Grieving Employees Want...

  • Someone to listen, not to advise
  • Flexible leave time and workload
  • Time and space to grieve
  • Visits and calls from colleagues
  • Specific offers of help
  • Acknowledgment of the loss
  • Opportunities to grieve together
When Loss and Death Hit the Workplace
Our workplaces are not immune from loss and grief. We know this first-hand from the hard lessons learned in the aftermath of terrorism, natural disasters, and tragic shootings over the last few decades. Yet, we are somewhat less aware of, or perhaps less prepared for, the emotional impact when loss and death occur on a much smaller scale. For instance:

  • Death of a co-worker:

    • After long- or short-term illness

    • After sudden death by accident or violence

  • Serious illness of a co-worker when death is the likely outcome

  • Death or illness of a co-worker’s loved one (grieving co-workers)

Often, workplace losses don’t happen one at a time, Over the course of months, multiple losses can occur, losses that must be processed through grieving.

Frequently, workplace grief goes unacknowledged and unexpressed. We ignore the symptoms until they just go away. Or, we withdraw from ill or grieving co-workers out of frustration for not knowing what to say, out of concern for invading their privacy, or out of fear of our own vulnerability, our own mortality.