Designing Organizations That Heal, Not Harm

I still remember my first job out of design school. I was in my mid-twenties, excited, and ready to change the world through good design. What I found instead was an environment that nearly broke me before my career even began.

The creative director would publicly tear apart junior designers' work in team meetings, using humiliation as motivation. Overtime was expected but never acknowledged. When I suggested we needed better systems for file organization, I was told to "stay in my lane." The message was clear: you're replaceable, your voice doesn't matter, and your well-being is secondary to our output.

I lasted for about 12 months and hung on for as long as I could because I needed the experience and, to be honest, the money. I had just moved out of my Mom's home and was rooming with one of my best friends at the time. Looking back, that experience taught me something crucial: organizations don't just produce products or services—they produce people. And too many are producing damaged, burnt-out, disillusioned people who carry that harm forward into their next role, their relationships, and their communities.

The Hidden Cost of Harmful Cultures

Twenty years later, I see that same toxicity everywhere. Teams navigating trauma, burnout, and change fatigue. Leaders who mean well but operate from systems designed to extract rather than nurture. Organizations that talk about "culture fit" while perpetuating environments that harm the very people they claim to value.

The statistics are staggering: 76% of employees experience workplace burnout, turnover costs companies up to 200% of an employee's salary, and quiet quitting has become a national conversation. But these challenges hit some communities harder than others.

Current unemployment data reveals persistent disparities—as of Q1 2025, Black workers face unemployment at nearly twice the rate of white workers (1.9-to-1 ratio), while Hispanic workers are 1.5 times more likely to be unemployed than their white counterparts. In some states like Michigan, D.C., and Kentucky, Black unemployment rates reach between 9.5% - 10%, creating an environment where people may feel they have to endure toxic workplaces simply because opportunities are scarce.

At the same time, organizations are increasingly expecting more output from fewer people. Since January 2025 alone, over 2,000 companies have announced mass layoffs, with at least 95,000 tech workers laid off in 2024 continuing into 2025. Companies like Microsoft have cut 6,000 employees (3% of staff), while Meta laid off 3,600 workers, and Intel announced plans to reduce its workforce by 20%. Yet productivity expectations haven't decreased—in fact, recent workplace data shows that mentions of being overworked are up 12% compared to 2019, and mentions of burnout have increased by 42% on employee review sites.

When job security is uncertain, opportunities feel limited, and workloads are increasing while teams are shrinking, the power dynamic between employer and employee becomes even more unbalanced. People stay in harmful environments longer—not unlike my own experience, staying for 12 months when I needed the money—because the alternative feels worse. This creates a vicious cycle where organizations can get away with extractive practices because they know workers feel they have fewer options and are already stretched thin.

But here's what those numbers don't capture—the ripple effect of psychological harm that extends far beyond the workplace. When we design organizations that harm, we're not just affecting productivity metrics. We're affecting people's ability to trust, to take creative risks, to bring their full selves to their work. We're sending people home exhausted, cynical, and disconnected from their own sense of purpose.

Moving Beyond "Culture Fit" to Culture Healing

At Hyphens and Spaces, we believe there's a better way. Instead of focusing on whether people "fit" into existing cultures, we help organizations design cultures that heal—environments rooted in psychological safety, repair, and structurally embedded compassion.

This isn't about ping pong tables or casual Fridays. It's about fundamentally rethinking how we structure power, how we handle conflict, how we make decisions, and how we support people through inevitable challenges and changes.

Culture healing means:

• Acknowledging harm when it happens, rather than minimizing or ignoring it

• Creating systems for repair that allow relationships and trust to be rebuilt

• Embedding care into policies, not just hoping individual managers will be kind

• Designing for sustainability rather than extracting maximum output until people burn out

The Bridge Between Care and Operations

Here's what we've learned after years of this work: most organizations understand they need to change, but they struggle with the sustained attention required to bridge the gap between team culture (the unwritten rules) and operations (the written policies and practices).

This bridge-building work is essential for retaining talented people and optimizing organizational effectiveness. But for most organizations, it's not a full-time or permanent role. This creates a cycle of stops and starts, losing momentum, incomplete projects due to changing priorities or turnover.

That's why we've developed our Fractional Senior Leadership Service—a new approach that allows us to be your dedicated partner in resolving persistent issues and staying responsive to urgent, unexpected challenges.

