In offices across the nation, loss through death can dim the brightness of any holiday season, especially in close-knit departments where an employee has recently died. Nevertheless, there are practical steps managers can consider to help boost morale and keep productivity from plummeting.
Choose Rituals Wisely
First, decide which company holiday rituals and customs feel right and which seem too stressful. With a specific budget to adhere to, ask employees for alternative suggestions, perhaps an event held on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, with parents and children invited. Many of the kids already know each other, and the afternoon’s activities could all revolve around the kids – bounce house, gunny sack races or a toy exchange.
Staffers could plan and implement the day’s activities. The camaraderie would be healing for everyone. In addition, by being willing to begin a new holiday office tradition, your staff will feel like they are actively engaged in providing grief support. That loving outreach will go a long way in healing their own sense of loss.
Gifts in Memory Of
Rather than the timeworn gift exchange among employees, invite your staff to consider giving a gift to a cause or charity that seemed particularly important to the deceased. For example, if he was an animal lover, you might choose the local animal shelter or humane society. Have everyone bring in a wrapped gift for a dog or cat.
Then at the kids’ party, present the bag of gifts to the family and suggest they visit the shelter themselves so they can brighten the holidays for abandoned or orphaned pets. The family will be touched by your selfless caring and your staff will be grateful to know they have participated in such a meaningful gift project. Compassionate initiatives like donating to a charity help employees work through their grief process.
Grief Is a Process, Not an Event
As a manager, perhaps the most important thing to remember is that each of us heals from a major loss in our own way and on our own timetable. Camaraderie and support can be powerful healers within an office. However, while one worker might have deep faith from which to draw for emotional sustenance, another might find the death has rocked her to the core. Be aware of triggers that can bring on a grief attack - a longtime customer calling to wish the deceased happy holidays and needing to be told of his recent passing. Try to be gentle and honor each employee in his journey through grief.
Grief Support Meetings
If the emotional trauma of the death is adversely affecting productivity in certain employees, suggest that they attend grief support meetings. Most hospices nationwide offer free bereavement meetings in the afternoons and evenings to anyone in the community who needs counseling. You can find a any hospice near you by visiting the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization website at www.nhpco.org.
Receive the Joy
Even when a recent death has turned our work world upside down, it is okay to enjoy the treats and treasures of the holiday season.
When we are mourning, we sometimes feel guilty about laughing and having a good time. So give yourself - and your staff - permission to experience those moments of joy. In so doing, you will be honoring the memory of the deceased in beautiful ways.
Can any holiday occasion truly be happy when we are newly bereaved? Can employee morale and productivity find their way back to previous levels? Yes, if we remember to choose rituals wisely, find creative ways to buy gifts that help others, remember that grief is a process, not an event; suggest grief support meetings; and decide to be open to the promise of the future.
About the Author: Karla Wheeler is founder of Quality of Life Publishing Co., a direct outgrowth of her personal and professional hospice experience for more than 16 years. A former newspaper reporter and editor, Karla now dedicates her journalism career to easing the way for dying patients and their families. She is the author of gentle grief support books and leads the editorial team at Quality of Life Publishing Co.
