Have you handled a situation where someone dies at your business?
In a large telecom company, a beloved manager died unexpectedly. His direct reports, his colleagues, and internal customers were grieving, work slowed down, and in some cases stopped. The director who supervised the deceased manager had to handle the situation.
Have you have been in the situation of this leader? Or were you in a work situation where work stopped -until people moved through a grieving process?
Today, leaders are dealing with death. There is an epidemic of deaths:
- a manager, a worker, one of their family members, a vendor, a community member, or even a dearly loved pet
- Causes include Covid 19, other illness, accidents, shootings, or someone missing because of a resignation, or a layoff. “” Someone is missing, and it hurts!””
What support do you need? You might appreciate someone asking you:
- How are you feeling?
- How can I support you?
As a leader you might want somebody providing you with a little TLC (Tender Loving Care). You are likely to need it when you are supporting others in dealing with their grief.
Are you taking care of yourself? As a leader, your people will need your support as they deal with their loss. Now might be the time to use Stress Busters. Quick ones. Easy Stress Busters might include:
- belly breathing,
- saying a prayer -for others and for yourself,
- taking a walk,
- drawing, reading, writing,
- something else physical,
- or asking for some added support from your loved ones.
Solid customer service needs to continue, even when a treasured staff member is gone.
- What duplication/redundancy processes do you have?
- Does your disaster recovery include what to do when a pivotal worker is gone?
- What do you need to include to bring your backup plan up to date?
The director in this story reached out for support. He brainstormed with his staff about what they needed and what actions they should take. They acknowledged their sadness. They planned, prepared, and conducted a memorial service where they supported each other through the stages of their grief. Then they went on to provide superior customer service. This director was an integrator leader.
Who are stakeholders with whom you can brainstorm when someone dies?
What might you need to plan, prepare, and provide to successfully move people through the grieving process?
QUESTIONS
These are questions only you can answer. In these days you might have to ask yourself these questions more often.
Chuck Scharenberg is the Founder of More Profit More Freedom, a consultancy that supports the execution of large-scale growth for small businesses. His practice has successfully grown businesses with processes that identify potential roadblocks and mitigation schemes to accelerate realistic execution.