I'm an HR Director for a municipality and today learned that one of our department heads passed away suddenly and unexpectedly from non-work-related causes. She was in her late 20s.
She was a department of one, so while she didn't supervise staff, she worked very closely with the Town Manager and the other department heads. She was well-liked and widely known throughout the organization.
The Town Manager has asked HR to help support the organization through this, and I'm trying to think through what appropriate support looks like over the next couple of weeks.
I'm particularly interested in hearing from others who have experienced the sudden loss of a colleague or senior leader in a workplace setting:
Did your organization offer any type of flexible leave or schedule accommodations?
Was support focused broadly across the organization or targeted toward the employees and leaders who worked most closely with the person?
Did you utilize EAP resources or grief counseling?
Looking back, what did your organization do well and what do you wish had been handled differently?
On a personal level, I also knew her well professionally. We were close at work, though not social friends outside of work, which puts me in the unusual position of both helping support others through this while processing it myself.
This is also my second employee loss since becoming HR Director in September, and I'm finding that this is one of those parts of the job that no amount of experience, training, or policy knowledge really prepares you for.
Any advice from HR professionals, managers, or employees who have been through something similar would be appreciated.