Consulting

Introduction to My Consulting Services

Responding to the Business Impacts of Leadership Loss

Most often, the attention regarding loss is focused on the individuals who are directly affected and his/her intimate relationships such as friends and family. This attention is certainly reasonable and justified. However, just like the old analogy of a pebble being dropped into a pond, the ripples created by the death of a person go far and wide. One place those ripples reach can be at the deceased's workplace. This section of the website reviews the various impacts on and possible responses by organizations that have had a key employee, or a key employee’s family member, suddenly die.

Organizational Matters

The death of an employee is analogous to the common metaphor of a stone dropped into a pond. When a stone hits the water, it causes ripples that spread out from the point of impact. As the ripples reach further out into the pond, their size and effect diminish until they are barely perceptible. Similarly, when an employee dies, that part (group, department, etc.) of the organization closest to the employee is affected the greatest. The further away from that deceased’s department/group/etc., the less the overall impact is. Extending the metaphor further, the higher in the organization the deceased was, the bigger the “stone,” the greater the initial “splash,” and the more far-reaching the “ripples.”

Personnel Matters

Other places on this site address the generalities of bereavement, grief, mourning, and dying. A workplace-related death, on the other hand, has unique factors that are not present in the usual discussions of these topics. What can be important to fellow employees of the deceased include the circumstances of the death, such as the suddenness and the place; whether the cause was natural, accidental, or intentional; the relationship of the deceased to the particular employee; and the role, tenure, and age of the deceased.