Organizational Compassion and Workforce Well-Being

While research demonstrates child welfare workers are at an increased risk of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and burnout (BO), less is known about organizational factors that reduce these negative health outcomes. This study draws on organizational research to explore factors related to child welfare workers’ well-being. Compassion climate is an individual-level measure of compassion experienced by a worker. Organizational culture of compassion is an meso-level measure of everyday practices of compassion. This cross-sectional study uses a sample of child welfare workers in one Midwestern state (n = 454). Participants completed the Professional Quality of Life and organizational compassion climate and culture measure. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the relationship between STS, BO, and compassion satisfaction (CS) with organizational compassion climate and culture. Results revealed organizational climate statistically significantly predicted lower STS, BO, and higher CS. However, the inclusion of organizational culture measures rendered organizational climate no longer significant. Organizational culture measures statistically significantly predicted lower BO and higher CS. Only one organizational culture measure predicted lower STS, namely help offering. Overall results suggest organizational culture being more important to well-being than organizational climate and provide initial evidence for organizational compassion as one pathway toward positive well-being among child welfare workers.