What Is the Manager's Role in Managing Through Cancer?

The Manager stands at the intersection of company commitments and employee need as a member of his or her team struggles against cancer. While managers and supervisors may have little preparation for facing the many demands of managing through cancer, they cannot avoid the responsibility. They are the gatekeepers on many issues that make dealing with cancer considerably easier or harder for their employees. Among the matters they face are:

• Maintaining compensation in an equitable manner
• Adjusting work schedules over the course of treatment
• Setting and managing the expectations of co-workers
• Enabling effective flexible schedules
• Working out appropriate forms of communication
• Dealing throughout with the morale of the person and the team

If the only thing expected of a manager were that he or she would interpret black and white policies in each of these areas, the extra workload and fine-tuning would be taxing enough. But these policy and procedure matters are seldom fully worked out and communicated across the company. And when policy does exist in areas such as time tracking and comp and benefits, its rigidity may put the manager in the position of balancing orthodoxy with long-term people management.

Indeed, the role of the manager in managing an individual and a work group through cancer is one of endless balancing:

• Striking the balance between work and time off as treatment progresses
• Seeking a balance between company procedures and employee need
• Finding a balance between too little and too much communication
• Balancing the impact of the employee's time off on the team's workload
• Maintaining one's commitment to all aspects of the manager's ongoing role

Done well, the work of effectively managing an employee through cancer can prove invaluable to the employee, inspiring to the team and positive for the company. And for the effective manager, managing through cancer can prove personally rewarding as well.