Building a Trauma-Informed Workplace (Part 3 of 6)
Trust and Transparency in Leadership
Reading time: 5 to 7 minutes
If safety is the foundation of a trauma-informed workplace, then trust and transparency are the walls that protect it. In environments where staff experience heavy workloads, turnover, and constant change, the absence of trust erodes morale and breeds disengagement.
Trust and transparency are not lofty ideals—they are daily practices. They are built (or broken) in small, consistent choices: whether leaders share information openly, whether supervisors follow through on commitments, and whether staff can rely on communication being timely and truthful. In trauma-informed systems, trust and transparency are recognized as cornerstones of resilience (SAMHSA, 2020).
When trust and transparency are prioritized:
Staff gain confidence in the organization’s direction, even during uncertainty. Clear communication prevents rumors and reduces anxiety.
Supervisors increase credibility when they name challenges honestly, rather than staying silent or vague.
Administrators model integrity when they share how and why decisions are made, even when those decisions involve hard trade-offs.
What does this look like in practice?
For staff, trust means being able to ask clarifying questions about workloads, policies, or expectations without fear of being dismissed.
For supervisors, transparency may look like saying: “I don’t know the answer yet, but I’ll find out and get back to you by Friday.”
For administrators, trust grows when communication is proactive, not reactive. Holding regular briefings to explain organizational decisions prevents misinformation from filling the void.
The cost of mistrust is high. Studies show that a lack of transparency contributes to stress, reduces job satisfaction, and accelerates turnover in human service organizations (Morse et al., 2022). But when trust is consistently cultivated, staff feel valued, supervisors experience relief in not having to “have it all figured out,” and clients benefit from more stable and coordinated services.
Transparency doesn’t mean oversharing or eliminating all uncertainty—it means providing honest, consistent communication that staff can rely on. Over time, this creates the conditions for loyalty, stability, and resilience.
Try this strategy: Try a weekly “honest check-in” with a peer or colleague. Share one genuine success and one real challenge from the week.
Something to ponder: How does transparency—or the lack of it—impact my sense of security and commitment at work?