Episode 9: How Domestic Violence Impacts Team Morale and Workplace Culture

Domestic violence doesn’t stop at the front door of your workplace, and the fallout rarely stays contained to one employee. 

In this episode, we’re talking about what actually happens to team morale and workplace culture when threats, harassment, and fear bleed into the workday and why focusing on the victim isn't enough.  If you’re in HR, management, or leadership, this is the kind of risk that can quietly grow until it becomes a crisis.

We walk through the five most common ways domestic violence impacts your workplace' culture: 

• increased anxiety and fear 
• lower productivity across the team 
• resentment and burnout from extra coverage 
• erosion of trust in leadership 
• eventual turnover 

I will share a personal story to show how domestic violence spillover looked like unreliability, not the danger behind the behavior, and how that impacted the people I worked with and for.  

Then we get practical. We name 2 common mistakes organizations make and lay out 7 practical steps that help! 

If you want a safer workplace and stronger employee retention, this is a roadmap you can use.

If you get value here, please Subscribe, Share this with an HR peer, and Leave A Review so more leaders build workplaces where safety is part of the culture.  Thank you!

Transcript

Why Culture Matters For Safety

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Safe Work Advantage Podcast, where we help HR professionals, managers, and business leaders create safer, more supportive workplaces for employees facing domestic violence. I'm April Hardy, survivor, crime victim advocate, and founder of In Case I Murdered LLC. And this show is where compassion meets compliance and safety meets strategy. This is episode 9, how domestic violence impacts team morale and workplace culture. Workplace culture doesn't happen by accident, it's cultivated. So the question is, are you intentionally building a culture of safety, support, and value or allowing one to exist where employees feel like nameless cogs in a machine? When domestic violence enters your workplace, it doesn't just affect the victim. It ripples through your entire team. Morale drops, trust erodes, productivity suffers. If you don't address it properly, you can lose good employees who feel unsafe, unsupported, or burned out from the chaos. Let me walk you through the most common ways domestic violence damages team morale, what it means for your organization, and what you can do to cultivate a workplace culture where your employees feel safe, seen, and valued.

Five Ways Morale Gets Damaged

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Domestic violence creates stress, fear, and uncertainty, not just for the victim, but for everyone who witnesses the spillover. Here are five unexpected ways it can impact your organization. Number one, increased anxiety and fear. If an abuser shows up at the workplace or makes threats, employees feel unsafe. They worry about their own safety, they question whether management will protect them, and they may start looking for jobs elsewhere. Number two, decreased productivity across the team. When an employee is being harassed at work through constant phone calls or surprise visits, it's not just their productivity that suffers. Coworkers can become distracted, concerned, and unable to focus on their own work. Number three, resentment and burnout. When one employee's personal crisis creates extra work for others, covering shifts, handling their responsibilities, or dealing with the emotional fallout, resentment can build. Team members may feel it's unfair that they're being impacted by someone else's situation. Number four, erosion of trust in leadership. If management responds poorly by blaming the victim, ignoring the problem, or failing to provide support, employees lose trust in leadership. They see that the company doesn't truly care about employee well-being and morale plummets. Number five, high turnover. Employees who feel unsafe or unsupported will leave. And when good people leave because of a toxic or dangerous work environment, it costs you far more than just a replacement hire. It damages your culture and your reputation. Let me say that list another way. Number one, emotion leads to, I don't feel safe. Number two, function, I can't focus. Number three, team impact. This is affecting others. Number four, leadership failure, we don't trust management. Number five, outcome, we're leaving. And here are a few additional quick facts that are important for you to know. The hotline.org says that 79% of survivors say domestic violence makes it harder for them to work. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, about 74% of employed domestic violence survivors report being harassed at work by their abuser. Employees who witness workplace violence or harassment are significantly more likely to experience stress, burnout, and disengagement. In fact, a majority of employees say they would consider leaving a job if they felt unsafe or unsupported. And organizations with strong safety policies and supportive workplace cultures consistently see higher employee retention and engagement.

