A Question of Leadership: How Can Leaders Best Support Employees who Are Experiencing a Crisis away from Work-Such as a Death or Serious Illness in the Family-Yet also Continue to Meet the Needs of the Organization

co-workers have to pick up the slack

in production.

Appropriate organizational policy,

procedures, culture, awareness, and

support are critical factors in helping

leaders balance the needs of grieving

individuals with the needs of the

organization. If these factors are in

place when an employee experiences

a crisis, leaders don’t have to guess

about how to manage the situation or

be torn between the organization’s

expectations and the individual’s

need for support.

Following are some issues that

leaders should consider when estab-

lishing policies and an organizational

culture that support grieving employ-

ees without excessively disturbing the

operation of the organization:

•

A realistic approach to bereave-

ment leave and the loss of a loved

one may require allowing more time

than the three days most companies

allow. Establish a list of family mem-

bers covered under the bereavement

leave policy, and consider whether

the organization should be flexible

enough to grant exceptions.

•

A special fund, catastrophic

leave bank, or employee loan

account can help grieving employees

with funeral and travel expenses and

time off.

•

A flexible work schedule can

help grieving employees who need to

seek counseling, help children adjust,

or take care of financial matters.

•

Employee assistance programs

can be valuable tools when employ-

ees, family members, and co-workers

need counseling.

BARBARA MOSER

Moser is benefits and process manager

in the Human Resources Group at

CCL in Greensboro. She is a certified

senior professional in human resources

and a certified benefits professional.

At any given time, one-fourth or

more of the workforce is grieving. It

may be sorrow over the death of a

loved one, a family member’s termi-

nal or debilitating illness, a divorce,

or some other traumatic life change.

Leaders inevitably face situations in

which they must balance offering

support to employees in these diffi-

cult circumstances with meeting the

needs of the organization. Doing this

requires walking a fine line, and a

leader’s effectiveness in this balanc-

ing act can make the difference

between retaining or losing valued

employees.

It’s not unusual for employers to

expect people to take a short time off

to deal with their grief but then get

on with business as usual. After all,

companies have production schedules

and quotas to meet. Similarly, co-

workers are often willing to be sup-

portive of a grieving individual for a

while but may begin to lose patience

if that person needs more time to

recover and return to functioning

“normally”—particularly when the

A QUESTION

of

LEADERSHIP

LIA •VOLUME 22, NUMBER 4 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2002

12

Supporting a grieving employee is

important, but leaders should also

have a plan in place for managing the

employee’s co-workers. Is there a

procedure for obtaining whatever

information the employee is willing

to share with the rest of the organiza-

tion? Can co-workers take time off to

attend a funeral or visit their grieving

colleague? If the employee will be

off the job for an extended period,

what are the leader’s options for

redistributing the workload equi-

tably? All these questions should be

answered beforehand, through organi-

zational policy.

Managing a situation in which an

employee is grieving over an outside

event is one thing, but what can

leaders do when it is the employee

who becomes seriously ill or dies?

Again, policy and organizational cul-

ture are critical.

Establish procedures for helping a

deceased employee’s family file for

death and pension benefits, for pro-

viding an at-work memorial service

and on-site counseling to help col-

leagues work through the healing

process, and for removing the

employee’s personal effects.

Perhaps the most important thing

leaders can do when people are griev-

ing is to be visible. Walk around,

communicate with people individu-

ally and in groups, and offer support.

These actions, when complemented

by established policy and a support-

ive organizational culture, are key to

meeting the needs of grieving

employees and their co-workers

while also maintaining an effective

and productive organization.

Editor’s note: Resource material for the

responses to this issue’s “Question of

Leadership” was provided by Hospice

and Palliative Care of Greensboro,

whose TLC in the Workplace™ program

addresses transitions and life changes.