The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Trauma at Work [Webinar Recording]

Trauma doesn’t stop when employees clock into work. And in our latest Lioness webinar on trauma-informed workplaces, Anita Roach made it clear: if we want thriving businesses, we need to start acknowledging what our people carry with them.

“Trauma is universal. It impacts every single one of us. It’s just part of our human condition,” said Roach, founder of the Safe & Sound Workplace Alliance and author of Safe & Sound: Cultivating a Whole-Human, Trauma-Informed Approach to Employee and Employer Well-being.

Most organizations are what Roach calls “trauma-affected” — unaware of how trauma shapes their workplace. That disconnect costs companies billions in productivity, retention and health-related expenses. (Just look at the ongoing conversations around burnout.)

Why trauma awareness belongs in the workplace

Trauma is woefully misunderstood; many associate it only with combat or catastrophic events. But trauma can be community-based, cultural, climate-related, childhood or second-hand. In fact, per the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, 70 percent of adults report having experienced a traumatic event in their lifetimes. That trauma shapes how employees engage with work — and with each other.

“Even something like lack of role clarity or mismanaged change can be a perceived threat and activate someone’s trauma response,” Roach said. “And those activated responses — fawning, freezing, fighting, or fleeing — can look like productivity issues, people-pleasing or even chronic absenteeism.”

The problem, of course, isn’t just the presence of trauma. It’s that most organizations lack the structures and awareness to respond to it. Roach previously surveyed 500 HR leaders, and not one of them had considered why they should have trauma-informed policies.

The business case for being human

Roach is no stranger to both personal trauma and professional burnout. She has her own story of childhood loss, systemic mistreatment and overworking in environments that praised her performance but ignored her pain.

“I’ve worked 133-hour weeks. I’ve gone five months without a day off. And not once did anyone ask me why,” she said. “Instead, I was told, ‘Why can’t you be the good Anita all the time? The good Anita makes all of us better.'”

Research shows that healthier, trauma-informed workplaces lead to measurable gains: a 62 percent lower burnout rate, a 40 percent reduction in chronic illness, and a 45 percent boost in productivity.

“These are the things we should be thinking about when we talk about effectiveness,” said Roach.

Begin with ‘the compassionate why’

For leaders who want to begin making change without overhauling their entire company overnight, Roach recommends starting small, starting with empathy and starting with what she calls the “compassionate why.”

“It’s the simplest shift,” she said. “If someone’s behavior seems off, ask yourself: is there something at play I don’t know about? Ask them gently. Not in a judgmental or demanding way, but with care.”

This kind of human-centered leadership lays the foundation for better policies around trauma at work—from mental health support to sustainable growth.

“Trauma-informed is human-informed,” Roach reminded the audience. “And when we get it right, we don’t just change our workplace—we change our world.”

Watch the full recording of our session with Anita Roach to learn more about trauma-informed leadership, the Safe & Sound Continuum and the seven foundational agreements that can change your workplace from the inside out.