Analysis of a Case Study of Trauma in the Workplace
By
David M. Noy Sr.
University of the Rockies

Abstract
This paper examines a case study performed on an organization merging two business units into a single entity. The result was the employees from the smaller of the units felt a loss of identity, confidence, and of hope and meaning. The organization realized six months after the merger that there were unresolved issues that had traumatized the employees affected by the merger and how the organization worked with the employee to allow healing and the ability to move on and embrace the new direction of the organization.
Introduction
Trauma is a real thing within the organizational structure and does affect the emotional well-being and perception of the employee and how the employee views the organization. Organizations engage in restructuring all the time and at times the restructuring comes from the top down and the employee must adapt to the restructuring or fail within the new structure of the organization. This organizational restructuring can cause trauma to the employees who are involved with the restructuring.
Case Study In today’s society, we read about cases of workplace violence and visibly see the trauma that the victims experience. Unresolved emotional trauma in many organizations blocks peoples’ capacity and ability to perform (de Klerk, 2007). The de Klerk, 2007 case study looks at how mergers, downsizing, outsourcing, restructuring, and continual organizational changes not only effects the individuals involved but those who actually witness the event. The organizational change is enough to cause emotional power to overwhelm the coping capabilities of the individual like the experience of betrayal of trust, invasion of personal space, various forms of harassment, and abuse of power. On the flipside if an individual is too successful then that person can experience emotional trauma by the increase of responsibilities, loneliness, loss of peer support, envy, and loss of gender role. The trauma is brought on by a change in the day to day life of the individual because the individual has developed an attachment to the thing that has become engrained into their daily life. Attachment, loss, and trauma are linked together (de Klerk, 2007). When the job and the people we work with become important then any change in that structure can cause a sense of loss and trauma for the individual. Physical loss can be traumatic to the individual but the loss of abstract attributes can cause emotional responses. Even minor loss can cause devastation in the employees’ lives. Even after the event the effects of trauma can still be felt. During the event the body is working in a higher gear and after the event the body can become “frozen” and the individuals nervous system can be maintained at high alert. Trauma is not only a one-time event but can have an accumulative effect on the individual. Additional traumatic events can build up in the individual and the new experiences can be weighted with the past and present threats. Organizations that are involved in a change believe that if they are able to sell the change in a large and comprehensive manner then all employees will buy into the change. Management models believe that if a clear vision of the organization is articulated properly then everyone will be fine and accepted the change in the organization. The organization needs to take into account the employee who may be damaged by the change, and that individual needs to be healed. The selling of the new vision for individuals who are in “grief” about the change in the organization ignore the pain and sense of loss that the individual is feeling and may not address the underlying grief. The symptoms of grief are a natural thing to experience and should not be viewed as a weakness, an illness, or disorder. A restorative response to an emotional injury is positive and necessary to the healing process. The case study involved the merger of two business units within an organization resulting in reorganization and dissemination of functions in the smaller of the business units. The result of the merger was a loss of positions within the smaller of the units even after the employees were assured there would be no loss of positions during the merger. Six months after the merger, management and sales came together for a strategic planning session to discuss their function. It became quickly apparent that the team was unprepared to move forward and embrace the future of the organization. The new team was still grounded in the hurt feelings of the past and the employees from the smaller business unit still associated with the former team rather than with the new one. It became very clear that the team needed to work through the trauma before they could embrace the new and promising future. The strategic process was halted and the team went through a one day session to deal with the trauma the team was feeling. The team was asked to draw pictures in answering two questions “What have we actually lost?” and “How do we feel about it?” (de Klerk, 2007). The results of the pictures showed that the affected employees were able to symbolize, share, and discuss their intense feelings of loss in a non-threating environment. The individuals who experienced the trauma realized that they loss a sense of confidence, identify, and loss of hope and meaning. Once the employee shared their pictures and feelings, they realized that they were not alone in their feelings. The process of sharing their feelings allowed the employees to take the sting out of the trauma and allowed the employees to be able to embrace their future within the organization. The team was asked to draw pictures in answering two more questions “What have we gained?” and “Why can we can carry on?” (de Klerk, 2007). The exercise showed the team members that they were part of a larger organization that offered more opportunities for personal growth and individual development. That process of opening the emotional wounds in a creative and non-threating environment enabled the team to heal and experience a sense of relief as a result of the process. The case study showed an example of how an organization can address and heal trauma within the organization. The above case study illustrates the application of a therapeutic model for healing emotional trauma. This model is comprised of four integrated steps: (1) acknowledge the existence of trauma; (2) provide a safe place to work through the trauma; (3) symbolize the trauma; and (4) allowing emotions and dealing with the emotions
(de Klerk, 2007). Organizations must acknowledge that there is trauma within the organization and build the capacity to deal with the trauma in order to move on. Acknowledging the existence of trauma and supporting the process of healing is the most important role of the leader of the process (de Klerk, 2007). The symptoms of trauma can be associated with weakness and the organization needs to provide a safe place for the traumatized employee to express their feelings without the fear of being stigmatized. Symbolizing the trauma allows the individual to bring it into an awareness and to be able to see the whole of the trauma and experience the emotion mentally. Finally, the organization needs to allow the individuals to experience the trauma because trauma is associated with loss and loss lead to grieving. Grieving is a process of emotional healing and takes time and patience to complete in order for the individual to move forward.
