Ep 51. Grief at Work: Why Bereavement Policies Fail and How HR Leaders Can Do Better with CJ Infantino

What does it really look like to support employees through grief at work—and why are most organizations getting it wrong?

In this deeply human and practical conversation, Taylor Bradley sits down with CJ Infantino, founder of Unvoiced, to explore the realities of grief in the workplace. After losing his wife in 2020, CJ experienced firsthand how traditional bereavement policies, performance expectations, and manager discomfort often fail grieving employees. Together, they unpack common misconceptions about grief (including the myth of a timeline), the physiological and performance impacts leaders often miss, and why codifying bereavement leave policies is both a humanitarian and business imperative. CJ also shares how he worked with Facebook’s leadership to create a formal bereavement policy, and offers actionable guidance for HR leaders on building psychological safety, training managers to have hard conversations, and designing thoughtful return-to-work plans that retain talent and protect productivity.

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Credits
TroopHR Founder: Tracy Avin
Show Producer: Nicole Fealey
Show Host: Taylor Bradley

Note: Transcripts generated by AI.