Expect the Best. Prepare for the Worst.

We never expect to hear the heavy knock of tragedy at our door. So many of us tend to navigate our lives assuming we will be given tomorrow. We make plans for ourselves, for our families, set goals for the future. We, as we should, approach daily life through a lens of hope, allowing ourselves to be inspired by what is possible as we push aside worst case scenarios. And then tragedy enters our world. Optimism is dashed. The layered weight of grief consumes us. We heard this unexpected knock on our door twice in an eight month period in 2018 at our school, and have stumbled away, arm in arm with those around us who share our grief, with a rare perspective we desire to share in hopes other schools can learn from the challenges we have faced. 

Being an educator requires a level of optimism rarely seen in other professions. We are trained from our earliest years that teachers believe in us, they are the ones willing to water the seeds of knowledge in us when others are willing to accept the drought. This optimism permeates all layers of an educators life, and, and easily filters to the institutional level as well. The double edged sword of institutional and individual optimism often collides with the harsh realities of wills, financial planning, and employee education around these matters during the most unfortunate of circumstances. 

As a Business Office and school administration, we must carefully walk this tightrope of optimism and reality; spending time educating and supporting employees through best practices without dampening the positive energy that makes our school the place we know and love. As we emerge from a trying season of loss in our community, we share three lessons from our experiences that we hope serve as a catalyst for important conversations among business managers, heads of school, and others in leadership at peer schools. 

Education Matters

As educational institutions, we sometimes fail to put into practice the same learning opportunities for our employees that we offer our students. We must be intentional in our education of our employees regarding their responsibility in the case of their death or serious injury. From the first day we meet with a new employee, we must impart the importance of having a living will that clearly states their own wishes should they die or be incapacitated to the extent they are no longer able to make their own decisions. Not the cheery, first conversation you want to have as you onboard a new employee, but this education is absolutely critical in establishing a foundation of knowledge and a culture of planning within your school community.

This foundation of education must extend to 401k plans, life insurance, and financial advising, and schools must ensure the educational process is not a one time event each year. We know from our work with students that repeated exposure to information in a variety of delivery mechanisms is critical to deep learning and retention of information. We have found partnerships with vendors like Borislow Insurance and Health Plans, Inc allows for expert knowledge to be imparted to our employees consistently throughout the year. Whether it is during start of year meetings, lunch meetings throughout the school year, or through 1:1 sessions with personal financial advisor as needed, providing our employees the flexibility to access these resources in multiple ways is essential. 

Follow Up

Continuing the parallels we experience with our students, schools must recognize providing educational materials to employees is not enough. Employees are busy, we all are, and when content is uncomfortable to people, as financial and tragedy planning is for most of us, the tendency to procrastinate interferes with our end goal of making sure every employee has a plan in place. Schools must develop a multi-pronged approach to education follow-up. Emails with checklists and reminders should go to all employees periodically, but we know the open rate on these types of emails hover in the 15% rate (at best). Therefore, when your Human Resource personnel knows of a life changing event (divorce, death, serious injury), following up that employee face to face, in a sensitive and respectful way, is essential. The key, however, is to remain human and to intentionally work to meet your employees where they are. 

Financial and estate planning will most likely not be your employees’ favorite ‘class’, so be creative in how you educator and follow up with different groups of employees. Present information in digestible chunks and have short-term goals to help create small pockets of evolution within your community. Perhaps identify ambassadors within your employee base who can help in a grassroots manner affect change. Who are the employees who have a clear financial and estate plan in place? Who are their peers that would listen and engage with them around this issue? How can you create an incentive plan for these employees to hold small group meetings that may feel less intimidating and less stressful than meeting with HR or an outside vendor? The ultimate goal of any school is to make sure their employees have the information they need in front of them - the links, phone numbers, and forms as well as the people internally who can be used as resources. 

Know Your Resources 

If we are following our own advice as Business Officers, we embrace the notion we must continue to learn and access our own resources as we develop a plan for ourselves, as employers, should a tragedy strike our community. In the case of a death or a serious injury employers need to know the resources available to them. 

Our liability insurance (United Educators) has a resource called Pro Assist that provides coverage for Public Relations, Grief Counseling, and other emergency services. EAP provides grief counseling and ongoing counseling for employees and families who have experienced trauma. Borislow Insurance has experts that will advise families on benefits, transportation of an injured family member, transportation of a body across state lines, and a myriad of legal issues associated with the death or injury. If the injury or death is work related our workmen’s compensation provider (Memic) provides benefits and services for employees and advice for the employer. Knowing all of the benefits and having them written down in an action plan is the responsibility of Human Resources office so that they the school is prepared for situations.

Plan for Your Plan to be Modified 

As with any emergency action plan, schools must be prepared to have that plan modified at a moments notice. Having the structure of a comprehensive emergency plan allows you to identify which aspects of the plan need to be activated in a specific moment, rather than developing a plan in the midst of an emergency. Whether employers like it or not, schools must plan for the death or serious injury of an employee which includes having a protocol in place around the notification of family, employees, students, alumni, and other members of the school community. In what order will information go out to constituents? How will the school handle media inquiries? What plan is in place to handle online conversation on social media? As untimely and self-focused as it may sound, are there ‘brand’ implications depending on the circumstances of the tragedy? 

Every situation is unique and requires the implementation of a dynamic response rooted in a structured plan your school has established. A paralyzing injury on campus is different than an unexpected death. Understanding resources and the rationale for communication protocols must be flexible in order to address the specific needs of each situation. We must never react, but rather slow down and act intentionally regardless of how emotional a situation may be.  

This piece was originally published in NBOA's quarterly magazine. Find the original link HERE.