Between Mission and Malaise: Organizational Culture, Workforce Wellbeing, and Service Integrity in an Urban Public Benefits Agency

Abstract

Public benefits agencies operate at a critical intersection of social welfare policy and frontline service delivery, yet the organizational conditions shaping their workforces remain understudied. This article presents findings from a qualitative organizational assessment conducted with staff at a District of Columbia agency responsible for administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Data were collected through a participatory staff conference using the “Gifts and Grows” framework, which elicited employee perceptions of organizational strengths and areas for improvement. Findings reveal a mission‑driven workforce increasingly burdened by structural deficits in trust, accountability, communication, and leadership responsiveness. Staff exhibited trauma‑ and stress‑related responses—including disengagement, emotional dysregulation, and indicators of secondary traumatic stress—that mirror the adversities experienced by the consumers they serve. Drawing on trauma‑informed public management, employee engagement theory, and parallel process dynamics in human services supervision, this study interprets these findings and offers recommendations for trauma‑informed leadership development, systemic accountability, technology alignment, and the cultivation of psychological safety. The article argues that organizational culture is dynamic rather than static and that investment in workforce wellbeing is inseparable from the agency’s public service mission.