This week we came to an official end of summer vacation by celebrating the Labor Day holiday. It is a holiday that marks the valuing and honoring of our labor force. We often take our workforce for granted, but we should recognize that these are the people that drive our communities, our businesses, our organizations and our families to function effectively.
Usually that quality of labor is evaluated by the metrics of productivity, number of hours, outcomes and income; these are seen as measurable outcomes. However, there is another aspect of our workforce that is not as easily measured – it is the human cost of labor.
When people spend countless hours absorbing stress, trauma, anxiety, grief, hard work and so much more, there is a significant cost emotionally, physically and mentally. For many they find that their work life takes a toll on them resulting in burnout and other consequences that are exhausting and sometimes can have impact to their purpose, motivation and health.
Healthcare workers hold people’s lives in their hands on a daily basis. Police officers face all kinds of stress and danger as a regular part of their job. Manufacturing workers are working long hours that are often unrewarding. School teachers face a myriad of challenges in managing their students and achieving academic goals for their classes. Employees in the non-profit sector face financial struggles as they provide for intense situations of meeting needs. The list goes on.
These realities highlight the importance of our workplace cultures. When I think of a healthy workplace, I think of the writing of my associate Dr. Sandra Bloom, who has been prolific in her quest for organizational health. She has written extensively on how many of our organizations have a mechanistic view of employees rather than realizing the depth of their human needs. In her development of Creating PRESENCE, a trauma-informed organizational certification program, she uses the term Biocracy to emphasize that organizations will emerge successfully if they address the human needs of their culture. These are organizations that maintain a focus towards what is healthy and supportive of each employee in how the organization operates in its values and policies.
In order to understand the impact of trauma in general, we have launched a new website lakecloud.ai that is now free and accessible. We actually provide an app that can be downloaded by anyone with a laptop or desktop computer. In that app is our Intro to Trauma course, which provides basic information about how trauma impacts our lives from childhood to becoming adults. Once anyone completes this course, they can then join our LakeCloud community which has other resources and the ability to establish relationships with our community experts and others who are in dialogue about how trauma and adversity impact us all.
The course features several stories, one of which specifically addresses workforce as we illustrate how trauma and loss can impact an ordinary employee’s productivity. In it is a real-life description of how trauma-informed skills in the workplace can make all the difference to that employee. The best way to honor our labor force is to provide work environments that are supportive, compassionate, and honor our humanity each and every day.
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
