048 | How to support your colleagues with bereavement at work, with Michelle Smith

It can be hard to know what to say or do when a colleague passes away or experiences the loss of someone close to them. Unfortunately, bereavement is a fact of life and something that you’ll have to support your colleagues within your role as an HR and People professional. However, it’s likely that you’ve never been given any training to support you with this.

So, this episode of HR Coffee Time is here to help. Career Coach Fay Wallis is joined by Director of Empower Workplace Solutions; Michelle Smith, who shares key considerations and advice to support your bereaved workforce compassionately.

Key Points From This Episode

[02:06] An introduction to Michelle Smith

[06:50] In the last two years, one in eight people have experienced a bereavement (statistic from Respecting and supporting grief at work. How employers can better support their staff through personal loss)

[08:05] Michelle shares an important checklist that she has created - Supporting your bereaved workforce - 10 key considerations

[09:13] The importance of inclusion considerations

[14:29] Setting & maintaining boundaries

[17:23] How Mental Health First Aid training can be beneficial in the workplace

[20:13] Michelle explains the different ways to provide support:

• The initial response
• Checking in with each other
• Empathy

[27:33] Different ways an organisation can honour loss within the workplace

[30:33] Details of Michelle’s services

[31:47] How to connect with Michelle

[32:20] Michelle’s book recommendation - Indistractable by Nir Eyal (Disclosure: this is an affiliate link which means Fay will earn a small commission from Amazon if you choose to purchase the book using it).

[34:34] Fay recaps the key points from this week’s episode

Useful Links

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• The Bright Sky Career Coaching website
• Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn
• Michelle's website: Loss, Grief and Bereavement Support

Rate and Review the Podcast

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: fay@brightskycareercoaching.co.uk.

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