From Staffing to Self-Care: Why Whole-Person Management Matters in Service Organizations

Why “Whole-Person Management” matters right now:

In public-service industries such as librarianship, our work literally flows through our people: the staff who serve community members, create welcoming spaces, and make the mission real. Yet too often we’ve been led by the old paradigm: treat staff as roles, tasks, check-boxes - but I’m here to tell you this: that model no longer matches today’s realities.

The societal backdrop is heavy: rising mental-health needs, unmet supports, and heightened workplace stress. The rapid rollback of the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 under the Reagan administration left a vacuum in community mental-health infrastructure, and many workers carry the consequences of that under-resourced system into their jobs (ALA Journals¹).

Research also shows that stressful work conditions—excessive workloads, low control, role conflict—are major risks to mental health (World Health Organization²). For libraries, nonprofits, and civic organizations, that means shifting how we lead, manage, and support our people. We must adopt a whole-person management mindset: consider the human behind the role, not just the role itself.

What is Whole-Person Management?

At its heart, whole-person management recognizes that team members are not only “staff” or “contributors: - they’re humans with lives, stories, identities, and aspirations beyond their job descriptions.

Three interconnected dimensions bring this idea to life:

Recognition – Seeing the person behind the role—their full context and constraints.
Support – Offering systems and relationships that enable flourishing, not just output.
Integration – Embedding the human reality into how we design work, culture, and performance.

In a people-service context like libraries, this matters especially: our service is inherently human-to-human, and our success depends on the well-being of our staff, not just their tasks.

The context: mental health, burnout, and the service workforce

1. The policy background

The 1980 Mental Health Systems Act sought to strengthen community-based services (Wikipedia⁴), but the 1981 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act dramatically curtailed those provisions (PMC⁵). The results persist: fewer community supports and more individuals with unmet mental-health needs turning to public spaces—libraries among them (Capitol Weekly⁶).

2. Workplace mental health and burnout

“Poor working environments—discrimination, inequality, excessive workload, low job control—pose a risk to mental health,” warns the WHO². Library workers report exhaustion, emotional reactivity, and increased sick days linked to public-facing stress (Library Journal⁷; NewLibs⁸). In service professions, staff carry not only job duties but also community trauma and societal gaps.

3. Linking to leadership

When people face high stress, ambiguous roles, and limited control, the old “manage the role” paradigm fails. Whole-person management asks: How do work and life intersect? What support can leadership provide? A 2023 survey found 77 % of U.S. workers experienced work-related stress in the previous month and 57 % linked it to burnout factors (WORKTECH Academy⁹). Staffing isn’t just filling positions—it’s sustaining people.

How to apply Whole-Person Management

Invite the person behind the role
- Ask in one-on-ones: “What’s happening outside work that might affect how you show up this week?”
- Signal that you see the human, not just the job.
Build whole-person check-ins
- Add questions like “How supported do you feel outside your role this month?”
- Use responses to guide flexible scheduling, mentoring, or resources.
Align systems with human reality
- Recognize multiple roles (caregiver, student, volunteer).
- Train managers in active listening and burnout awareness.
- Create peer networks and human connection opportunities.
Connect work and identity
- Ask, “How does this role connect to what matters to you as a person?”
- Include personal aspirations in development plans.
Institutionalize the mindset
- Embed whole-person principles in onboarding, performance dialogues, and leadership development.
- Offer consulting or training on “whole-person culture design.”
Measure differently
- Keep output metrics and add indicators of human thriving—engagement, well-being, psychological safety.
- Ask, “Did team members feel seen and supported as whole people this quarter?”

Note: This isn’t therapy. It’s professional leadership that honors humanity within clear boundaries and respect for one another.

Why this matters for mission-driven organizations

For organizations rooted in values like truth, connection, and courage, whole-person management is mission-aligned. It moves leadership from transactional logic (roles, outputs) to relational logic (people, meaning).

Public-service professionals bring entire lives of community care and identity to work. Recognizing that truth strengthens the organization: supported humans serve better.

Invest in the person → elevate the role → strengthen the mission.

Closing & call to action

Try one small experiment:
At your next team meeting, ask, “What’s one non-work thing on your mind this week that might affect your work?”

Notice how the conversation changes. That’s where connection begins.

At The Common Collective, we believe leadership isn’t about control—it’s about connection. Whole-person management gives you a lens to lead with both empathy and effectiveness.

Stay tuned for our next newsletter with a downloadable “Whole-Person Check-In” template.

❝

Because when people flourish, communities flourish. 🌿

— Jennifer Baxter, Founder & CEO, The Common Collective

Footnotes

¹ Bell, “The Mental Health Systems Act of 1980.” DttP: Documents to the People, 2021.
² World Health Organization, “Mental Health at Work,” 2024.
³ Cossa Survey, 2023.
⁴ Wikipedia, “Mental Health Systems Act of 1980.”
⁵ Grob, “Public Policy and Mental Illnesses,” Milbank Quarterly, 2005.
⁶ Capitol Weekly, “The Republican Who Emptied the Asylums.”
⁷ Dixon, “Feeling the Burnout,” Library Journal, 2022.
⁸ D’Angelo, “Burnout and Mental Illness in New Librarians,” Journal of New Librarianship, 2023.
⁹ WORKTECH Academy, “2023 Work in America Survey,” 2023.

✍️ Author Bio

Jen Baxter is the Founder of The Common Collective, an independent nonprofit civic organization dedicated to truth, connection, and courage. A veteran public-sector and nonprofit leader with 15+ years of experience, she brings a unique perspective to civic storytelling, organizational design, and leadership rooted in empathy and impact.

Until next time,

Guiding Principles