Organizational Intervention As a consultant, I would look at the Technological Intervention approach to attempt to gather the information from the employees involved in the case study. In the case study the trauma to the employees was not discovered until six months after the merger of the two business units. The technological intervention can look at the structure within the new business unit and receive feedback from the employees within the unit. I feel that the best way to deal with this would be to allow the affected employees an opportunity to submit their feedback anonymously at first because there may be a lack of trust. The initial merger most likely damaged the trust between the employee and the organization, and being anonymous will allow the employee to feely speak their minds without fear of reprisal from the organization. In the survey tool ‘Trauma survivors’ voices should be heard without imposing our own epistemic biases (Hope & Ericksen, 2007). Once the surveys have been collected, as the consultant, I would look at setting up small groups within the affected units. I would act as the facilitator so the employee can feel better about discussing the trauma that is effecting their capacity to cope with the trauma. Getting the employee to discuss what is bothering them about the reorganization can allow the employee to heal and move forward and embrace the change within the organization. The major problem to this approach to dealing with the trauma within the organization would be that the process would have been started after the trauma has been experienced by the employees. The facilitator would need to gain the trust of the traumatized employee and to have them freely express what has happened to them either individually or in a small group setting. If this cannot be accomplished then the whole process would most likely fail and the traumatized employee would not have the opportunity to heal and move forward. In the design of the intervention, I would do the following; * Compile a list of affected employees and their work history * Develop a survey to capture the range of emotions caused by the merger * Collect surveys and set up individual or small group sessions * Assist individuals expressing feels caused by merger * Set up ongoing sessions to address feelings and assist employees in connecting with the organization
The main focus of the intervention would be the sitting down with the employee(s) and discuss how the merger has effected them as an employee within the organization. In this case study, I believe that if the organization had been proactive in getting the feedback from the employees before the merger of the two business units the trauma experienced by the employees would have been lessened. Involving the employees in the process from the start would have been to correct way to implement any organizational change. When an employee feels that the input that they give is seriously being heard and considered by the management of the organization. Not all of the input from the employee will be considered or implemented but that same employee may feel better about how the organization is being changed and their role within that organization.
Conclusion
The organization restructured by merging two business units into a single unit realized after the fact that the restructuring traumatized the employees involved. The professional came in to assist the employees deal with the trauma by utilizing art to answer some simple questions about how the merger affected their place within the organization. Artwork consists of a process and a product. The product has interpretive value and is given much importance compared with the process (Ahmed & Siddiqi, 2006).

References
Ahmend, S. Haroon & Siddiqi, M. Naim. (2006). Essay healing through art therapy in disaster Settings. Lancet, 368, 528-529. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69916-9 de Klerk, M., (2007). Healing emotional trauma in organizations: An O.D. framework and case study. Organization Development Journal, 25(2), 49-55. (ESSCOhost Accession Number: AN 26232912).
Hope, Angela & Erikson, Matthew. (2009). From military sexual trauma to ‘organizational- trauma’: practicing ‘poetics of testimony’. Culture and Organization, 15(1), 109-127. doi: 10.1080/1475950802709582