We are pleased to share an insightful article from our Founding Member, Treena Reilkoff. Treena Reilkoff is a Conflict Management & Resiliency Specialist with over 25 years of experience in trauma-informed practices, mental health, and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
In high-stakes environments such as those navigated by resilient risk professionals, emergency management, and business continuity experts, managing conflict effectively and fostering a psychologically safe workplace is paramount. Understanding the intricate dynamics of conflict, promoting psychosocial well-being, and embracing diverse perspectives are not merely beneficial—they are essential. By addressing the risk mitigation with a trauma informed intersectional and neurodiverse lens, we can ensure a comprehensive approach to managing risks, hazards, and control measures.
Conflict Management is Risk Mitigation
Conflict is an inevitable aspect of any professional environment and mitigating risk. For those involved in risk management and emergency response, the stakes are often higher, and the repercussions of unknown and unresolved conflict can be significant. Recognizing the root causes of conflict and understanding its psychological, emotional, and somatic impacts are the first steps towards upskilling one’s professional competencies. Trauma-informed Leadership is essential for addressing conflicts during crisis in a way that acknowledges past traumas and avoids re-traumatization. This approach involves understanding the prevalence of trauma, recognizing its signs and symptoms, integrating knowledge about trauma into practices and policies, and having knowledge and skills to defuse a client, if you recognize a trauma/stress response.
Trauma Informed and Intersectionality As Risk Professionals
The framework of a trauma-informed risk professional includes being Trauma Sensitive and Trauma Aware. This requires understanding of trauma informed principles within any work environment. Trauma Informed Principles include promote awareness and transparency, shift attitudes, foster trust and safety, provide choice and empowerment and highlight resilient strengths. Understanding and implementing this practice is critical in creating a psychologically health and safe work environment to mitigate re-traumatization or cause psychological harm and injury as a risk professional. By implementing these principles, we can mitigate the risk of psychological harm/injury to our clients and support the overall health and safety in the environmental contexts we work in.
Intersectionality plays a crucial role in conflict resolution. It involves understanding how different aspects of a person's identity (e.g., race, gender, socioeconomic status) interact to shape their experiences and perspectives. Recognizing and valuing these diverse perspectives and experiences lead to more inclusive and equitable outcomes within a critical incident. Cultural competency training, and personalized approaches are strategies that enhance our ability to manage conflicts inclusively. By engaging in Self Reflection Strengthens Resiliency (SRSR) and reviewing our own social histories that include intergenerational and historical conflict and trauma, we become more aware of how environmental contexts and critical incidents may escalate conflict within the environments and clients we work with. By considering intersectional identities, we can address potential hazards related to discrimination and bias, thereby promoting a safer and more respectful workplace. By considering our own intersectional identities, we are more prepared to minimize or prevent direct or vicarious trauma in our risk professional roles.
Understanding Neurodivergence is a Risk Mitigation Asset
Neurodiversity, which acknowledges the natural variations in human cognition, including conditions like autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, is another essential consideration. Understanding neurodiversity is crucial in risk mitigation as it enables tailored communication, addresses sensory issues, enhances problem-solving, and reduces stress in crisis situations. Risk professionals should recognize individual needs, implement flexible procedures, provide training and awareness, and establish support systems. By accommodating different cognitive styles, we can mitigate risks associated with misunderstandings and miscommunications. This approach promotes inclusivity and improves overall crisis response effectiveness. Embracing neurodiversity enhances safety and efficiency during crises.
Identifying Psychosocial Risk and Hazards Improves Situational Awareness
As risk professionals understanding underlying organizational psychosocial risks is imperative in business continuity and improving situational awareness post a critical incident. These organizational factors will impact the organizational health, the health of individual employees and the financial bottom line, inclusive on the way work is carried out and the context in which work occurs post a critical incident. The 13 identified psychosocial factors are: Balance; Civility and Respect; Clear Leadership and Expectations; Engagement; Growth and Development; Involvement and Influence; Organizational Culture; Protection of Physical Safety; Psychological Competencies and Demands; Psychological Protection; Psychological and Social Support; Recognition and Reward and Workload Management.
