NFIB

Personal Crises Can Wreak Havoc on Unprepared Small-Business Owners
03/ 16/ 2004

by Tamara E. Holmes

Unfortunately, everyone has their fair share of personal crises to deal with, whether it be death, sickness, divorce or some other tragedy. For a small-business owner who depends upon the productivity of all employees, personal crises, if not handled properly, can blow up to become company crises.

Anyone who has ever grieved the loss of a loved one understands how debilitating the mourning process can be. Not only do you have to deal with the shock of loss, but often depression, anger and confusion can last anywhere from days to years after the loss. Lack of concentration is another symptom of grief. That lack of concentration can cost your business time and money, which is why a key employee's grief is something that smart business owners should plan ahead for.

If one of your employees experiences the death of a loved one, plan to offer extra time off to that employee to facilitate the grieving and healing process. If your business can withstand it, offer the grieving person a few extra days off that don't eat into his or her sick or vacation time. While on the surface it may seem that you'll be losing productivity, the person probably wouldn't be too helpful during the days immediately following the tragedy. He or she would appreciate the "free" days off, which could pay off in increased company loyalty at a later time.

Once the employee is back at work, you might want to consider temporarily cutting back his or her duties if possible, or assigning another employee to help that person with key tasks. Important time-consuming projects might not be the best medicine for a grieving employee, so try to assign such tasks to other employees in the workplace until the grieving person has a chance to come to grips with the tragedy.

If your small business makes use of an Employment Assistance Program or offers other mental health benefits, make sure grieving employees are aware of them and won't be stigmatized should they use them.

If you, as a small-business owner, are the one who has experienced death in the family or other personal crisis, try to assign some of your duties to trusted employees. It's a good idea to groom someone when times are good to at least take some of the pressure off of you should you have to deal with extenuating circumstances.

Major illnesses of employees or of people in their immediate families also constitute a crisis that you likely will have to deal with at some point. If an employee contracts a debilitating disease or sickness, naturally you must be prepared to deal with increased absences or inability to perform certain duties. If you offer short-term disability as a benefit, make sure employees are aware that it is an option.

However, caregivers to people with debilitating diseases such as cancer will likely have to take many days off to accompany loved ones to the doctor and just to perform duties closer to home. Let such employees know that they have your support and to feel free to take time off when needed. Also, assign some of their tasks to another employee or at least have another employee learn how to pick up on assignments that this person may have to drop should their loved one's health continue to deteriorate.

Again, if you find yourself having to care for a loved one in a health emergency, you'll want to already have an employee in mind who can step in for you and help keep things running while you deal with matters at home.

Other issues can impact an employee's job performance. Divorce or separations from loved ones can lead to depression that can affect work performance negatively. Encourage your employees to let you know if events in their lives are spiraling out of control. That way, you can have enough knowledge to act and you will expect their work to deteriorate at least a little bit.

Once you're aware of such situations, again, assign tasks accordingly. Someone who is having a hard time dealing with a divorce is not someone you want to head the company's key project. While work can be therapeutic for employees going through rough patches, make sure they are involved in projects where their absence won't be catastrophic to your company until they have time to get their personal lives back in order.

If an employee asks to take unpaid time off for a personal crisis, be prepared to hire temporary workers to pick up the slack. That way, the money you're saving on that person's salary can be turned around and used to pay the temporary employee. Also, if an employee needs to leave for a couple of hours on certain days of the week for doctors' appointments, counseling sessions or other reasons related to the crisis, be flexible with them.

Understand that by supporting your employees in their times of need, you'll be increasing their loyalty to your company and they'll be more likely to work harder for you in your small business's time of need.

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