Kitchen Chats with Aimee Kandrac Episode 17: Navigating Layoffs And Other Crises At Work

With layoffs making headlines, Aimee chats with Jenni Salisbury, a human resources (HR) director in the international hospitality industry, to discuss how to navigate major life situations at work. Jenni shares tips to help friends and coworkers going through  layoffs, family emergencies, and health crises. Jenni also touches on how workplaces can support employees during challenging times and the importance of open communication. 

Episode Highlights

Layoffs are a major life event.

When you think about traumatic life events, car crashes and family emergencies may first come to mind. But Jenni says that layoffs are also unexpected, stressful, and anxiety-inducing events.

“A layoff is a major life situation.” “It’s any situation that’s taking you away from your circle and your routine.”

For many people, layoffs don’t just come with financial challenges but emotional ones. We spend much of our lives at work and many people tie their identity to their job.

“Sometimes people feel like they’ve lost a part of themselves or some of their personality,” Jenni said. “Supporting people through that is really important.”

Some ways to help a friend recently affected by a layoff include:

• Recommending them to other people in your network.

• Treating them to coffee or ice cream and giving them a space to share what’s on their mind.

• Setting up a regular cadence to meet with them, so they don’t get isolated.

• Giving them a big congratulations and card when they do land their next job.

Tell your workplace what’s going on.

If you’re in the middle of a major life situation, Jenni’s biggest tip is to talk to somebody at your workplace about it -- whether that’s the human resources department or your manager. Employers have two ways to help:

1. They can be active listeners and use compassion and empathy to help guide you through an unfamiliar situation.

2. They can take action and let you know what options are available.

“Sometimes people panic because they don’t know what to do or might just not come into work because they’re so caught up in the situation that other things are falling by the side,” Jenni said. “If their employer doesn’t know, it’s hard for them to help.” 

Know the resources you have available. 

Some states, including California, Oregon, and soon-to-be Colorado, are expanding paid family leave. While the programs do not cover every situation, they can provide financial resources in situations related to your own personal health or your immediate family. 

Workplaces also often have their own programs and benefits that can help in certain situations. Types of benefits may include:

• Short-term disability

• Family bonding time

• Adoption assistance

• Complimentary counseling sessions

• Telemedicine appointments

• Various types of paid and unpaid leave

“There’s different benefits that companies are coming out with to recruit and retain and help care for people through all different kinds of life events,” Jenni said. 

What to do when your coworker is struggling.

People tend to get to know their coworkers well, often celebrating big milestones like marriages, births, and promotions, as well as helping them through tough times like death and divorces. As such, you can probably tell if your coworker is not their typical self.

If you have a good relationship with that person, consider asking whether they’re okay and if they need help. If you don’t feel comfortable having that conversation directly, you can still help by bringing up your concerns to their manager.

“It’s the coworker who hears about the situation first that this colleague needs help before the manager or supervisor or human resources,” Jenni said.

How to help an employee coming to you.

If you’re the employer or a supervisor of an employee going through a hard time, the first thing you should do in most cases is have an honest conversation. Ask your employee:

• What’s going on?

• What’s on your mind?

• What do you think the next step should be?

By knowing what’s going on, you can start to provide resources and options:

• If your employee has to attend a funeral, does your company have bereavement pay available?

• If your employee is experiencing a mental health crisis, does your company have an employee assistance program that offers complimentary counseling sessions or a health plan that comes with telemedicine appointments to therapists?

• If your employee gets a phone call letting them know something significant has happened, do they want to take a longer break or go home for the day to collect themselves?

“If we don’t have those conversations, it’s hard to care for the person in the way that they should be cared for in that stressful moment,” Jenni said. “Without some kind of communication or conversation, it’s very hard to offer the next step or recommendations or resources.”

Resources + Links

• Kitchen Chats on YouTube

• Aimee Kandrac: Website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

• WhatFriendsDo: Website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

About Aimee and WhatFriendsDo

Aimee Kandrac is a speaker, consultant, and the co-founder and CEO of WhatFriendsDo. Her work is instrumental for organizing support during life-changing events, and she speaks to organizations about creative ways to help friends and family during times of crisis. Aimee has been recognized as a Top 50 Mompreneur by Babble.com and is the first female CEO in the state of Indiana to close a $500,000 funding round. She has been featured in Forbes, Time, the LA Times, Oprah.com, the Indianapolis Star, and more.

WhatFriendsDo is a simpler way to create organized and actionable support during a time of crisis. The free, online platform empowers healthcare facilities, HR departments, families, and friends to easily coordinate meals, errands, transportation, childcare, communication, and more for those in the midst of a life-changing event. The women-founded and women-led company started as a solution for a friend with terminal cancer. WhatFriendsDo is based out of Indianapolis.