Would your team trust you in a crisis? Imagine a fatal accident occurs on your job site. Would employees look to you for guidance—or would they feel lost in the chaos? If someone on your team was being harassed, would they feel safe enough to speak up? Or in the face of a natural disaster, would they feel confident following your lead?
These aren’t just hypotheticals. They’re critical pressure points that reveal the true strength of your leadership skills. After all, the mark of great leadership isn’t found in quarterly wins—it’s found in the moments when people look to you for direction in the dark.
The reality is that Canadian workers need trauma-informed management. From rising living costs to overwhelmed healthcare systems and an increasingly tense political climate, they’re carrying more invisible weight than ever before—both on and off the clock.
Let’s take a closer look at the facts:
- One in 10 Canadians have waited five months or more for community mental health counselling services.
- One in five Canadian workers has experienced trauma in the workplace.
- In 2020, nearly 5,000 Canadian workers reported harassment and violence in the workplace
- In 2022, 1,012 workers lost their lives in Canadian workplaces.
- Only 41% of Canadian employees trust their managers to address mental health and psychological safety concerns effectively.
Now, armed with these sobering statistics, let’s turn our attention to the transformative power of employee trauma support—and the practical strategies you can use to successfully lead your team through tough moments.
What are Traumatic Workplace Events?
A traumatic event is any situation that causes a severe nervous system response in the person who experiences it.
In the workplace, traumatic events can take many forms, including (but not limited to):
- Harassment and Violence: Whether physical, emotional, or sexual, harassment and violence can severely disrupt an employee’s sense of safety and well-being. Bullying, intimidation, and abusive behaviour often leave lasting psychological effects, including anxiety, trouble concentrating, and a deep sense of powerlessness.
- Accidents and Fatalities: Workplace accidents shatter employees’ sense of safety and control, often triggering intense emotional reactions like shock, hypervigilance, and withdrawal. The aftermath can disrupt not only individual well-being but also team cohesion and productivity.
- Public Humiliation or Blame: Being singled out in a meeting, criticized harshly in front of peers, or unfairly blamed for a mistake can be deeply traumatizing. It threatens a person’s psychological safety and can lead to long-term issues like hypervigilance, low self-worth, and fear-based performance—none of which are good for morale or productivity.
- Chronic Job Insecurity: Even in the absence of actual layoffs, prolonged uncertainty about the future of one’s role, contract renewals, or company stability can wear on the nervous system like a slow-dripping faucet. This kind of anticipatory stress can be just as damaging as a single acute incident, especially when there’s little communication or transparency from leadership.
- Prolonged Chronic Stress and Burnout: Continuous, high-pressure workloads without adequate support or recovery time can gradually lead to burnout. This chronic stress isn’t a single incident, but a constant drain on employee’s well-being. The invisible toll of burnout can result in emotional exhaustion, detachment, and a deep-seated sense of inadequacy that undermines overall workplace performance.
The Impact of Trauma in the Workplace
Before we get into the practical strategies you can use to support employees experiencing trauma, it’s important to first know how to recognize trauma and its ramifications for employees.
In times of crisis, trauma can manifest in the workplace as:
- Increased Absenteeism: Employees may take more sick days or show inconsistent attendance due to emotional or mental strain.
- Withdrawal or Isolation: Employees might disengage from team interactions, avoid meetings, or become less communicative with colleagues.
- Decline in Job Performance: Employees may struggle to meet expectations, show a lack of attention to detail, or deliver inconsistent results due to emotional stress.
How to Lead Your Team Through Traumatic Workplace Events: A Guide for Managers
Understanding the need for trauma-informed management is the first step, but true progress happens when we apply practical, evidence-based strategies to address it.
Now that we’ve laid the groundwork, here’s how you can take action when your team needs you most:
1. Establish Emotional Safety
First and foremost, you need to create an environment where employees feel valued, heard, and safe to speak up. Without this type of workplace culture, it’s nearly impossible to navigate challenges effectively—since employees are hesitant to be honest or come forward with concerns.
When employees voice concerns or emotions, always listen actively and validate their experiences without judgment. It helps reduce anxiety, avoids re-traumatization, and builds trust.
2. Demonstrate Empathy
Part of leading through trauma is the ability to understand—and demonstrate compassion for—the experiences and perspectives of people who look to you for guidance. This is most commonly reinforced through meaningful, supportive conversations.
You can demonstrate empathy by using reassuring, emotionally attuned language like:
- “If you need to adjust your schedule or take some time, we’ll support you.”
- “It’s okay if you’re not at 100% right now. Let’s figure out what would help.”
- “I understand that balancing work with personal challenges is tough at the moment. We’re committed to providing any resources or support you might need.”
3. Practice Deliberate Decision-Making During a Crisis
As a manager, it’s natural to feel pressure to act quickly during a crisis, but deliberate decision-making is best for supporting your team’s mental health in the long run. You can achieve this by pausing to assess the situation, listening closely to your team’s needs, and considering the long-term impact of your actions.
4. Implement a Zero-Tolerance Policy for Harassment and Retaliation
When employees know that harassment or violence will not be tolerated under any circumstances, it provides peace of mind—knowing the company is committed to holding individuals accountable should an incident occur. Plus, it not only helps prevent the immediate harm of inappropriate behavior, but also the long-term psychological impacts that can lead to trauma.
You can start by drafting a zero-tolerance statement similar to the following:
Our company maintains a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and violence. Any form of physical, verbal, or emotional abuse, including discrimination, bullying, or threats, will not be tolerated. Violations will result in immediate disciplinary action, up to and including termination. Employees are encouraged to report incidents without fear of retaliation.
5. Provide Access to Immediate Support
Every manager should be able to direct employees to a clear, accessible pathway for assistance following traumatic workplace events. This includes crisis intervention services, such as on-site or virtual mental health professionals and Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), as well as crisis hotlines for 24/7 support.
6. Offer Flexible Work Arrangements
Another way to immediately accommodate an employee who has experienced trauma is by offering adjusted work hours, remote work, or lighter duties while they’re navigating the healing process. Or, in certain cases, it may be best to encourage the employee to take paid time off, like bereavement leave or mental health days, so they can have the necessary time and space to heal without the added stress of financial hardship.
7. Participate in Specialized Training
One of the most reassuring things for employers to know is that they don’t have to navigate employee mental health challenges on their own—there are tailored training opportunities designed specifically to help. Programs like The Working Mind offer a dedicated module for managers that takes the guesswork out of what to say and do. It includes practical tools like questions to guide mental health conversations, a Return to Work and Accommodations Checklist, and strategies for strengthening staff resiliency—so you can approach difficult situations with care and confidence.
Ready to Better Support Your Team?
Strong leadership is about more than hitting targets—it’s about showing up when people need you most. Train your managers to lead through trauma the right way.