Cancer

Some of my most rewarding work has been leading workshops with a wide range of organisations on cancer in the workplace. A key topic for any business which is striving to be inclusive.

As background: at one point pre-Chelsham I led HR and the people agenda for Macmillan Cancer Support.

I was pleased to continue to work with Macmillan in a couple of different ways after leaving: I coached numerous people there and I collaborated on their Work & Cancer agenda. The latter included leading/facilitating training sessions on the topic with employers, HR teams, CIPD groups and Trades Unions.

There is little more important for businesses to grapple with, in their capacity as employers, than looking after the well-being of their people who living with or beyond long-term conditions/serious illness– and the reaction to the sessions confirms how relate relevance of this work. 

I’d like to share a few headlines which hopefully will make you sit up and take note:

* One in two of us in the UK are likely to have a personal cancer diagnosis at some point in our life

*By 2030 there will be roughly 4 million people in the UK living with cancer

*A rising number of people are, thankfully, surviving and living beyond cancer – many of them, however, with on-going side effects which can be serious

*This will include people in your workforce – or who will join your workforce

*They have the full protection of UK employment law for life – that is for life – and therefore you are obliged to consider and make reasonable adjustments to help them return to and succeed in the workplace

*Unlike many other long-terms conditions most cancers are not exacerbated by a return to work – and a return can in fact be beneficial for the person concerned in many different ways

*There is also a huge and increasing number of people who are carers – who also have rights. Do you even know how many carers there are in your workforce?

So if you want to do the right thing for your employees for moral reasons – because it is the right thing to do – then what’s stopping you focusing on this agenda? If you won’t or can’t do it for moral reasons then I would argue there is a business case for so doing – in terms of employee retention, employee engagement, morale etc. And if that isn’t a good enough reason – well time to inform yourself about relevant employment laws.

It’s this simple: you haven’t managed a situation with a work colleague who is living with or beyond cancer, or who is caring for someone who is, then I guarantee you will if you manage people or are an HR professional.

So what thought are you giving to this? How adept is your and your organisation’s response? Is it on your Board’s agenda? If not, why not? 

In employee relations terms what is more important?