Divorce coaching benefits help employees better manage a separation

When an employee is going through a divorce, emotional, logistical and legal matters weigh so heavily on them that work can quickly fall to the bottom of the pile. 

As divorce rates continue to creep up, the impact on work will be hard for employers to ignore. An employee will lose 40% of their productivity for the six months before their divorce and up to five years after it, due to factors like absences for court and legal appointments, along with the impact from emotional distress, according to a report by the Nashville Business Journal. For some, the experience is so overwhelming that 10% will actually quit their job due to divorce. 

"Employers have said, this is none of my business, but then they start to realize this is way more expensive for the company than it is for the employee going through it," says Vicky Townsend, president of Divorce Right, a coaching and management training platform. "Divorce is typically a 9-to-5 business — all the people that help you through this process don't work on weekends." 

Read more: This app supports working parents going through a divorce 

For many individuals, navigating the process of going through a divorce is financially and mentally taxing, and can also feel very isolating. That has a huge impact on productivity and presenteeism in the workplace, too, Townsend says. 

"When you hear the words, I want a divorce, you're kind of expected to know what you have to do. But nobody tells you what to do," she says. "You're distracted wondering what your life is going to be like, so you tend to be frozen until you can get yourself into a place where you have some sort of a plan."

To help employees come up with that game plan and mitigate the impact on their work, Divorce Right provides coaching services for individuals, as well as training for HR managers and leaders on the benefits and support their workers will need during this time. 

"We want to train supervisors and managers so that they understand some of the issues and get that employee quickly to the support and resources that they need to get through it," Townsend says. "If we can just get the temperature in the room down, that employee can then start to make good decisions for themselves and for their family." 

Read more: This platform is giving employers a training and development blueprint 

Beyond coaching, employers can lead employees to benefits that already exist in order to help them navigate this time, Townsend says. EAP services could help with finding an attorney or even a mental health counselor to help employees manage their stress. Access to financial wellness benefits like a financial adviser, emergency childcare benefits and robust PTO policies are also necessary and much-appreciated. 

Divorce Right also offers access to video courses, along with a personalized divorce coach, who can guide employees to legal professionals, help them through complicated custody arrangements, and be an advocate during these destabilizing times. 

"We've literally walked into a courtroom arm-and-arm with them, and we'll sit behind them, and we are their sounding board," Townsend says of her coaching team. "More importantly, we understand what's at stake so they understand the direction that they need to go, they have answers to some of the important questions and can keep it away from the office water cooler." 

As employers continue to encourage employees to bring their full selves to work, sometimes that means addressing the messier parts of life, Townsend says. But done right, employees will be able to move forward in both their lives and careers with the support of their workplace. 

"So much of divorce is uncertainty, and we're giving them certainty," Townsend says. "Now they're a more dedicated and loyal employee, because their employer had their back when they've gone through one of the most traumatic life events."