Boss Makes New Employee Cry With His Response To Learning That Her Mother Had Passed Right Before Her First Day
Empathy should always come first.
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A | Shutterstock Some bosses are genuinely nice, and you can't deny it. Sure, there are those who are too demanding or micromanaging, but then there are the ones who actually listen to your feedback and support you to grow in your role and within the company. That usually takes time, but not in the case of one new hire. Her new boss was so understanding when he found out her mother passed right before her start date that his response made her cry.
Good bosses understand that when they treat their employees well, they work better and the company benefits. And sometimes, people need more than a day off, especially when something tragic happens.
A boss made his new hire cry after he showed compassion when hearing about her mom's passing.
Elijah Linder, the co-founder of Bereave, a bereavement platform that helps businesses and employees navigate death and grief, recently shared a story on LinkedIn about a truly good boss. “A woman lost her mom less than a week ago,” he said. “She also accepted a new sales job during that same time."
She told her new manager before her start date. His response? He gave her six weeks of paid leave right away, delayed her ramp time by the same amount, and signed her up for direct deposit so she’d get paid immediately. She hadn’t even started yet, and she was already given six weeks off, fully paid. “She told me she broke out in tears,” Linder said.
Offering compassion in the workplace doesn't just benefit the individual. It benefits the company, as well.
Linder pointed out that the support this boss gave to his new hire will come back around. “She’s going to run through a wall for that manager,” he said. “For that company.” He added that he’d bet they’ll make back that six weeks of salary through her work, her recruiting of others, and the employee brand she’ll proudly carry forward.
He certainly isn't wrong. In a Gallup report entitled State of the American Manager: Analytics and Advice for Leaders, the analysis found that less than one in three employees is fully engaged in work in any given year, and that number is directly related to the quality of their leadership.
What's interesting, however, is that Gallup found that "employees who feel as though their manager is invested in them as people are more likely to be engaged." That's exactly what Linder surmised. According to the report, "The best managers make a concerted effort to get to know their employees and help them feel comfortable talking about any subject, whether it is work-related or not. A productive workplace is one in which people feel safe — safe enough to experiment, to challenge, to share information, and to support one another."
The comment section was full of praise for the manager's decision. “This is what putting people first and doing what’s right can look like,” one user wrote. “Goosebumps! This is 100% how it should be all the time,” another added. People started sharing their own stories about compassionate bosses, offering a little hope in a workforce that can often feel unfair.
Employees may want to quit their jobs after a loss.
According to a report by SHRM, about half of employees will consider leaving their jobs if their employer doesn't provide support after a loss. That just shows how important it is for companies to set the standard and actually support their workers. But even when they do provide bereavement days, it's usually not enough.
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Former COO of Meta, Sheryl Sandberg, experienced the harsh reality of grieving in the workplace after her husband died suddenly in 2015. It prompted her to write the book "Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy." In it, as reported on by SHRM, she noted that one in nine employees faces a loss every year, and that grief-related losses may cost organizations around $75 billion annually. The issue is that most companies aren’t fully equipped to deal with grief in the workplace. The standard bereavement leave? Only about three to five days. She wrote, “After the death of a loved one, only 60 percent of private sector workers get paid time off — and usually just a few days.”
According to SHRM, grief experts recommend 20 days of bereavement time for the loss of a close family member; meanwhile, most companies only offer around four days, and that's for the death of a child or spouse. The problem is, forcing people back into the workplace when they aren't healed accomplishes nothing but making that employee suffer. Productivity drops, morale drops, and the likelihood that the grief-stricken employee will look at their company with disdain only increases.
If, however, you behave like this new hire's boss, well, that kind of care builds trust and long-term loyalty. Employees will give their best in return, as a way to show appreciation. Also, it's the human thing to do.
Matt Machado is a writer studying journalism at the University of Central Florida. He covers relationships, psychology, celebrities, pop culture, and human interest topics.
