Desleigh White’s Post

View profile for Desleigh White, graphic

People & Culture (HR) consultant | Leadership Coach | Workshop Facilitation | DISC Accredited | Fractional Interim HR | HR projects | Career Coach

Last week was grief awareness day. Like Justin Clifford I'm also not a fan of talk without action, and awareness days. So, here are some actions you could consider when people are grieving: 💥 Be there for them with both ears. Let them know you're happy to listen if they'd like to talk. You could say something like 'I'm not sure what to say ...' 💥 Do not ask intrusive questions. Internally acknowledge your own morbid curiosity and then do not articulate your questions around how people died or what happened. 💥 If you can, give them extra time off fully paid. 💥 Be kind and compassionate. Actually, do this always! 💥 If you do not understand, reflect on your privilege and double down on being supportive. 💥 I prefer to send a plant rather than flowers, and often do this a week later, when the flowers from others are gone. I let them know that, so they know we are being thoughtful rather than uncaring. Do not send anything that is toxic to pets. 💥 I like to send a food delivery voucher too. For those days when they cannot think about cooking but need to eat. 💥 Or do a grocery order with comfort food and frozen meals. Let them know in advance that you will be doing this and ask what the best day and time for delivery will be. Make sure you confirm the best address too! 💥 I often let people know I will periodically send text messages, or I use gif as well, to let them know they're in my thoughts. I'm clear that there is no pressure to response, no response is expected or needed. 💥 Do not send questions about work. If they are so critical that you cannot do without them for this time, your workplace is broken and needs to be fixed. Do that without their input 💥 Be super cautious of any desire to make people feel better or tell jokes because of discomfort. Sit with your discomfort, this is not about you. Be there for them. Do not make jokes to try to 'lighten the mood' or cheer them up. 💥 Let the team know that they are absent for a generic reason that is true but not breaching their privacy. Ask the team not to reach out for anything other than a supportive message - no 'what's wrong', no work stuff. Just 'Thinking of you' or similar. When they are up to speaking with you, ask how they would like communication framed. 💥 Rather than ask what they need (because they may not know), ask specific questions. 'I'd like to help and wondered if it would be useful if I had your emails redirected / added an out of office and to contact me in your absence.....' 💥 When they are due to return, speak to the team about the relevant items above, or your own ideas on how the team might go about supporting the person. The important one in my view is "Do not ask intrusive questions. Internally acknowledge your own morbid curiosity and then do not articulate your questions around how people died or what happened." Let's double down on kindness, thoughtfulness and compassion when people need it most. People Matter Coaching & HR

View profile for Justin Clifford, graphic

CEO @ Bereave | Leadership | GTM | Sales | Learning

Listen. I'm not a huge proponent of 'annual awareness days.' One day a year for anything worthwhile isn't enough. If you care about a topic, care about it 365. You don't have to be loud, but care. Educate. Facilitate. Help people understand. And if it takes an 'annual awareness day' to educate one new person and help them learn a bit more than they did yesterday, I can get down with it. Today is National Grief Awareness day. Be aware that there are people around you grieving and you probably don't know it. It doesn't have to be recent. It doesn't have to a death. Grief comes from dozens of life situations. It can and will punch you in the gut when you least expect it. It will smash your day in an unexpected instant. It will rip apart your week without notice. So, go check in with someone today you care about today. Then do it again next week or tomorrow. But do me a solid? Do it more than just on an awareness day. It's tough to start, but you can just simply say, "hey. been thinking about you. how are you today?" Go. Go on. You can do it. ❤️

To view or add a comment, sign in

Explore topics