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Hopefully, you will never need this post. Just in case you are ever in a position to tell the rest of your staff about the death of a colleague, there are better ways to make the announcement than just letting the gossip mill and water cooler conversations take care of it for you.
Dos:
- Do tell your staff as soon as possible after the family has received notification. A simple email with the following would suffice:
We were saddened to receive word that NAME, POSITION, passed away on DATE. Funeral services are WHEN and WHERE. [Details from the family]. You may read the obituary, [link]. If you would like to sign the guest book, you may do so [link]. - Do share only the details the family wants released, even if there are news articles with more information (those articles might be wrong).
- Do make every effort to let current and former employees know.
- Do share funeral or memorial service information.
- Do offer a way for those wanting to share memories to do so.
- Do handle the day-to-day details as you would with any other change in employment.
Don’ts:
- Don’t speculate.
- Don’t wait.
- Don’t forget everyone grieves in their own way.
Are there other dos and don’ts you would add to this list?
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I would say to add a photo of the person, either their official company/ID photo or maybe from social media, to any employee communication that is sent out. In large companies, people in different offices are unknown to others, so sharing a photo is a good idea in my opinion.
There were recently two deaths at the company where I work, one from a long illness and the other as the result of a motor vehicle accident. In both cases, the person’s NAME was familiar, but I could not recall their faces as we work for a very big company with offices all over the world. It would have made me feel better to put a face with the name.
Great suggestions, Rebecca! Thanks for sharing! I’m sorry to hear of your office’s loss.
-Aurora