Grief in the Workplace

A Ready Company Never Has to Get Ready

Companies are realizing that providing quality grief support creates a climate of loyalty, improves employee retention and establishes a greater sense of community among its staff.  Instead of trying to mop up after the fact, companies who are preparing to support grieving employees are preemptive in providing what their staff needs most.

As a grief educator I bring leadership and employees together; teaching them how to encourage each other through losses and creating an atmosphere of support.  I also work with HR departments to draft an enhanced bereavement policy that offers the genuine help a grieving employee really needs.

The Financial Impact of Grief in the Workplace

“Traditional thinking in the workplace is that financial stress is the major cause of grief and stress. However, death of a loved one is by far the greatest issue for employees. All other causes above are far behind in their cost to employers. The total annual cost of employee grief to US employers was $75 billion in 2003 and death of a loved one accounted for $37.6 billion alone. It is more than double the cost of all the other causes of grief combined! When adjusted to 2017 dollars, death of a loved one taxes employers more from $75-$100 billion annually. In fact, the costs of grief are often hidden under the statistics. For example, the Council on Alcoholism estimates that alcohol abuse contributes annual costs to industry in excess of $276 billion. What that statistic omits is the fact that the vast majority of alcohol relapses occur as the direct result of the death of a loved one or a divorce or other romantic break-up. So the cost of losing a loved one likely far exceeds $100 billion per year.” https://www.docuvital.com/2017/01/05/the-hidden-costs-of-grief-in-the-workplace/

The Emotional Impact of Grief in the Workplace 

When employees know the work place is a safe environment for their seasons of grief, the results translate into

• consistent productivity

• safety

• fewer sick leave days

• emotionally healthy employees

• higher employee retention

• enhanced employee loyalty

Thus setting your company above the others as a desirable place to work that remains stable throughout your employee’s seasons of grief.

About the Presentations

Whether the audience is small or large, I communicate with ease and comfort.  The workshop environment, is lead with highly interactive and fun learning strategies.  Together, we create a safe teaching environment where attendees relax and discover that grief in the workplace is not the enemy and comforting others is much easier than previously considered.

The market place is often the part of our lives that ignorantly handles the pain of a customer’s, client’s or employee’s grief.  When tragedy strikes your company, I am available to present a tailor made workshop for your staff.  However, I would rather come preemptively so that your staff will be prepared BEFORE the need arises. A ready company, never has to get ready.  Experts inform us that companies who practice compassionate care for both clientele and staff rank higher in service, satisfaction and thus improve the  financial strength of their business.

Questions to Ask

• Do I know what my employee needs at their hour of grief?

• Am I able to provide what they need?

• Do I understand what my client or customer needs from me during their season of bereavement?

• Am I skilled to provide that for them?

• How could my team/staff be better prepared to help each other through a loss?

If you understand that your leadership in this area will create trust and support for those you are responsible for, then contact me to arrange for a workshop or seminar.

Referrals

Fred Cornforth,  CEO at CDI Group of Companies,  (208) 459-8522

Sheila Dahlman,  Human Resource Manager,  Somerset Pacific, LLC   (208) 649-1550

Senior Community Staff and Resitent Grief Care

The death of a resident impacts so many in a community . . . here are some critically important truths about bereavement that are little spoken of.

By Karen Nicola

The senior community administrator sat across the desk from me more than a little flustered. He was trying to express the conflict between offering an enriched, life-engaging environment for his residents and struggling with the ever-present reality that each resident, brings with them — their own mortality.  

Filling each day with meaningful activities and opportunities for growing new friendships is high on his agenda. Yet, knowing that grief also resides within the halls of the community draws forth his deepest sympathy and growing concern.

How Do You Do This?

He looked at me, sighed and said, “So how do I do the other part? You know, the part that prepares us all for each resident’s death?”

The death of a resident impacts so many in his community . . . every community. Its tentacles slithering into every aspect of the community. So I leaned in and we began to explore eight critically important truths about bereavement that are little spoken of. Here are a few of the ideas we discussed that summer day in the administrator’s office.

Ideas

Grief is more like an octopus than an eel. Learning to interact with grief in a healthy way requires more than one strategy or piece of understanding.

1. No two griefs are the same. Each person, staff or resident will grieve within their own temperament, personality, past history, social and cultural differences, gender, and faith backgrounds

2. Grief can be passive, chronic, active and intense

3. The well-known “5 Stages of Grief” are limited and often cause more confusion than comfort

4. Multiple and cumulative losses that have been left unattended are fertile ground for denial, addictions, living stuck in anger or depression

5. Our culture doesn’t show us how to grieve well

6. Limited physical and mental capacities as residents age, may interfere with traditional healthy grief steps for them

7. The absence of supportive and meaningful traditions for staff after the death of a resident may reduce productivity and lower job satisfaction

8. Understanding that grief is natural, normal, and necessary opens the way for creating better policies, procedures, traditions and methods of supporting both the grieving and those who comfort them

With these eight arms of grief awareness in our sights, we are prepared with clarity and insight to face the depth of grief’s murky waters.

The administrator thanked me for the time we openly shared this important topic. He realized that our conversation was just the beginning of becoming a preemptive leader. Together we made an action plan for preparing each resident and staff member for the inevitable sorrow and grief that is part of the senior living community.  

As I drove away, I couldn’t help but smile, knowing that one more senior community was closer to being enriched with both grieving and comforting skills.