Earlier this week, I got an email from an advisory firm owner dealing with the death of an employee, who recently passed away from COVID-19 complications. As I read his email, it reminded me of a time I had to deal with the death of a colleague.
With that, I reached into the archives and sent the advisor a blog I wrote in 2009, when Herbers & Company lost an employee, too. I just updated it.
My hope, of course, is that no advisory firm has to go through the loss of employee during the coronavirus pandemic. But, if the worst happens and you do, perhaps this blog can support and help you.
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Here's the situation: We've had a tragedy in our office. One of our treasured employees died.
As you might expect, we were heart broken — I still am heartbroken. In a small business like ours, the loss of any employee has a major impact, and even more so when it's the result of something tragic.
In our culture, people usually don't have to deal with the loss of a peer. We're often more prepared to deal with the loss of grandparents and eventually parents, and then, we usually have family to support us.
But in a small company, where co-workers usually become friends, the loss can be felt very deeply.
We all cope with grief and loss in our own ways — denial, anger, overwork, avoidance, etc. What I know for sure is that it's important to let everyone work through their sudden shock in their own way.