As risk and business continuity professionals, including psychosocial well-being is fundamental to creating and/or restoring a psychologically safe workplace. Within business continuity ensuring there are control measure in place to enhance the physical and psychological safety of the clients and overall organization, you are providing a next level of risk mitigation in your professional roles. You are now integrating psychosocial risk mitigation, as component of increasing situational awareness and preparedness.
Situational awareness is critical for proactive risk management and conflict prevention. It involves being aware of what is happening around you and understanding how information, events, and your actions will impact goals and objectives. Techniques for enhancing situational awareness include continuous training, technology integration, and thorough debriefing and reflection. By staying vigilant and prepared, we can anticipate potential physical and psychosocial conflicts and address them before they escalate, thus mitigating risks and ensuring a safer work environment.
Interviewing and Communicating
Ensuring that interview practices prevent re-traumatization or psychological injury is also crucial. This involves recognizing psychosocial, environmental, and social factors that may affect individuals during interviews. When we communicate, we either contribute to creating a threat response or a reward/safe response. Developing safe interviewing skills includes pre-interview preparation, using trauma-informed techniques, and offering follow-up support. By creating a supportive environment during interviews, we can prevent psychological harm and promote a culture of care and respect as risk professionals.
Self Reflection Strengthens Conflict and Trauma Resiliency (SRSR)
SRSR concept is a powerful tool. For personal and professional transformational growth, it involves critically examining one’s past actions, decisions, and their impacts, and preparation to the exposure of a future critical incident, conflict and /or adversity. For resilient risk professionals, regular self-reflection enhances situational awareness, improves decision-making under pressure and upskills one’s performance competencies when providing services. As they say
“Don’t ever let a good crisis go to waste”,
...thus leveraging past experiences and insight into human, social and environmental differences, enhances self-awareness for personal, professional, organizational and operational risk mitigation and antifragility.
Why Join The Resilient Think Tank
At the Resilient Think Tank collaboration of our experiences and learning from independent professionals is the foundation of embracing the dynamic world we live in, where risk mitigation is constant. We know and value the importance of working together and/or with diverse teams to leverage different perspectives and expertise. Effective collaboration leads to more innovative and effective solutions in risk management and conflict resolution.
Overall, conflict that presents as workplace violence and harassment is a worldwide issue within our workplace cultures. Mitigating psychosocial risks and hazards in the workplace requires a comprehensive understanding of hindsight, insight, and foresight, related to human behaviour. This involves learning from past experiences (hindsight), understanding the current situation (insight), and anticipating future challenges (foresight). The concepts of hindsight, insight and foresight are brought to the forefront by the new approach to risk mitigation and business strategies called “Presilience”, by Dr. Gav Schneider of Risk Solution Group. Thus, when we are open to these perspectives as leaders and risk professionals, we can develop strategies and plans to address potential risks and ensure both a physical and psychological safer and more inclusive work environment.
Conflict management is risk mitigation. For resilient risk professionals, emergency management, and business continuity experts, mastering advanced conflict resolution techniques is vital. By integrating trauma-informed, intersectional, and neurodiverse approaches, promoting psychosocial well-being, and enhancing situational awareness, we can create and support leaders, businesses and organizations in sustaining psychologically health and safe workplaces. Through self-reflection (SRSR) and collaboration, we strengthen our resiliency and build more effective and innovative solutions. Ultimately, as risk professionals understanding hindsight, insight, and foresight is crucial for mitigating psychosocial risks and hazards, ensuring a safer and more inclusive work environment for all.
Author: Treena Reilkoff
A.D.F | Mediator | QMED | WFA | PHSA | BA | BSW
TLR Solutions4Conflict INC. and Founding Member of Resilient Think Tank
Treena Reilkoff is a Conflict Management & Resiliency Specialist with over 25 years of experience in trauma-informed practices, mental health, and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). As the founder of TLR Solutions4Conflict and a Founding Member of the Resilience Think Tank, she promotes strategies for building personal and professional resiliency in the workplace. Treena is an international trainer and speaker on Resiliency and Trauma Informed Management, with a background in mental health, corrections, military/veteran affairs, and social work. She is a co-author of three upcoming international books and holds numerous certifications, including Qualified Mediator and Certified Resiliency Trainer.
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