A New Model for Organizational Transformation

Our Fractional Senior Leadership Service operates on a simple premise: lasting change requires sustained relationships, not just project-based interventions.

As your fractional partner, we can take time to build trust with your team while maintaining executive influence, yet remain nimble with power dynamics since we can't hire or fire. We become embedded enough to understand your unique challenges but external enough to see opportunities and offer fresh perspectives with honest, constructive feedback.

This retainer model offers unique advantages:

• Sustained attention to culture and systems work over meaningful periods

• Executive-level influence without internal politics

• Consistent partnership through changing priorities and leadership transitions

• Long-term capacity building that continues after our engagement

• Accessible investment that works even with tight budgets

The accessibility piece is particularly important right now. With so many organizations facing government and external funding cuts—especially nonprofits and social impact organizations that need this support most—we've designed our service to be an affordable option that ensures organizations don't have to choose between not having the help and having the help they need. We believe that budget constraints shouldn't prevent organizations from creating healthier, more sustainable cultures.

Rather than project-based work that ends abruptly, we're invested in your long-term success. We help you create not just immediate solutions but a foundation for ongoing systems that continue building long after our engagement.

Radical Transparency in Partnership

We believe in radical transparency when it comes to our partnership model. Retainer relationships create reliable income for our business, allowing us to focus on achieving lasting organizational transformation rather than constantly pursuing new clients.

When we're not in constant sales mode, we can dedicate more energy to the deep, meaningful work that creates real change. We're so confident in the value we provide that there are no long-term commitments or cancellation fees. Stay as long as you see results and growth.

What Healing-Centered Organizations Look Like

The organizations we partner with are creating something beautiful: workplaces where people actually want to be, where creativity flourishes because psychological safety is prioritized, where challenges are met with collective problem-solving rather than individual blame.

These aren't perfect organizations—they're healing organizations. They make mistakes, but they repair them. They face conflicts, but they navigate them with skill and care. They experience change, but they approach it as a community rather than leaving people to figure it out alone.

Sometimes healing happens through individual acts of care, even within imperfect systems. I experienced this firsthand when I was transitioning between roles recently. My mentor, Scott Schmidt, stepped up during what could have been a challenging period and provided guidance and support that made all the difference. What struck me wasn't just his willingness to help, but how natural it felt, like this was simply what people do for each other during transitions.

Scott's mentorship reminded me that even when organizational systems aren't perfect, individuals can choose to create healing moments. His support wasn't required by any policy or job description—it came from a genuine understanding that transitions are opportunities for growth, not obstacles to navigate alone.

This is what healing-centered culture looks like in practice: people choosing to support each other, especially during times of change, because they understand that our success is interconnected. When this kind of care becomes a shared value that ripples through an entire organization, it creates the foundation for lasting cultural transformation.

Your Role in the Transformation

If you're reading this and recognizing your own organization in the challenges I've described, know that change is possible. If you're carrying your own workplace trauma, know that healing is possible. If you're in leadership and feeling overwhelmed by the gap between your values and your current reality, know that there are partners who can walk alongside you in this work.

The question isn't whether your organization needs to heal—it's whether you're ready to commit to doing the sustained work required to create environments where people can thrive.

Because here's what I know now that I didn't know at my first job out of college: when we design organizations that heal, we don't just change workplaces. We change lives. We change families. We change communities. We create ripple effects of health and well-being that extend far beyond our office walls.

And that's work worth doing.

Ready to explore what healing-centered design could look like in your organization? Let's start a conversation about how our Fractional Senior Leadership Service can support your transformation journey. Reach out to us at hello@hyphensandspaces.com or click here to schedule an exploratory conversation.

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References

• Economic Policy Institute (EPI). "2025 Q1 | State Unemployment by Race and Ethnicity." April 2025. Link

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Employment Situation Summary - 2025 M06 Results." Link

• Crunchbase News. "Tech Layoffs: US Companies With Job Cuts In 2024 And 2025." June 2025. Link

• NerdWallet. "Tech Layoffs in 2025." July 2025. Link

• Intellizence. "Companies that announced Major Layoffs and Hiring Freezes." June 2025. Link

• Equentis. "Mass Layoffs 2025: Key Reasons for Workforce Reduction." March 2025. Link

• The Washington Post. "U.S. workers have gotten way less productive. No one is sure why." November 2022. (Glassdoor burnout and overwork mention data)

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Productivity Home Page." 2025. Link