Beyond Bereavement: Four Ways to Build a Grief-Aware Workplace

Workplaces aren't grief-free. They're often grief-silent.

Grief is already present in our organizations, whether we recognize it or not. Employees bring grief to work through bereavement, illness, caregiving, the pregnancy journey, and changes in relationships or identity. Grief also happens at work: a colleague dies, layoffs disrupt relationships, or organizational changes alter an employee's plans.

Having spent much of my career working in employee engagement and organizational culture, and now as a certified grief coach, I believe that building a more supportive workplace doesn't require an entirely new program. It can begin with making room for grief within the practices and relationships that already shape workplace culture.

This builds on work People leaders are already doing around psychological safety, inclusion, and employee well-being. While grief isn't HR's responsibility alone, People leaders can help create the conditions where those holding grief feel less alone. 

Here are four places to start.

1. Normalize talking about grief

Workplace cultures often have established ways to celebrate life's milestones: new babies, weddings, promotions, and retirements. But fewer shared practices exist for acknowledging life's losses.

That difference sends a message about which parts of our lives belong at work. We don't need to turn every personal experience into a workplace conversation, but we can make it easier for employees to acknowledge difficult experiences without feeling that they're stepping outside professional norms.

Leadership can help establish that permission. When a senior leader voluntarily shares an experience of loss or caregiving, it can normalize conversations employees might otherwise feel pressure to avoid. Authentic openness can signal that grief and professionalism aren't incompatible.

The same message can be reinforced through employee resources. Onboarding materials, benefits communications, employee handbooks, and wellness resources can include and acknowledge grief (beyond bereavement policies). Not only does this help employees find resources, but more simply, putting the language of grief or loss within company resources establishes their place, normalizing their reality. 

Something to try: Review your existing employee resources and communications. Is grief represented beyond bereavement leave? Are support options easy to find? Consider incorporating grief into manager education and employee well-being materials, and inviting willing leaders to share their experiences when appropriate.

2. Show care in tangible ways

Most of us know how to express care. What we often lack is permission or comfort to do so. We worry about saying the wrong thing, bringing up a painful memory, or crossing a professional boundary. So even with good intentions, we may avoid acknowledging someone's experience. That can be isolating for those holding grief at work. 

But care doesn't require perfect words or elaborate gestures.

A company might send flowers after a death, arrange meal delivery for a family navigating illness, or offer a gift card to ease an overwhelming week. These gestures communicate something meaningful: we recognize what you're going through.

I've experienced how much this can matter. When my own workplace sent a meal after a loss, I felt seen and supported by my colleagues, even while away from work.

Care can also be expressed through simple, thoughtful language. "I've been thinking about you" acknowledges someone's experience without requiring a response. A manager might go a step further: "I know you're going through a lot right now. Would it help if we looked at your priorities together this week?"

The difference is that support becomes something specific and actionable, rather than another decision left to someone who may already feel overwhelmed.

Something to try: Consider a consistent practice for acknowledging loss or transitions. Before an employee returns after a loss, a manager might privately ask what they'd like colleagues to know and how they'd prefer to be welcomed back. With permission, the manager can help colleagues respond with care rather than uncertainty.

3. Support people beyond the initial moment

When someone experiences a loss, the initial response may be filled with care: messages, meals, condolences, and offers of help.

Then meetings resume, projects move forward, and the immediate attention fades. But grief doesn't necessarily follow that timeline.

In my work supporting people through grief, I've seen how differently loss can affect someone's relationship with work. For one person, work offers structure and familiarity. For another, the same responsibilities can suddenly feel overwhelming. Neither response tells us about someone’s grief. 

This is where managers can make a meaningful difference. Supporting an employee doesn't mean removing performance expectations. It means maintaining communication about responsibilities, workload, flexibility, and available resources as circumstances evolve.

Something to try: Include grief-related scenarios in manager education, and build optional follow-ups into existing check-ins. A manager might ask, "Would it be helpful for us to check in again in a few weeks about how things are going?" Practice how to offer support without making assumptions or requiring personal disclosure.

4. Create opportunities for connection

Organizations often approach grief support through benefits, leave policies, and EAPs. These are important, but relationships are also part of how people experience support.

Grief can be isolating, yet it can create meaningful connections between people who recognize something of their own experience in another person's story.

I've seen how powerful it can be when people discover that someone else has navigated a similar loss. Not because they can solve anything for each other, but because being understood can make grief feel less lonely.

Workplaces are already communities. Employees build friendships, support colleagues through transitions, and form relationships beyond their job descriptions. These connections can complement formal resources.

Something to try: Look at existing employee resource groups, peer networks, and community spaces. Could an established group offer an optional conversation about caregiving, loss, or major life transitions? When an employee seeks support, consider whether they might benefit from practical assistance, professional resources, human connection, or a combination.

Participation should always be voluntary. Sometimes connection isn't about discussing grief at all, but simply knowing someone is there.

I do not think we need to make grief a constant conversation at work. But we can make it less difficult to talk about when loss matters.

Policies and benefits are important, but so are the everyday gestures, conversations, and relationships that shape how people experience support.

People leaders have an opportunity to make that care more intentional, creating workplaces where employees feel comfortable acknowledging what they're carrying and where colleagues feel more confident showing up for one another.

We can't remove the pain of loss. But we can make more room for people to carry it together.

Supporting grief in the workplace is an ongoing practice. Solace partners with organizations looking to extend grief support to employees beyond formal benefits and leave policies by offering private, accessible, AI-supported grief coaching for people navigating loss and major life transitions. We also support organizations navigating loss in the workplace. 

Learn more about partnering with Solace.

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