The challenge of successfully managing bereavement in the workplace

According to ACAS, I in 10 of your employees are likely to be affected by bereavement at any given time. We all know that bereavement can be challenging to manage in the workplace as employees may need to take time off unexpectedly or find that their performance is impacted.  When managers adopt a compassionate and supportive approach it can make all the difference to the individual employee and to the organization.  

Conflict Masters recognize from our own experience how frequently bereavement, or other loss, impacts on how people interact in the workplace and how often it leads to conflict.

We have recently added a new and highly interactive workshop to enable HR professionals and managers to explore how to have a ‘Courageous Conversation’ with a bereaved staff member that sensitively challenges:

• Behaviour in the workplace that is causing concern, but the individual may not be aware of, or indeed have much control over, and
• Employee expectations of the employer when clearly documented policies, are may seem irrelevant or inappropriate to the employee or simply are not considered. 

We recommend the ACAS - Managing bereavement in the workplace – a good practice guide which you can access here