Our Services
Trauma-Informed HR Reviews
An expert review of your HR policies, procedures, and workplace practices to identify where small changes create safer, more supportive environments for your people.
- Trauma-informed
- Lived experience
- 15+ years’ experience
When the handbook stops matching how the organisation really behaves
Most HR documentation is written to protect the organisation: compliant, cautious, and quiet about the parts of working life that cause the most harm. Over time a gap opens between what the policy says and what managers actually do, and nobody notices until a grievance, a resignation, or a complaint forces the issue.
A trauma-informed review closes that gap. It looks at how people experience your processes, not only whether those processes exist on paper, and it tells you where risk is hiding and what would make the biggest difference first.
What the review covers
Policies and handbooks
We read your policies as an employee would: what they promise, what they leave unsaid, and where the language or process could make it harder for someone to raise a concern or ask for support.
Processes that carry risk
Grievance, absence, disciplinary, and case-handling routes are reviewed end to end, including the points where people disengage: unclear timelines, informal steps, and decisions taken without a record.
Culture and management practice
We look at how managers are supported to use the framework, whether expectations are consistent across teams, and how psychological safety shows up in ordinary conversations.
Confidential staff insight
Where it is safe and appropriate, we gather staff feedback so the findings reflect lived experience rather than assumption. Anonymity is protected and no individual is ever identified.
Who is a trauma-informed HR review for?
HR & people teams
Teams who know their policies need updating but are not sure where the real risks and gaps are hiding.
Values-led employers
Organisations that want their day-to-day people practices to match the culture they claim to have.
Charities & public sector
Funders and commissioners increasingly expect evidence of trauma-informed, people-first practice.
Common questions
How long does a review take?
It depends on the size of the organisation and the volume of documentation involved. Most reviews run across a few weeks, and we agree the schedule with you before we begin.
Will we have to share sensitive case files?
No. We work from policies, process documentation, and anonymised examples. Anything you share is treated as confidential, and no individual is identified in the report.
Are you checking up on our current practice?
No. The purpose is to find what is already working and build from it. Most people who commission a review know something needs attention. The review gives them a structure and a shared language for it.
Can you help us put the recommendations in place?
Yes. Many organisations continue with advisory support or training after a review, so the changes reach practice instead of staying in a document.
Ready to work together?
Get in touch and let us talk about how Nova & Root can support your organisation.
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