Dealing with death of staff
Discussion
Somber topic.
I am part owner in a small consultancy. 9 staff, all get on well etc.
One of out employees, and probably the nicest man in the office, passed away last night from a sudden heart attack. He was 45.
We have a load of deadlines and things like that which need to be met. But I also don't want to appear like a heartless prick. People have been offered the chance to go home and spend time with their family if they want, but I don't want them to feel obliged to stay if they don't want.
It's a s
t situation made worse by the general friendliness and smallness of the office.
Leave it stand as an option and let them make their own decision?
Sorry for any nonsensical aspects of this post. Feeling a bit shaken up right now.
I am part owner in a small consultancy. 9 staff, all get on well etc.
One of out employees, and probably the nicest man in the office, passed away last night from a sudden heart attack. He was 45.
We have a load of deadlines and things like that which need to be met. But I also don't want to appear like a heartless prick. People have been offered the chance to go home and spend time with their family if they want, but I don't want them to feel obliged to stay if they don't want.
It's a s
t situation made worse by the general friendliness and smallness of the office. Leave it stand as an option and let them make their own decision?
Sorry for any nonsensical aspects of this post. Feeling a bit shaken up right now.
Sorry to hear about your loss. A while back, a guy who worked as part of the large team I was on didn't turn up for work for a few days with no word. His boss went around his house and they found he had killed himself. Even though I didn't know him that well I was gutted, along with everyone else.
People deal with this in their own way, but my feeling was we just had to get on with it. Everyone else felt the same.
People deal with this in their own way, but my feeling was we just had to get on with it. Everyone else felt the same.
PD9 said:
phil-sti said:
Soooooo. You have a vacancy?
Ouch.
RIP, of course.
Colonial said:
People have been offered the chance to go home and spend time with their family if they want, but I don't want them to feel obliged to stay if they don't want.
It's a st situation made worse by the general friendliness and smallness of the office.
Leave it stand as an option and let them make their own decision?
Yes, do this.It's a s
t situation made worse by the general friendliness and smallness of the office. Leave it stand as an option and let them make their own decision?
It's the right thing to do, and will probably mean you retain more commitment from your team in any case. I think many people would choose to stay and work and get the job done as long as they feel their grief is being acknowledged and respected.
Emeye said:
Sorry to hear about your loss. A while back, a guy who worked as part of the large team I was on didn't turn up for work for a few days with no word. His boss went around his house and they found he had killed himself. Even though I didn't know him that well I was gutted, along with everyone else.
People deal with this in their own way, but my feeling was we just had to get on with it. Everyone else felt the same.
Similar thing happened here. Then a couple of weeks later I took a day off and my boss was also out the office and unreachable. One of the old dears I work with thought that because I hadnt responded to a text that also have topped myself.People deal with this in their own way, but my feeling was we just had to get on with it. Everyone else felt the same.
Nobody checked my diary to see where I was. Instead they instigated the full blown AWOL policy that included getting directors involved to make decisions. I didnt know we had an AWOL policy until now.
FFS I walked in the next day to a s
tstorm. It was nice they cared that I wasnt in but totally over the top. I reminded them that no matter what was going on at work I'd never off myself over it!They ended up laughing it off, but it did leave me thinking what they must think my mental state is.
Back on topic. I'd give the people who worked with him closely some slack.
172ff said:
Similar thing happened here. Then a couple of weeks later I took a day off and my boss was also out the office and unreachable. One of the old dears I work with thought that because I hadnt responded to a text that also have topped myself.
Nobody checked my diary to see where I was. Instead they instigated the full blown AWOL policy that included getting directors involved to make decisions. I didnt know we had an AWOL policy until now.
FFS I walked in the next day to a ststorm. It was nice they cared that I wasnt in but totally over the top. I reminded them that no matter what was going on at work I'd never off myself over it!
They ended up laughing it off, but it did leave me thinking what they must think my mental state is.
Back on topic. I'd give the people who worked with him closely some slack.
What was AWOL policy?Nobody checked my diary to see where I was. Instead they instigated the full blown AWOL policy that included getting directors involved to make decisions. I didnt know we had an AWOL policy until now.
FFS I walked in the next day to a s
tstorm. It was nice they cared that I wasnt in but totally over the top. I reminded them that no matter what was going on at work I'd never off myself over it!They ended up laughing it off, but it did leave me thinking what they must think my mental state is.
Back on topic. I'd give the people who worked with him closely some slack.
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