Rachel Kodanaz has been speaking passionately to national audiences of all sizes for 20 years, addressing all aspects of change, growth, and acceptance that comes with embracing life’s challenges – those expected and unexpected. Through her books, Living with Loss, One Day at a Time and Grief in the Workplace, Rachel offers a wealth of knowledge, inspiration and practical advice for those who have lost a loved one or are supporting someone who has lost a loved one. In this week’s episode, Rachel shares timeless advice on how you can return to the workplace and get the most out of your work environment as you go through grief.

Key Takeaways:

• Grief in the workplace is still a real issue.
• A little bit about Rachel and her grief story.
• When Rachel’s husband passed, she lost a bit of her meaning and purpose, especially when it came to work.
• “How can I help?” Is such a loaded question. You can figure out how to help someone if you just observe them and what they are struggling with.
• No two people will behave the same when it comes to grief and work.
• When Rachel lost her husband, she didn’t even acknowledge she was a widow, she was just trying to survive as a newly single mom.
• Susan felt like there was just a world falling down on her at work, and she wanted somebody to just help her.
• So many people don’t know what they need after a sudden life change.
• What’s the difference between a grief coach and a situational coach?
• Managers! Are you listening? You can take a very painful experience and turn that into a beautiful and supportive environment for the griever.
• Susan has been put in situations where an employee was grieving, and she just didn’t know or even have the context at the time to support them.
• A co-worker told Susan to not talk about her loss, in fear of making someone else;who recently lost a parent; angry. Despite them trying to be helpful, it was so hurtful.
• Susan ended up leaving her job because that’s the one thing she felt like she had control over.
• Grief, unfortunately, is a timeline in the workplace, and you can rarely put a timeline on grief.
• As an employer, you can ask empowering questions to help your employee during such a rough time.
• What piece of advice does Rachel have for both the grieving employee and the employer?
• Companies! Do not get this wrong. Seek additional resources if your team member recently lost someone.

Resources:

Rachelkodanaz.com

Rachel on LinkedIn