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Book Carole "Excellent workshop from Carole Spiers and vital for those who want their organisations to become less stressful and practice Healthy workplace culture".
Ministry of Health, Malaysia
Motivational Speaker Carole Spiers
helps you cope with the shock of workplace suicide
A suicide in the workplace will inevitably cause uncomfortable guilt-feelings among both the victim's colleagues and employers, who may wonder whether they could have done anything to prevent it. But this kind of agonising ("Why didn't we see it coming?") is a somewhat irrational reflex, especially as the suicide may have been triggered by events unconnected with work.
It is worth making a formal study of potential suicide intervention as part of stress-management. You can try to spot signs of deep depression; to counsel the vulnerable; to know what to say to the rest of the workforce; train your HR personnel and to resource specialist expertise from outside, when necessary.
No predicting
A high-risk individual may appear withdrawn and unable to relate to those around them, often dwelling at length on intractable problems. The risk is greater in the wake of a personal trauma such as illness, bereavement, redundancy or acute depression. Also, there is no predicting the routine of a potential suicide. Some say that any mention of the subject may trigger it. Others claim that those who talk about suicide never go through with it. Having worked in a suicide crisis centre for years, I can tell you that both of these are total myths.
Principally, sufferers need someone to be there for them, ready to accept them as someone who needs to be helped over a massive obstacle. What they don't need is the brisk pep-talk or equally, the too-easy reassurance that everything will be all right. (Platitudes like this are best avoided in any context.)
Good listening, therefore, is one key. But experience shows that you also need access to the best professional back-up you can source.
Delegating - Summary
- Spotting suicidal symptoms in advance can be formally taught
- Sympathetic listening, not sermons or pep-talks, is the key
- Expert professional backup should be ready to deploy at once
Another key insight from Carole Spiers, International Leading Authority on Corporate Stress,
Motivational Speaker and BBC Broadcaster.
