Let’s Discuss grief support on the job here. A widely accepted and still relevant grief study was conducted in 2003, with just over 25,000 active employees who had experienced the death of a loved one. One incredibly staggering find of that effort revealed that organizations across America collectively lose over $100 billion in today’s annual revenue value due to the hidden direct and indirect costs of grief in the workplace. That is billions with a B…each and every year!
Drilling down into the report, we find that one of the more prominent hidden costs of grief to the bottom line comes from the unscheduled absenteeism of the bereft employee. Mind you, this is not the Bereavement Leave granted by a compassionate employer, although this is technically unscheduled as well. Instead, the study points to the unanticipated future absences of mourning employees beyond their initial return to work.
Unscheduled absenteeism in itself is a massive expense to organizations in America. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued their latest cost report in 2016 that revealed productivity losses due to absenteeism from work annually costs employers an average of $225.8 billion. That equates to $1,685 per employee per year, and higher when factoring in today’s current inflation rate. As revealed in the study of 25,000 bereaved employees, unscheduled absenteeism was a common occurrence. An average of 30 additional days of unscheduled time off were taken by the study group, with 20 percent reporting grief related absenteeism continuing for at least a year or more beyond the loss event.
While it seems easy to look only at the tragic event of loss as cause for a griever’s excessive absenteeism, any finger pointing may also be directed at the employer who is indifferent to grief in the workplace. The loss of a loved one brings with it painful emotions that are, at first, incredibly intense and seemingly unending. Even in the bereft employee who is transitioning healthfully through grief, the intensity and frequency of emotions may lessen over time, but they still come in waves for what could be years into the future.
The waves of grief can be just as emotionally debilitating to the griever as they were at the time of loss. To complicate it even more, they are typically triggered at times and places beyond control of the anguished employee. Forgoing reference to published mental health studies, the human mind in turmoil will unconsciously seek a place of perceived comfort and safety. It needs this sanctuary to attempt sorting out and dealing with the troubles at hand. For the bereaved employee, this means that when the waves of uncontrollable emotions hit, the little voice in the back of the mind will urge safe harbor.
For so many wonderful organizations, the workplace often represents a second home and a second family for the employee. It probably was just that for your grieving employee before their loss, as well. Yet, should the workplace be indifferent, uncaring, or even hostile toward grief, the next emotional wave may find that little voice in the back of your troubled employee’s mind deciding it best to shelter in place at home for the day.
If you recognize increased absenteeism in your employees, whether suffering a loss or any other personal crisis, it may well be time to look at your work environment. Try doing so through the eyes of those who unwittingly seek to heal in a place of emotional comfort and safety. Grief Support costs nothing more than awareness and understanding for the forward-thinking organization…and will return so much.
R. Glen Kelly
Check out these great books for grief support on the job: