Susan Van Klink is the chief revenue and chief diversity officer at Grokker, a well-being solutions provider in San Jose, California. She is also the chief caregiver for her father.
In the latter role, she drives her dad 45 minutes to the hospital every two weeks while staying on top of other tasks related to his care such as providing him meals, helping him dress, and overseeing his medications.
She’s exhausted.
“Caregiving fatigue is real,” she shared in a December post about her current challenges that went viral.
Susan may be weary, but she is not alone. The number of people acting as caregivers for other adults has risen in recent years, and one in six workers in the United States — 23 million Americans — provide unpaid caregiving services to an ailing loved one, according to the National Alliance for Caregiving.
This added responsibility — on average, 23.7 hours a week, says AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving — leads to additional stress, burnout, and attrition in the workplace. In the last year, more than a quarter of working caregivers either left their jobs or cut back on their hours because of their caregiving obligations, according to Grayce’s State of Caregiving 2021 report.
Companies that want to attract new talent, keep employees happy, and contribute to the overall well-being of the workforce can achieve all three goals by providing support to their caregivers. Here are six ways organizations are helping their employees with eldercare responsibilities:
1. Find out what your employees really want
Nobody knows the ups and downs your organization’s caregivers are experiencing more than those caregivers themselves.
Yet many workers don’t believe it’s safe for them to bring up their caregiving challenges at work. In fact, 45% said they are afraid to discuss their personal obligations in the workplace because of the perceptions their colleagues may have, the Grayce study found.
Another reason working caregivers may suffer in silence: Some employees don’t feel that their employers have their backs. A 2021 survey by healthcare service company Homethrive found that more than half of employed caregivers felt their employer did not give them the support they needed.
Instead of waiting for employees to ask for help, employers can encourage workers to speak up if they have personal challenges that are affecting their professional lives and let their talent know that the company is willing to help. The Commonwealth of Kentucky recently hosted a workshop that provided advice on balancing eldercare issues with work responsibilities.
Employers also need employee input to make sure they are providing the right type of support. One way to do this is to conduct surveys with employees to learn about their caregiving challenges and then construct policies and provide benefits to address them.
2. Be flexible about when and where people can work
Your employees can’t be in two places at one time. So, if there’s a conflict between taking a loved one to chemotherapy and sitting in on a meeting, the team huddle is likely to take a back seat.
For some employees, the pandemic has made caregiving even more difficult, leaving many to navigate a workplace that has policies in place to support employees with childcare issues but none to address the unique challenges associated with caring for an adult. What to do?
Companies can start by offering flexibility, when possible, around where people work. Nearly nine in 10 caregivers said working from home made it easier for them to handle their caregiving duties as well as their work responsibilities, according to an AARP survey. Likewise, more than 40% of caregivers said having flexible work schedules was very important, freeing them up to do caregiving tasks for their loved one when necessary.
The good news is employers seem to be listening. The AARP study also found that more than half of working caregivers said their employer implemented new caregiving-related benefits because of the pandemic, with the most common ones being flexible schedules and the ability to work remotely at times.
Allowing employees to work a flexible schedule also frees up time they can use to take care of themselves or to get the social support that they need from their personal networks.
3. Provide financial support
The costs associated with caregiving can be staggering. Employee benefits that provide monetary assistance make things easier for employees and inspire loyalty to your organization. For example, Starbucks provides subsidized backup eldercare services for 10 visits per year. For those visits, employees only have to pay $1 per hour for the care of their family member.
Best Buy offers Caregiver Pay — four weeks of full salary for those who need time off to care for a spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling, or adult child. Along the same lines, CBS offers employees up to two weeks of paid time off to care for a family member who is terminally ill.
4. Connect employees with the caregiving resources they need
Even if your company can’t solve every eldercare dilemma your employees have, they can help coworkers find the expert advice and support they need in other places. For example, Emids, a healthcare information technology company in Franklin, Tennessee, gives employees access to an online coaching service that provides personalized advice and resource recommendations for caregivers and their aging family members.
The global law firm McDermott Will & Emery and St. Louis-based Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale both give their employees eldercare benefits that include a concierge service which helps employees identify third-party providers who can make caregiving easier.
Recognizing that sometimes caregivers have unexpected crises, freelance marketplace Upwork offers emergency eldercare services, says chief people officer Zoë Harte.
5. Provide help dealing with the emotional toll
There’s no doubt caregivers have a lot of physical duties to contend with but there is also an emotional weight when it comes to caring for a vulnerable family member. Companies can remind their workforce about employee assistance programs (EAPs) and the critical mental and emotional support services they often provide. For example, Cigna offers its employees a service called Caregiver Bridge, which connects overtaxed caregivers with coaches — either on the phone or online — who help with counseling, resilience coaching, and more.
Best Buy videotapes employees’ real-world caregiving experiences and showcases them on the employee intranet and at company town halls. That, in turn, lets other caregivers know they are not alone and inspires some to share their own stories.
6. Communicate clearly with employees — and candidates — about how you help caregivers
No matter how many ways you support your organization’s caregivers, you have to spread the word. “Some companies are adding caregiving services, but that’s not enough,” says Larry Nisenson, chief growth officer for aging-services provider Assured Allies. “You have to run awareness and education campaigns so your employees are aware of these vital programs.”
This reinforces the importance of communicating with your employees and making sure they have the information they need to utilize all of the resources at their disposal.
An empathetic response to the caregiving crisis can also help with recruitment efforts. “With an aging workforce, eldercare benefits are a given to recruit and retain talent,” says Barbara Oberman, president of Barbara C. Oberman Insurance Services. Don’t be shy about including information on caregiving benefits in job listings and talking about what your organization is doing on social media. American Express, for example, featured its caregiving resources in a recruitment post.
Heidi Newiger, manager of employee experience at San Francisco-based software company Harness, recently touted an honor her company received for its mental health offerings and used that LinkedIn post to point to the support programs Harness rolled out for caregivers in response to the pandemic.
Final thoughts: An employee-centered caregiving strategy is a win-win
Caregiving has personal and professional implications, as workers try to balance the care of their loved ones with their responsibilities at work. While this isn’t exactly a new phenomenon, the pandemic has caused many employees to rethink what they need from an employer, and some are now looking for a work experience that provides both personal and professional fulfillment.
So, employers who make providing caregiving resources a priority are positioning their organization to better compete moving forward, as employees and candidates alike look to support their loved ones without sacrificing their careers.
*Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
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