Grief is a universal hardship, and it's especially difficult to bear in the workplace. It's hard for grieving employees to concentrate.
In fact, the Grief Recovery Institute estimates that grieving workers results in $37.6 Billion annually, due to accident, productivity loss, and poor judgment.
With most surveyed bereaved reporting at least 30 days during which their work was adversely affected by grief, clearly employers must make allowances for grieving workers.
Human Resource teams can help with these difficulties by helping employees prepare for bereavement in advance.
There are many practical concerns to work out long before the loss of a loved one occurs. In addition, HR is encouraged to examine existing bereavement policies.
Additional time off, as well as focused grief counseling, may be necessary to get a struggling employee back on his or her feet. But in all cases, empathy and personalized provision is the best way to help a grieving employee.
Read full article at Benefits Pro.
Photo credit: Joe Houghton [CC BY 2.0]