When an employee is grieving, it can affect job performance. An aware employer can make the difference.

“It really is important that employers understand what that employee may be going through and be able to work with them until they are starting to heal,” said Kelli Connolly, who counsels mourners through Lutheran SeniorLife VNA Hospice.

A bereavement coordinator, Connolly will present “Grief in the Workplace” at Butler County Community College's Lunch & Learn session on Feb. 6.

Connolly, who was awarded a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994, has worked in hospice for 12 years and is a certified grief recovery specialist.

“It will help employers to be able to recognize when their employees are having an issue with grief,” Connolly said. “They need to be aware there are certain symptoms of grief that can interfere with work. Our society fails to recognize grief for what it is.”

“There is a level of uncontrollable emotion in the early stages. It's really beyond their control,” she said.

A smell or sound at work can become a grief trigger, she said.

Grief can lead to a loss of concentration, forgetfulness, anxiety, tearfulness and the inability to complete tasks at work and the symptoms can be aggravated by an employer who hasn't experienced a loss, she said.

“If (employers are) not aware of a loss, it could appear to be poor performance, but it could be grief-related. People have told me they lost their jobs even after telling their employer about grief. That concerns me because I'm aware of the emotional upheaval that it creates,” Connolly said.

Her presentation also will teach people how to approach and listen to a grieving co-worker.

“I will talk about how to approach someone grieving — what to say, what not to say. A lot of people avoid grieving people. That's the worse thing. We must listen. We just need to be open and listen,” she said.

Grief in the workplace is a subject not normally included in professional skills workshops, said Kelly McKissick, BC3's coordinator of professional education and certificate programs.

“You think work is just work, but everybody's lives somehow interact with work. It's important for people to know how to respond when these life events occur,” McKissick said. “You can't just get back and function the way you did. Your life has totally changed. You need to have at least one person there who knows how to respond in a way that can help you to function.”

Connolly said the subject is timely because of the high number of drug overdose deaths in the county.

“I am sensitive right now to Butler and to the city in that we have so many losses due to the overdoses,” Connolly said. “I feel like it has been a very difficult two-year period in this area. So I feel now more than ever we need to be educated and aware of what so many people in our community are dealing with on a grief level.”

WHAT: “Grief in the Workplace,” second of six Lunch & Learn professional skills by Butler County Community College's Workforce Development divisionWHEN: 11:30 a.m. Feb. 6WHERE: ConnectWork on Main, 220 S. Main St., Suite 201, in ButlerNOTES: A light lunch and a chance to network will follow the presentation.