Session Summary:

Returning to work after a serious illness or the onset of a long-term condition can be an experience full of ambiguity for the employee and the organisation. There are often many questions which have no clear cut and quick answers. The employee may be wondering: How do I speak to people about what has happened? Do I even want to tell them? Will my health issues prevent me from getting good projects and promoted? Can I even do what I used to do?

HR and the line manager may be asking themselves: How can I support this employee? What is good and appropriate for this person and how do I determine that? How should I talk about all this with them?

Whilst recognising there is no one definitive answer to these questions as every person and organisation is different, this webinar will give an insight into the psychological experience of the person returning to work. This will help HR professionals and line managers to understand the behind-the-scenes issues possibly at play for such employees and enable them to relate with authentic empathy, a key cornerstone for trust and relationships.

The webinar will also briefly touch on how personal and society assumptions, which surround health and illness, can impact an employee’s return to work.

Participants will come away with an understanding of the psychological experience of illness and returning to work, helpful ideas on how they can approach such situations going forward, the slides and links to articles and books.

In this session we will explore:

Psychological experience of health and illness and of the person returning to work

Skills the employee may need to develop to have a successful transition back into work

Briefly review common personal and societal assumptions which surround health and illness

How coaching can support the employee in making an effective transition back into work

practical – The presentation itself (PDF of Powerpoint slides)