In this year of pandemic, grief is like the elephant in the breakroom. No one acknowledges it’s there.

Leaders don’t want to mention it because it’s uncomfortable for them to talk about grief. Employees don’t mention it because leadership doesn’t acknowledge it. Yet the elephant remains and often even grows larger, while everyone continues to tiptoe around it. Even if your business is still working online and not in the physical office, the elephant is in that virtual break room, creating stress and tension that need to be addressed.

In my years of Grief Coaching,  I have learned that when an employee dies, whether inside or outside the workplace, CEO’s, leaders, and small business owners have no idea what to do or how to address it, so generally they don’t. Yet, losing focus of what your employees are facing and not having a plan to go forward can derail your business and affect your clients, including your overall workplace safety and functioning. 

Creating a plan to address grief in the workplace is one of the biggest gifts leaders can offer, especially considering all the other losses workers are dealing with in their personal lives.

I help teams and leaders that face the loss of a colleague to find ways to acknowledge grief and deal with its impact. When a leader contacts me, I create a plan to offer Grief Coaching tailored to the specific needs of each business. The results are a healthier overall work environment, strengthened communication and support, greater productivity, increased employee satisfaction and a continued thriving business, often in as little as 4-12 weeks. 

One coaching tool I offer is a six -week Positive Intelligence program, based on the best-selling book of Stanford lecturer Shirzad Chamine. The program, based on neuroscience, has been tremendously successful in helping people identify their inner saboteurs (avoider, controller, and others) that hijack them and to overcome them by growing mental muscles that lead to different ways of reacting and responding with self-empathy, kindness, and compassion. The program is highly successful in corporations and I have found it works well in grief recovery.

To have a conversation with me about Grief Coaching for your organization or business, contact me, mary@daybridgecoaching.com.