How to Deal With Tragedy in the Workplace

Be prepared when tragedy strikes your workplace.

The workplace brings individuals together for approximately 40 hours a week in collaborative relationships, which means that when tragedy strikes one co-worker it affects the whole team. As of 2003, The Grief Recovery Institute estimates that the tragedy of death alone costs the overall business world approximately seven billion dollars per year in lost productivity. Add to that, natural disasters, personal traumas, employee termination, and national tragedies, and the overall adverse effect of tragedy in the workplace grows exponentially. Dealing appropriately with tragedy in the workplace helps keep productivity rates stable, while bringing your team together on an emotional level.

Instructions

1. Request an immediate team debriefing if the tragedy occurred in the workplace itself. Allow employees to voice safety concerns and any emotional trauma exacerbated by being in the area of the office where the tragedy occurred. Take notes while employees speak, and ask clarifying questions to make sure you understand what is said.

2. Address employee safety concerns immediately by instituting new fire and emergency response plans, and adding additional office security, if need be. Provide any traumatized employees with onsite professional counseling. Grant employees a week of leave time if they need it.

3. Acknowledge the pain any grieving party is experiencing with simple, heartfelt phrases such as, "I'm sorry for your loss." Take time to really listen as hurting individuals tell their tragic stories and work through the internal pain. Offer to help in practical ways, such as bringing prepared meals into the office or taking the lion's share of responsibility in your current project.

4. Designate a family liaison, if appropriate, to offer sympathy or assistance to a co-worker's loved ones. Coordinate for the whole team to attend the funeral together if a co-worker has died. Collect money to donate to grieving families, or to public assistance organizations if dealing with a national tragedy such as the 9/11 attack.

Tips & Warnings

• Be patient while your office goes through the process of grieving a tragedy. Do not expect the office to snap back to business as usual overnight.

• If you try to stifle grief over a tragedy, employees are likely to feel undervalued, and they may develop resentment or distrust for the company.

References

• Bloomberg Businessweek: Death in the Workplace
• ABC News: Death in the Workplace: How to Cope
• California Maritime Academy: Dealing with Death & Grief in the Workplace - Part 1: Employees