Leading the Way: Compassion in the Workplace

Abstract

There are multiple factors in the paid workforce which affect production in terms of health and well-being; these include grieving and “presenteeism.” This project was about developing a model for an integrated approach to grief support in the workplace. This model involves 3 overlapping domains: management ( compassionate leadership, as per Sarros, Cooper, Hartican, & Barker, 2006); “workshop floor” ( befriending, as adapted from Kennedy, McKenzie, & Wilson, 2006); and the organization as a whole ( workplace ethos, as per Bolman & Deal, 1991; Swann, 2002). A qualitative action research methodology was developed that included in-depth interviews with Uniting Church of Australia and “Other” workplaces, and thematic analyses of workplace policy documents. Results highlight qualitative differences particularly between workplaces where the ethos and befriending approach were integrated and those that were not. Conclusions drawn were that although befriending cannot be imposed, training in befriending would be a helpful approach to grief support in the workplace. Integrated with a befriending approach, compassionate leadership also needed to be acknowledged as an important leadership skill.