Lunch & Learn in the workplace
One
of the greatest barriers facing individuals who are bereaved
is the lack of understanding by the people around them.
Friends, family, and co-workers are often unsure how to
provide support to the grieving person and end up backing
away.
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Education
around grief and bereavement is lacking in our society.
The reality is grief affects our ability to work. The Grief
Recovery Institute estimates that each year grief costs
American companies more than $75 billion dollars.
Though
the cost is great, it is not really surprising. We live
in a society that actively and intentionally ignores and
avoids grief. Even a simple conversation on the topic of
death or grief is often met by cringing, uncomfortable faces.
Addressing
grief in the workplace, our Lunch & Learn program is
designed to provide bereaved employees with skills and strategies
for coping with grief and to teach non-bereaved employees
how to support grieving co-workers. The program will also
provide strategies to help increase or return to previous
employee productivity levels.
BFO-HP
can provide organizations with specifically designed workshops
or training sessions related to coping with loss and grief.
Facilitated debriefing following the death of an employee
is also available. This program is an inexpensive and effective
method to educate employees and assist employers with retention
and support of their staff.
For
more information on the Lunch & Learn program, or to
book an appointment for your organization, please call us
at (905) 848-4337 or email programming@bereavedfamilies.ca
Please
read our article on Grief
in the Workplace. |
Some things to consider:
-
85% of management-level decision makers said their decisions
were adversely affected in the weeks or months following
the grief incident. Of those, 60% indicated that some of
their decisions had a negative financial impact on the company
(Lake County Business Journal, 2008).
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Counselors interviewed more than 25,000 grieving people,
and almost all said their job performance was adversely
affected (Sherman Oaks Institute).
Addressing Mental Illness
The
experience of losing a loved one is an all encompassing
event that can affect every facet of life including work,
school, physical health, and mental health. Employees may
experience reduced productivity or an increase in absenteeism.
Students may become disruptive in the classroom, or have
trouble concentrating. Physical health risks include a weakened
immune system and a higher susceptibility to illness. And
psychological research shows that grief and bereavement
can place individuals at high-risk of developing mental
health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic
stress, especially in child and adolescent populations.
The death of a parent can seriously threaten children's
social and emotional development, and suicide in a family
is distressing for each and every member. In fact, children
and adolescents who are bereaved by suicide are known to
be at an increased risk of suffering from a variety of psychiatric
problems and maladjustment. A traumatic death can have immediate
and ongoing repercussions for family members including disruption
of the family unit, economic instability, emotional non-availability
from parent to child, social isolation, stigmatization around
the cause of death, impaired social adjustment, and an overall
reduced quality of life. It is essential that these families
receive help, yet, there are minimal support services available
to them. The services BFO-HP provides can help support grieving
individuals, may help mediate the risk-factors associated
with mental disorders, and can promote long-term resiliency.
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$$$
What Does Mental Illness Cost? $$$
To
Canadian workplaces?
-
lost productivity due to short and long-term disability
for mental health reasons and early death costs Canadian
businesses and employees an estimated $8 billion a
year
- mental or emotional problems at work exceed physical
causes as the primary reason for absenteeism
To
taxpayers who fund hospital revenues?
-
a suicide death in Canada is estimated to cost at
least $850,000; a suicide attempt costs between $33,000
and $308,000
- one-fifth of countries in the 2005 World Mental Health
Atlas spend less than 1% of their health budget on
mental health; most others spend less than 5%. This
is in stark contrast to World Health Organization's
estimate that 13% of all disease burden is caused
by the wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders
- direct and indirect costs of mental illness are tagged
at $14.4 billion
Source:
The Economic Costs of Mental Disorders and Addictions,
www.heretohelp.bc.ca |
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Supportive relationships have been found to be important
to families experiencing a loss. Results of studies demonstrate
the importance of women having the opportunity to grieve
in an emotionally supportive environment. [They] found it
helpful when they were able to share their experiences with
friends and family who had had a similar experience. Cecil(1994)
reported that behaviors such as listening, sympathizing,
empathizing, and practical help were most helpful. Parents
especially valued the interest and concern of their families
and the acknowledgement of the significance of their loss."
- Journal
of Family Nursing, 2004
Corporate
Fundraising Program
Tagged By Kindness is a cool new social initiative
that allows people to track and measure how one small "Pay
It Forward" act of kindness can travel the globe to
touch the lives of many and turn into hundreds of good deeds.
It's a global game of kindness TAG!
Tagged
By Kindness is all about spreading kindness around the
globe while having a TON OF FUN! All gift card TAGs (similar
to gift cards) each have a unique ID#, and by using a cool
online technology, kindness can be tracked as they travel
the globe.
Picture
This: Your neighbor knocks on your door and hands you what
looks like a gift card, and explains that he took the time
to mow your lawn. He lets you know that this is his random
act of kindness to you and that someone else gave him that
card when they bought him his coffee. He excitedly tells
you to go online to check it out.
Intrigued,
you go to your computer, visit the website and type in the
ID code on the TAG. On the next page you see that the TAG
in your hand first started in London, Ontario then travelled
to Toronto, down to New York and finally to you! And, you
can see each act of kindness given as the TAG was passed
along. Someone in Toronto babysat for free, another painted
a friend a beautiful painting, and a kind soul in New York
returned someone's grocery cart in the cold winter.
Now
it's your turn to do something nice for someone else, and
pass the TAG on. Each time your TAG is acknowledged online,
you will receive an email notifying you where the TAG is
in the world and the difference it is making!
How this initiative could be used to promote your organization
Company
A buys the $10 retail Kindness Packs (4-TAG Pack) at a wholesale
cost (typically $3-4 range). Each pack and TAG will be branded
with Company A logo and an explanation of how they are supporting
grieving individuals through BFO-HP. Then, Company A can
run one or more of these fundraisers:
OPTION A - Employee Fundraiser - Participating
employees will take home 10 Kindness Packs to sell to their
friends, neighbours, and other associates.
OPTION
B - Employee Team Building Fundraiser - Employees
can buy a Kindness Pack on Monday. From Tuesday through
Friday they will use their TAGs to complete one random act
of kindness for co-workers as a great morale booster for
the corporation and lots of fun.
OPTION
C - Customer Fundraiser - Kindness Packs will
be made available for sale to retail customers and employees
for $10 each.
Company A will collect all the money raised and donate the
difference (tax write off) to support BFO-HP.
For
example: 1,000 Packs for $3.50 each = $3,500.
Sell the 1,000 Packs for $10 raising $10,000.
Keep the original $3,500 investment
Donate the difference, $6,500 to BFO-HP
It's
FREE marketing! Once the packs have been sold, the cost
of the original investment is recouped, and Company A has
managed to raise money in support of a worthy, much-needed
cause.
Company
A and BFO-HP can watch their TAGS travel the world as random
acts of kindness touch people's lives and provide them daily
encouragement.
For
more information on this program, please contact Pamela
Blackmore at (905) 848-4337 or by email at pamela.blackmore@bereavedfamilies.ca
