Bereavement support for employers
Death and dying are not easy subjects to talk about but they are issues that affect us all.
St Oswald’s Hospice has provided bereavement support to people in the North East for over 30 years
In 2020, we extended our services to provide bereavement support to employers during the Coronavirus pandemic, as more so now than ever, businesses tell us that it’s vital they’re able to support their employees after a bereavement.
All support and training for businesses is currently delivered online and is designed to help you understand grief and loss, and to learn how to support bereaved people in your workplace. The training will help you to understand what people experience when a loved one dies, how it impacts their life, how you can support that person and why this is important. Our aim is to hopefully help to build your confidence in supporting people who have been bereaved.
All our training is led by our Bereavement Team, who are specialists in supporting people following the death of a loved one, friend or colleague.
By the end of the training, participants will:
- Understand how a person is affected by bereavement and how best to support them.
- Have an increased understanding about how to communicate effectively and compassionately with someone who has been bereaved.
- Know what not to say to someone dealing with the death of a loved one.
- Understand the responsibilities as a manager/supervisor in supporting a bereaved member of staff.
- Have increased knowledge on how to support a team through the death of a colleague.
- Understand how to manage the impact that supporting colleagues in their grief may have on their own wellbeing and why this is important.
Being a compassionate employer by offering bereavement support can make an enormous difference to your team. It can have a positive impact on staff loyalty, wellbeing and productivity.
1% of the UK population die every year. This means that most of us will experience at least one death of a family member or close friend during our working lives.
In 2020, Hospice UK reported that 56% of UK adults would consider leaving their job if their employer did not provide the proper support if someone close to them died. This avoidable loss of skilled workers can be detrimental and costly.
There is also high propensity for absence following a bereavement so, as well as it being good practice in relation to your duty of care, providing support for grieving employees makes good business sense.
The training is suitable for all businesses, public sector organisations and charities. It is aimed at those with a responsibility for HR issues, mental health support or employee wellbeing in your organisation, or anyone responsible for staff at any level.
Download our resources using the links below.
Our training packages
Currently, all of our training is offered online and is delivered in 2 hour sessions for up to 15 people. We offer three types training, making sure there’s training to meet all business needs. Our training packages include:
Join one of our rolling programme training sessions
If you are an individual or an organisation that only requires a few staff members to attend the training, you can book on to one of our advertised sessions.
The training sessions are open to everyone, and you will be attending alongside representatives from various organisations.
The cost is £45 per person (+booking fee).
Book an exclusive session for your organisation
The content of this training is the same as our rolling programme but can be booked at a convenient time for your team. Attendee numbers are capped at 15 and each session is priced at £562.50.
Email us for more information and to book.
Bespoke training sessions for your organisation
We will work with you to tailor the content of the training session to your organisation’s needs or to specific teams within your organisation.
If your organisation has a large workforce or a regular turnover of staff we can provide longer term support by offering:
• Regular training sessions that fit with your induction or ongoing training schedules.
• Continued support from a designated member of our team.
• Referrals to St Oswald’s Bereavement team for 1 to 1 bereavement support should any of your team need it.
Email us for more information and to book.