'Creating a space to share and open up is actually going to help them to be more productive and engaged'
It’s the kind of news no one wants to hear: A plane crash in a remote area leads to the deaths of four passengers and two crew members.
This happened recently when an aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Fort Smith, NWT on Jan. 23, leaving just one survivor.
Travelling inside were Rio Tinto workers headed for their shift at the Diavik diamond mine.
“I would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the families, friends, and loved ones of those who have been affected by this tragedy,” said Jakob Stausholm, Rio Tinto CEO. “As a company, we are absolutely devastated by this news and offering our full support to our people and the community who are grieving today.”
This kind of traumatic incident can be devastating to the families, of course, but also heartbreaking for coworkers and company leadership. And the same can be true for other distressing workplace incidents such as a suicide, cancer-related death or serious accidents.
Responding to a workplace crisis
So how should employers respond in this type of situation? What kinds of support are needed to help people grieve, and then move forward?
The response to a traumatic fatality needs to be planned out in advance, says Shirley Hickman, founder and executive director of Threads of Life, a charity dedicated to supporting families after a workplace fatality, life-altering injury or occupational disease.
“As a company, know what you're going to do.... don't assume it's not going to happen and show through leadership that you care for the coworker, or your team or the family.”
It’s important that the employer can access crisis intervention for the coworkers as soon as possible, she says.
“Everything we know about crisis management is that the sooner people have an opportunity to debrief, the easier it will be for them to move forward… or come to terms with it.”
Families of the workers who have died want the employer to show up at the funeral, for example, and show respect, to show that that they cared for the worker, says Hickman, “but they need to also understand that there's anger there.”
Showing that compassion reflects back to the co workers who see that a family living with the tragedy has been cared for, she says.
“Know that the company isn't all about dollars and cents, it's about taking care of the people that are working for them.”
In-person connections help with loss
Both individual and group support should be offered to fellow employees after this kind of crisis, says Hickman.
“Some people say with a group debriefing that you're freer as an individual to say, ‘Wow, this has really impacted me I'm not sleeping well.’ And lots of people, if they were on individual counseling or crisis debriefing, may not acknowledge that, they may find that that's a weakness,” she says.
A crisis briefing should not be mandatory, and instead be offered in different ways, such as a casual dropin or group setting, says Hickman, “so people can choose their level of comfort.”
In grieving, many people experience a sense of isolation, so in-person connections are important, says Ashley Mielke, founder and CEO of the Grief and Trauma Healing Centre.
“It's amazing how communication, communicating with others, makes such a difference versus just isolating yourself,” she says.
“Bringing people together to mourn collectively can be really powerful and a healing experience for a team or a group of employees because they're all feeling similar things and maybe don't know how to talk about that or process that. But if there's an opportunity to do that as a group, that can be really powerful.”
People might not participate at the same level, she says, but there’s a positive impact of just being there, being present.
And it’s important to make it a voluntary kind of experience, not a mandatory one, says Mielke.
“That invitation, I think it's really key. And then it's an opportunity to provide psychoeducation, to validate feelings and provide resources, which is really important — letting them know what resources are available to support them.”
The biggest issue is to see people as people, she says.
“[These are] wholehearted people with thoughts and feelings and vulnerabilities and other losses and lives outside of work, and [it’s about] just acknowledging them as people first, giving them that opportunity to express and share and talk and recognize that it's actually going to benefit them at work — like creating a space to share and be vulnerable and crying, to open up. It's actually going to help them to be more productive and engaged, because they're going to have that outlet.”
Understanding emotions associated with grief
Grief is such an individual experience for everyone, says Mielke, so when there is a tragedy, an untimely and unexpected loss, it's normal to feel a number of different emotions.
“An event like this, it's traumatic in nature, can bring about feelings of confusion, anger, anxiety… helplessness,” she says, along with sadness, devastation and even numbness.
“There's no typical way that an individual might respond. It will also depend on the nature of the relationship that an employee would have to their coworker or their boss who died.”
Some workers will be totally traumatized, while others will somehow come to an acceptance that, sadly, that is a risk of going to work, says Hickman.
Physically, people may respond by not eating or sleeping well, along with losing their concentration or focus at work, says Mielke, “which can have an impact on employee productivity and engagement and performance.”
Offering transparency after a crisis
It's also really important to address the crisis openly and authentically.
“We don't want to intellectualize the experience or minimize the experience,” she says.
“We want to really validate any experience that an employee might be having and validate that their experience will be unique and individual, so they shouldn't compare their experience to the next person.”
It’s also normal for employees to ask questions and want to understand what happened and why, says Mielke.
“That's also part of when we're grieving, we want some facts to help us process… unfinished business that we might have.”
There’s nothing wrong with an employer sharing information as it becomes available, though every situation is different in terms of what's helpful versus unhelpful, she says.
“For example, I supported a team, an aviation team where there was a plane crash, and it was one of their pilots that died in a plane crash… They did really appreciate having the information to understand why this accident happened. You know: ‘What was wrong with the aircraft? Why did this happen? Did they die on impact?’ Just so they could find some peace around the event.”
While the families of the workers killed would like the employer to share as much information as they're able to, though lawyers for the company may tell them not to, says Hickman, whose son died in 1996 after a workplace explosion.
“It's about care and compassion; it's about acknowledging loss and pain. And it's as simple as saying, ‘I'd love to give you more information about what happened, but we're investigating it right now. And we will try to keep you informed as we go through the investigation.’”
Welcome professionals to help with grieving
It’s also advisable for employers to welcome professionals in to help provide support through the grieving process, says Mielke.
“[It’s] someone who can facilitate a conversation with a team or all of the employees, depending on what that that setting looks like, to talk about the loss, to talk about the person in life, to talk about the impact of their deaths, to name the emotions and just create that safe space for the employees to connect.”
Having an external party there for support also takes the pressure off the leadership, she says.
“It kind of creates a buffer between, ‘OK, those are my bosses, and they're doing their job’ or maybe there's this sense that ‘I don't really feel 100% comfortable opening up to my boss or sharing some of those personal feelings.’”
Often, leadership can start the conversation, but then leave so the professional can take over, says Mielke, who often starts by asking people to talk about the person who’s died.
“Tell me like one of your fondest memories of them? What was your relationship to that person? What do you miss about them?
“I think that is a really powerful way to memorialize the people who have died, and who they were in life. And it opens up that channel of grief without saying, ‘Hey, tell me what your feelings are.’ It's almost like a natural opening when they can talk about the person.”
Taking the time that’s needed to cope
Finally, leaders, HR, the employer should understand that some people will not be ready to return to their usual workday as soon as others, and may need time off to cope.
Employers should offer options, such as bereavement leave or frequent breaks at work, says Mielke, so it’s about “honouring each person where they're at and giving them the autonomy to make those decisions, and letting them know that whatever decision they make, they'll be supported.”
If they have to take a break to cope or talk with a colleague, and then get back to work, it's going to be more positive than trying to isolate that event from their work, she says.
“That is one of the biggest myths is that there is a specific timeline or time heals, and it really doesn't. It's so unique to each person… so honouring the timelines is key.”
It’s also important to follow up, to touch base with employees after a month or three months after the traumatic event, just to see how they’re doing, says Mielke.
And for the longer term, employers can commemorate the loss of an employee’s life through a fundraiser or an event to promote health and safety or a luncheon in honour of those workers, says Hickman.
“There are all kinds of opportunities to do something to show that you haven't forgotten that individual.”