A Real Story Of Spillover

SPEAKER_00 4:44

When I was working as a 911 dispatcher, I thought I was doing a good job of keeping my personal life separate from my work. I showed up. I did my job. I kept my head down. I didn't realize how my situation was impacting the people around me at the time. My coworkers saw me crying when I thought I was hiding it. They heard the tension in my voice during personal calls. They had to cover for me so that I could meet my fiance at the hospital when he said our baby girl had fallen onto the hardwood floor from several feet up. I wasn't a teammate to them. I couldn't be. Trying to do my job, care for my daughter, and survive my life took more than I had. Over time, that starts to wear on a team. Not because anyone is doing something wrong, but because there's pressure that no one knows how to address. And then there was the silence, and that's where trust starts to erode. Nobody talked to me about what was happening until I put in my notice, and even then, it was really indirect. Not because people didn't care, but because they didn't know what to do. Later, when I owned my own business, I saw the ripple effect from a different angle. I had clients and business relationships depending on me, but again, I was in survival mode. I had to cancel jobs last minute. I showed up distracted or shaken. I accidentally broke things. I forgot appointments. And from the outside, those people didn't see the danger I was in. They saw unreliability. That's what spillover really looks like. It doesn't stay contained. It affects performance, team dynamics, trust, and long-term relationships. And when there's no workplace culture that says it's safe to talk about what's happening, everyone ends up carrying the impact in silence. And silence is where risk grows.

Mistakes To Avoid And What Works

SPEAKER_00 6:49

We've talked about the problem. Now let's talk about what you can do about it. First, two critical mistakes that your organization should avoid. Mistake number one, ignoring the impact on the broader team. When you focus only on the victim and forget that their co-workers are also affected, you create resentment, burnout, and turnover. You want to address the ripple effects proactively. Mistake number two, oversharing personal details to justify decisions. You can communicate that there's a safety concern and outline protocols without disclosing private information about the victim's situation. Protect confidentiality while still keeping your team informed to build trust and respect. Now here are seven practical steps that your organization should take. Number one, establish a clear workplace violence and domestic violence policy. Start with a clear written policy that addresses domestic violence and workplace safety. Employees need to know what support exists, and leadership needs a framework to act from. If there is no policy, there is no foundation. This is number one because everything else depends on it. It sets expectations and it signals that safety matters. Number two, designate a trained response person or team. Assign a trained person or team to handle safety concerns confidentially. When something happens, your organization shouldn't be deciding who's in charge. It should already be clear. Someone has to own the response. Without ownership, there is confusion, there are delays, and there is increased risk. Having a designated and trained responder or team prevents everyone assuming that someone else will handle it. Number three, create a threat assessment and response protocol. Have a clear process for assessing risk, what's been said, what's been done, and what level of threat exists, so your response matches the situation. This moves you from emotional reaction to structured decision making, and it's critical for liability and safety. Not all situations are equal. Your responses shouldn't be either. Build an emergency action plan for immediate threats. Your team needs to know exactly what to do if someone shows up or a threat becomes immediate. Who calls law enforcement? How should communication happen? Should you lock down or evacuate? This isn't a policy that only lives on paper. It's an up-to-date plan that is known by everyone who needs to know it. Because this is where seconds matter. It's where tragedies happen. And it's where many organizations fail. Number five, train managers and supervisors accordingly. Train your managers to recognize warning signs and respond appropriately, because in most cases, they're the ones having to respond in a crisis. Managers are your front line, and most are unprepared. They often notice changes in employees early on and are sometimes the first point of disclosure. Proper training is so important. Number six, build safety into your culture. Employees need to know that there are policies and plans in place in the event of violence occurring at the workplace or the threat of violence impacting any employees. They need to know that there are resources available to them and that they can come forward with concerns without fear of punishment, judgment, or job loss, and that their information will be handled with care. You can easily include this information in new hire materials, post it in the workplace, and talk about it at meetings and in other organizational communications. Most victims don't disclose intimate partner violence or threats. Workplace culture determines whether risk is hidden or addressed. Number seven, offer practical support and accommodations. Provide real support, flexible scheduling, time off for safety planning, adjusted work locations, adjusted parking locations, or access to resources so employees don't have to choose between safety and employment. This is what allows employees to stay safe long term, and it reinforces everything we've talked about today. It's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

Tools Resources And Closing

SPEAKER_00 11:35

We would love to come alongside you to make safety a part of your workplace's culture. Safe Work Advantage gives victims access to personal threat assessment and safety planning tools, confidentially and at their own pace. The annual subscription gives HR leaders peace of mind, knowing that employee support is available without adding to their workload. Check it out at Incasimurdered.com. Thanks for listening to the Safework Advantage podcast. If you found this helpful, be sure to subscribe and share it with someone in your network. For free tools, templates, and workplace resources, you can visit IncasImmurdered.comslash safe work. Until I see you again, stay safe and help others do the same.