Transforming Grief
with Shanti Vani
Beneficial to Businesses
Grief Literacy is Vital
"In my opinion, it is a good business practice and a more humane gesture if corporations were to offer grief support to their employees."
Shireen Sardar, Pen of Mercy founder/director
Shireen Sardar, Director,
Pen of Mercy
"I Am a Bereaved Mother" - Shireen's Story
My son died at the age of 30 years old in 2019. After trying to heal the intensity of my grief for three years, I decided to get help from other sources. I took the Transforming Grief 8 sessions course with Shanti Vani.
Shanti provided a safe environment for me to understand and normalize what I was experiencing. She taught me how to cope with my thoughts and feelings. After completing my 8 sessions with Shanti, I noticed a shift in the intensity of my painful thoughts and feelings about my son’s death. I became more in tune to my feelings of guilt, sadness and anxiety. Becoming more aware and alert of my feelings and emotions helps me tackle them better.
Having suffered through the bereavement of my son’s death and as the founder and director of Pen of Mercy, a nonprofit charitable organization, I completely understand the importance of grief support and the tools a person can gain from such a program. When people are dealing with the loss of a loved one, they can get quite dysfunctional with depression, guilt, anger and/or anxiety. This can in turn affect their productivity in the workplace. In my opinion, it is a good business practice and a more humane gesture if corporations were to offer grief support to their employees.
Pen of Mercy is a very small grassroots charitable organization which gives financial aid to young single moms in Pakistan. Most of the women and children we help have experienced some sort of emotional trauma. We hope that one day we too can offer grief/trauma support to our beneficiaries in addition to the financial aid we give them currently.
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To learn more about Pen of Mercy, click here:
EMPATHY.COM - Cost of Grief in the Workplace
Grief takes a huge toll on our communities. In the worst time of COVID-19, the death toll was staggering. We continue to suffer from illness, violent crime, disability, accidents, natural disasters, and bullying, just to name a few. When repressed grief and sorrow accumulate, it takes a toll on our well-being, our productivity and our ability to feel hope and joy.
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More and more businesses are coming to realize that to help their employees is to improve their business and their customer satisfaction as well.
Companies that take good care of their people stand out above the rest. When workers feel well cared for, they perform at a higher level. It's human nature to respond to kindness and compassion.
Empathy.com reports that loss is one of the most difficult and emotionally draining experiences a person will go through. Grief takes time and support. Caregiving and funerals take money. Employees need time and support in times of loss. Companies that take care of their employees will benefit.
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To view Empathy.com Cost of Dying Report, click here:
GALLUP - State of the Global Workplace: 2023 Report
John Clifton, CEO opens this report with a few points of information. He says, "In one of the largest studies of burnout, Gallup found the biggest source was unfair treatment at work." That was followed by an unmanageable workload, unclear communication from managers, lack of manager support and unreasonable time pressure." When an employee is in grief and their grief isn't acknowledged, productivity and peace in the workplace are diminished. Clifton states, "Business units with engaged workers have 23% higher profit compared with business units with miserable workers. Additionally, teams with thriving workers see significantly lower absenteeism, turnover and accidents; they also see higher customer loyalty." When a company does a good job of tending to grief in the workplace, everyone benefits.
Transforming Grief offers some clear, simple lessons on effective ways to support grievers, which increase a sense of connection and belonging at work.
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To view Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2023 Report, click here: