Grief and bereavement in the workplace is a complex endeavour
for employees and management to navigate at the best of times.
We live in a death-denying society which keeps us from knowing what to say or do in the face of loss, which is complicated by the work-home divide that discourages employees from bringing personal issues into the professional realm. However, the events of the COVID-19 pandemic have affected both these elements because it has put death, loss, and grief at the forefront of consciousness, and blurred the lines between personal and professional as employees moved from the office to working from home.

This shift presents an opportunity to rethink how organizations approach grief and bereavement in the workplace. There has not been a great deal of research devoted to this topic, even though most people in the workplace will be affected by a significant loss at some point in their career, and the impacts of grief and loss can have negative consequences on work ability and the workplace. The losses and grief brought on by the pandemic are complicated and likely to have long-standing impacts on the mental health of employees. In order to adequately support employees, build resilience, and continue to operate effectively, organizations need to reconsider and invest in grief and bereavement support strategies. This project utilizes user interviews, systems analysis tools, and a design thinking process to explore possible interventions that can be used in the workplace to enable more effective grief and bereavement support.