Hard To Hold

People who work together often become very close, and when tragedy strikes one of your employees, it can have a tremendous impact on your business, as Joe Yore, owner of Electrical Marketing Services Inc. in Orlando, Florida, learned when the 2-year-old daughter of one of his employees was murdered. Though not every tragedy involves death, Yore says, "tragedy is relative. It doesn't have to be this drastic for it to affect individuals in significant ways."

Yore offers this advice:

• Take care of the victim. Find out what he or she needs and make sure it's provided. These needs could range from simple moral support to assisting with a variety of logistical issues, such as transportation, food, and inquiries from friends and even the media. Remember that, in our transient society, many people do not have local family members to turn to in a crisis.

• Take care of your other employees. "Get everybody together, and let them talk about what has happened," says Yore. Consider grief counseling to help them cope.

• Keep the customers and vendors who deal with the employee informed. They will likely want to express their concern for the affected employee, and they also need to know how the tragedy will affect your business. "Your customers live this sort of thing with you," Yore says.

• Help smooth the victim's return to work. People don't always know how to treat someone who has suffered a tragedy, so take steps to help the person ease back into the workplace. Yore recommends an off-site meeting with colleagues in a casual, candid atmosphere, if possible, before the affected person resumes his or her duties.

• Expect performance variations. You may see noticeable changes--either positive or negative--in the affected employee's performance. Also, there may be tasks he or she has to deal with in the aftermath, such as insurance claims and other legal issues. Be as patient and helpful as possible.

This article was originally published in the October 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Hard To Hold.