Add value to your values.

Compassionate Workplace Certification recognises organisations that are actively committed to supporting employees through grief, death, loss, and caregiving. Certification reflects an ongoing journey of cultural change—embedding compassion into leadership, policies, communication, and everyday practice.

Our process is built around three key phases: Education, Evaluation, and Action.

Compassionate Workplace Certification Pathway

  • A 3-hour interactive workshop introducing the fundamentals of compassionate culture in the workplace.
    Topics include: loss and grief at work, entitlements and support, how to have tender conversations, and personal preparedness. This session lays the groundwork for meaningful, shared understanding across the team.

    This is a prerequisite for entering the certification pathway.

  • The Compassionate Workplace Survey is a confidential tool designed to assess how well your organisation supports employees through grief, loss, and caregiving.

    This tool evaluates: Staff understanding of grief, death, and loss; Confidence and competence in offering and receiving support; Existing barriers to compassionate culture; Perceived effectiveness of current policies and leadership support.

    We analyse the data and produce a detailed insights report, including a visual summary and results dashboard, key strengths and areas for improvement, a tailored set of recommendations, suggested training and policy development pathways.

  • Once a plan is agreed upon, we support your organisation to implement changes over 3–12 months. This may include:

    Additional trainings (e.g. Compassionate Leadership, EOL Services in Aotearoa, Tender Conversations)

    Policy development and review (bereavement, carer leave, return to work, grief-informed communication)

    Coaching or mentoring support for individuals or teams

    Death cafés or Departure Lounges to normalise grief conversations

    At the end of the period, we assess progress and award certification based on implementation outcomes and cultural shifts.

Assessment Areas

We evaluate your organisation across 7 key domains:

  1. Leadership & Culture

  2. Strategy & Organisational Commitment

  3. Employee Engagement & Psychological Safety

  4. Policy & Practice Review

  5. Training & Development Pathways

  6. Compassionate Communication & Language

  7. Measurement, Reporting, and Continuous Learning

Levels of Recognition

Your organisation will be recognised at one of three levels, based on your current progress and commitment:

  • Foundational – Beginning the journey

  • Progressive – Embedding compassion in practice

  • Compassionate Leader – Leading by example across your sector

Annual Renewal

Certification is valid for 12 months. To renew:

  • Repeat the Compassionate Workplace Survey

  • Evaluate outcomes and refresh the plan

  • Continue implementing culture-building actions