Becky Tuma lost her daughter, McKenna, to sudden infant death syndrome when she was only 3 months old. Becky returned to work after two weeks and the work environment was different. People were trying to ignore the elephant in the room. Becky shares her grief journey and shares advice on how to best handle grief in the workplace.
Key Takeaways:
- How do you get back to work after experiencing a devastating loss?
- Becky shares her grief journey and the loss of her daughter.
- The physician that cared for her daughter and helped her through this journey will forever be in Becky's memory. He did a wonderful job.
- You can ask why all day long, but in the passing of a loved one, it's hard to find those answers.
- What was Becky's transition back to work like?
- When Becky came back, she was locked out of almost everything. Was she being fired?
- Susan shares what happened when she came back to work after Paul died.
- We train for so many 'what ifs' like hostile work environments and sexual harassment cases, but no one trains for grief and the passing of a loved one.
- Becky left her job because she felt like she wasn't wanted or welcomed.
- When someone is grieving at work, it's important to create space for them to move through that grief, with support.
- How can employees best advocate for themselves?
- It's okay to not know how to properly do this.
- If roles were reversed, you'd want someone to advocate for you.
- What advice does Becky have for organizations on how they can be better stewards of grief in the workplace?
- Challenge yourself to be different and work towards making the employee experience better.
