The Protective Effects of Hope Training on the Human Service Workforce Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress

Workplace stress and burnout are a concern among human service leaders. Organizations need evidence-driven enhancements and actionable strategies that impact employee wellbeing. This study evaluates employee-focused training that draws from theory and research on hope in a large, multi-agency human service organization. The training used both in-person and asynchronous learning. A nonrandomized comparison group design with retrospective posttest assessment was used to investigate the potential impact of participation in hope training on workforce burnout and secondary trauma. Findings demonstrate statistically significant differences between those who completed training and those in the control group with no training.