Twenty-Sixth International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

We present a field-tested well-being intervention in county human-service agencies that equips staff and supervisors with brief, repeatable micro-practices to steady judgment, reduce stress, and strengthen team climate amid uncertainty. The intervention aimed to reduce secondary/traumatic stress, increase emotion regulation and mindfulness, and improve workplace culture in response to burnout, turnover risk, and workforce shortages that disrupt access and continuity. The program offered usable tools for work and personal life; theoretically, it showed how micro-practices seed meso-level culture signals (belonging, camaraderie, managerial support), positioning caring as organizational infrastructure. Intersecting social work, organizational studies and occupational health, this organizational intervention engages frontline practitioners and leaders via mixed-methods evaluation. Using a mixed-methods design since 2016, we paired pre-post surveys (reappraisal, mindfulness, coping self-efficacy, life satisfaction, STS/PTSS) with qualitative analysis of participant experience and tool use. Delivered in three modules across ~21 weeks (weekly 90-minute sessions), the program was facilitated on-site by curriculum creators and trained agency facilitators; effectiveness assessed with seven validated scales plus thematic analysis. Across settings, we observed gains in emotion regulation, mindfulness, coping self-efficacy, and life satisfaction, with PTSS/STS declines and reports of stronger belonging and communication; limitations included small sample sizes and participants’ variability in utilization of tools. Findings suggest that brief, practice-anchored tools—paired with leadership alignment and internal facilitator capacity — shift in organizational culture and functioning, influencing practice behaviors, and ultimately impacting clients’ outcomes. Further longitudinal research is warranted to understand sustainability, effects on retention and service continuity.