2026 AWARDS: ENTER NOW

Grief Research

Exploring the impact of grief and bereavement on workplace wellbeing

Home Research & Insights InsightsGrief Research

Grief affects every workplace, yet many companies lack clear guidance on how to respond.

Our Grief Research, in partnership with Natwest Group, examined how organisations can better support employees through loss - with practical recommendations around policy, communication, and compassionate leadership.

The research was designed to gain an understanding of how workplaces are looking after employees who are experiencing grief. It was set up in two stages, covering initially workplaces, then employees.

We engaged with 15 global workplaces and employers during Summer 2023, with responsibility for a total of over 300,000 employees globally. Our initial focus was the UK, looking at organisations in a range of sectors, with workforces ranging from 250 to 100,000 employees. We would like to thank all those who gave their valuable time and shared their insights and personal experiences with us.

Stage 2 was undertaken in Q4 2023. We sent out an online questionnaire to employees to ask them about their lived experience. The survey was distributed by a wide variety of companies in many sectors and we received over 600 completed surveys. The top line analysis of this is now available at the back of this report and the key themes confirm the findings we discovered in Stage 1.

DOWNLOAD THE GRIEF REPORT

We found that the six biggest challenges organisations face were:

How to effectively implement a person-led approach that takes into account the individuals needs, wants and feelings.
How to upsize a personal approach to support when you are in a large multinational organisation.
How to make it acceptable to access support, even with an Employee Assistance Programme in place without stigma.
How to set up a supported bereavement structure and make it a safe, accessible, and equitable space.
How to understand and manage different cultural and religious needs and practices – in general these are not widely understood.
That line managers in general are not trained apart from Mental Health First Aid training or its equivalent.