In the UK, the Princess of Wales is striving to find the right balance following her return to public life after her cancer diagnosis, which sends an important reminder to businesses to consider how employees who have experienced cancer can best be supported.

Not only can the physical and emotional toll of treatment have lasting consequences, but surviving cancer is a life-changing experience that will affect different people differently. Some will find comfort in getting back to their previous routine as soon as possible, while others will be ready to prioritise different things. They may want to scale back work to spend more time with family or learn new skills and progress their career in a new direction.

Only by talking to the individual about how they’re feeling can you get a sense of what’s changed for them and what they want to prioritise going forward. They may also have some longer-term implications following their illness, such as not being able to return to the exact same working arrangements, that need to be understood.

Give managers the confidence to listen

Managers have a key role to play. However, it can be daunting for managers to talk to someone who has been going through cancer treatment if the communication channels haven’t been kept open. They might not know what to say and be afraid to ask about their cancer experience, for fear of seeming intrusive. This can sometimes lead to managers just launching into talk about work with the employee, which can come across as brushing their experience aside. It’s therefore important to give managers the confidence to talk to employees about what they’ve been going through. Encourage managers to actively listen and be comfortable with silence, showing empathy and understanding. This allows the employee to think and process their thought so the manager can get the insights needed to support them.

While it can be tempting and sometimes supportive to share personal insight if the manager has had similar experiences, it’s important to ensure the conversation remains focused on the employee. It’s also important to start the conversation at least three-four weeks before they return.

Phase the employee’s return to work

It’s vital that, when returning to work, people who have experienced cancer have a positive experience. The first week back can often be overwhelming and exhausting, creating a negative feeling that they failed. Or it could cause them to question if they should have come back at all.

Instead, it’s much better to start slowly and build up to ensure positive progress, supporting their confidence and feeling of achievement. If they want to start back on full days, it can be helpful to suggest a slightly slower pace; for example, shorter days or a break day. This can be increased weekly to achieve the desired working pattern.

An occupational health assessment can help to identify what symptoms they might still be struggling with, such as fatigue or muscle weakness, and provide reasonable recommendations for a phased return to help them readjust to working again.

Provide emotional support

People who have experienced cancer can struggle with issues ranging from trauma, following not knowing if they were going to survive, to anxiety about feeling like they let colleagues or customers down while they were absent.

It can be very helpful to support the employee to meet with colleagues, by dipping into work for a social event or coffee, both during their absence but most beneficially before they return to work. Not only will this get the employee back over the threshold, but re-engaging with colleagues, prior to their first official day back at work, means reconnecting with others, and those first conversations, becomes one less concern.

For individuals who are still struggling with feelings or anxiety linked to navigating their return, or the emotional toll of going through cancer, it can also be useful for them to have some counselling, via the company’s Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) or their GP.

Keep the conversation going

Once the employee is back to work, it’s important to keep up the conversation. How are they feeling, are they being given too much, not enough, what’s the communication been like for them, what are they finding difficult and what’s working well?

Ideally, they should be having weekly check-ins with their manager to discuss the above, and not just work projects or deadlines. It can also be useful to put the employee in touch with any support groups within the organisation or assign a ‘buddy’ if they don’t feel able to talk openly with their manager or would just welcome some peer support.

It’s also important to bear in mind that the employee will have good and bad weeks and their recovery might not follow a linear progression. Only by making them feel safe to take off their ‘I’m fine’ mask and admit how they’re really feeling, can you provide them with the ongoing support needed to fully recover.