Divorce devastates businesses. With recent warnings of a big spike in divorce rates following lockdown, how do we prepare for the huge impact this is going to have on the workplace?
Firstly it is vital we understand the ripple effect that divorce has on an employee. In the past we were expected to leave our personal problems at home, however with the rise in awareness of mental health issues we know this is no longer a reality. Divorce cannot just remain isolated to an employee’s private home life as it will have a knock-on effect on everything they do including their ability to make good decisions, to focus, to concentrate and to manage teams of people.
Divorce can have an impact on mental and even physical health resulting in absenteeism with time off sick and for stress. Days off are also needed for court appearances, lawyer meetings and the mountain of paperwork and admin that needs to be completed which can be all consuming.
Divorce creates a level of uncertainty for employees which leads to an increase in anxiety. When under higher levels of stress employees suffer from a reduced ability to handle pressure in the workplace. It can impair their judgement and reduce their productivity and effectiveness. Whilst everyone will react in their own way depending on their personality and ability to cope under pressure it will heighten emotions and can increase the risk of anger, overwhelm or depression.
One business I work with reported reeling from the aftermath of an error made by a director during his divorce. He had bottled up his stress and thrown himself into working extra hours to distract himself from his homelife. Stress and lack of sleep meant his attention to detail was way below where it needed to be and he made a mistake with a deal that cost the company £250,000.
Another company had two members of staff on one team both going through difficult high conflict divorces and it was causing a huge disruption to the morale of that department. This was impacting sales and causing tensions in the team.
One woman running her own SME in recruitment was so affected by her divorce that her employees staged an intervention as they were worried for their jobs. They asked her to get some help as it was impacting on the management strategy and the business was not being as reactive as it needed to be.
So what can employers do to help their employees during a divorce and protect their businesses? The good news is there are lots of things that can help reduce the negative impact for both the employee and employer. Here are my top tips:
- Communicate openly and offer support and understanding – if an employee feels valued and supported it will encourage them to do their best for the business
- Identify key areas of concern for the employee before they become an issue – this will be vital in damage limitation
- Find solutions that will help employees maintain and manage their workload – they may need to rely more heavily on other team members at times
- Offer flexible hours – this will help reduce absenteeism and enable them to attend legal meetings and manage any new child care arrangements
- Nip any office gossip in the bud – this prevents a toxic environment in the workplace from spreading and tensions from rising
- Provide access to specific support for divorce – if the employee can work through their personal issues outside the workplace it will enable them to be more focused and productive when they are at work