))
When Grief Enters the Workplace
Manage episode 347430440 series 3091079
Content provided by Lisa Dempsey & a soon to be announced co-host!, Lisa Dempsey, and Amp; a soon to be announced co-host!. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Lisa Dempsey & a soon to be announced co-host!, Lisa Dempsey, and Amp; a soon to be announced co-host! or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Grief will show up in your life, whether your own or for people around you – including people at work. That friendly sounding invitation to ‘bring your whole self to work’? It includes grief.
Maaike Roseboom experienced a huge and sudden personal loss. Lisa was her HR manager at the time and they got to know each other at an intense level. Maaike’s personal journey dealing with grief and returning to work led her to making a difference for others going through this and becoming an expert speaker and advocate. She’s our guest on this new episode and shares what it was like for her to go back to work after intense bereavement, bringing so many deep insights to the conversation.
“When I returned to work, I felt like I had two jobs: I had my work, and I had that work of grief. I didn’t have enough brain space to advocate for myself, and to take up the space I needed to go through that grief journey.”
Every workplace deals with complex emotional issues, including very personal ones. Grief is definitely one of the complex ones. It has a profound impact on a person but the extent of grief cannot be measured by where someone sits in your family tree. Each individual grief process is different.
And yet it’s also very simple.
As manager or HR person, your role for a grieving team member is that of a resource connector: you can help navigate policies, advocate for support sources and find practical assistance.
The other part of your role is far more important: you are a human being and you care about the other person. Allow yourself to show empathy and compassion. That is ultimately the most important thing.
“When I came back to work,” Maaike told us, “One of my managers said, “I’m so sorry for your loss, my condolences again. And did you see my email from yesterday?”
Revisit your policies and procedures, advocate for their improvement, but mostly, learn how to interact with someone in this situation. You’re not there to fix the grief. You are empathetic to their wellbeing. You connect. Even when it’s through saying “I don’t know what to say.”
That stays the same even when you’ve gone through bereavement yourself, Maaike says: “I don’t know what to say most of the time when I deal with people that have experienced loss. But what I know from experience is that that is ok, because I’d rather have someone telling me ‘I don’t know what to say, and I’m sorry,’ than ignoring it.”
Holding space is what you can learn and choose to do: put your effort into making room for someone else to go through what they’re going through. Room for that emotional experience that they are processing, room for that other job the person has suddenly taken on.
By just being there.
Recommended:
- Maaike sharing her view on normalising the conversation in the workplace around loss and grief in a LinkedIn video https://www.linkedin.com/posts/maaike-roseboom_loss-grief-awareness-activity-6981256532654989312-9QZQ?
- Book recommendation: It's ok that you're not ok by Megan Devine. In Maaike’s words: “Essential reading for anyone who is grieving or loves someone who is grieving (or just wants to get a better understanding of what grief can look like beyond the definition and stages that are described).”
129 episodes
Share
