with their staff. This approach creates a culture of belonging and safety. The interactivity provides experience practicing with peers and fostering a trauma-informed approach toward managing. After 100 participants, surveys indicated that 90% of respondents agreed that the workshop has better equipped them to using the Toolkit in conversations with staff, and 100% agreed that the role-playing scenarios and exercises facilitated their learning. This success is driving departments to request Toolkit training and a train-the-trainer program to increase access.