Mind Share Partners provides guidance for companies amid tragedy.
Morey Riorden, CEO of the workplace mental health nonprofit Mind Share Partners, issued the following statement to workplaces in the wake of Hurricane Helene — and in the forecasted path of Hurricane Milton.
"Employers have a distinct role in employee wellbeing on a daily basis—but especially during catastrophic events that take a toll on mental health. The physical destruction can be seen and felt; how the survivors in a workplace feel isn’t necessarily visible.
Trauma, grief, and emotional stress are acute for survivors of last week’s storm—and a wake-up call for workplaces in the path of coming weather events.
In a Tennessee factory,11 plant workers were, as CNN reported, “swept away by Hurricane Helene’s deadly floodwaters.” Circumstances like these where workplaces lose people have a responsibility to properly navigate mental health concerns among surviving employees.
Our hearts go out to the families and co-workers of the hundreds of people who lost their lives or remain unaccounted for in Tennessee and North Carolina. First responders and medical personnel are also in our thoughts."
Mind Share Partners urges employers in storm-ravaged areas to consider the following:
While obvious, prioritize people over productivity.
Provide flexibility and decision-making power to managers to respond to the situation.
Many employees are resilient. But management should make it easy for workers to talk about what happened when they are ready to do so and put in place a strong support system. This could include a temporary expansion of mental health services and follow-ups to check-in on employees’ well-being.