By: Nic Hayes
November is National Family Caregivers Month. For the past twenty-plus years, this month has recognized the contributions of the over 50-million family caregivers in the US. The efforts of family caregivers provide loved ones with the care to fill in the gaps left by the healthcare system. However, while family caregivers care for their loved ones, they also have lives and careers of their own with ¾ of them working full-time. Considering the fact that they spend an additional 24-hours/week on average working as caregivers, on top of their full-time work, it can be seen how stressful the role of a family caregiver can be. With many family caregivers also being full-time employees, as an employer, this month presents a unique opportunity to promote caregiver-friendly workplace practices.
Employers should be aware of the effects of the macro aging population trend on the workplace. It is of ever more increasing importance because the situation will intensify over the next five years reaching a peak in 2030 with 71 million adults aged 65+, an increase of 9 million from today. This increase in America’s aging population impacts the workforce by forcing more and more employees into caregiver roles. With the added responsibility placed on these employees, companies are quietly losing employee engagement, productivity, and the raw cost of retention. To make matters worse, 1/3 of all caregivers of aging adults are forced to leave the workforce – a turnover cost that is around 2.5x the salary of the employee lost.
Addressing Your Employees Who are also Caregivers in their “Off-work” Hours
Enhancing your workplace to be caregiver-friendly simply takes some easy, intentional steps as outlined by Debbie Howard, author of The Caregiving Journey: Information. Guidance. Inspiration. and The Caregiving Crisis: What It Costs Your Business and How You Can Fix It and Founder of Aging Matters International.
In order to address the challenges presented by an aging population doesn’t cost that much - it just requires some focus and commitment. To hone in on the issue Debbie suggests companies get started with five simple steps:
Identify your company’s caregivers and their specific needs
Repurpose your existing educational and training programs by adding modules specific to family caregiver needs
Establish key performance indicators where possible
Communicate your company’s offerings across various channels and celebrate employee caregivers
Take a leadership role with your employees as well as in the community
Over years of working with management teams and HR professionals to enhance caregiver-friendly practices, Debbie and Aging Matters International have transformed these steps into five worksheets to further help companies get started with enhancing their offerings to support employee caregivers. These worksheets are available for download at www.TheCaregivingCrisis.com.
The Aging Matters International Difference
Aging Matters International provides customized solutions for companies to engage and communicate with their employee caregivers, develop and improve their employee caregiver support programs, and to take a leadership role in the local communities of operation. All of their recommendations are based on the foundations of self-care and planning for individuals.
When working with Aging Matters International, they will utilize the company’s existing benefit offering and efficiently build on what is already offered. They will also train leaders and team members to become self-sufficient in delivering the benefits/solutions providing sustainability going forward.
The impact of Aging Matters International can be seen in the fact that they have trained 40+ HR professionals in nearly 20 companies to clarify strategic thinking, establish “employee resource groups (ERGs)” and ensure caregiver-friendly practices and program offerings.
As evidenced by the current macro aging population trend, there is an increasing need for employers to address their employee caregiver populations. This November, National Family Caregivers Month, presents an opportunity to evaluate your offerings for employee caregivers and to consider adding solutions from Aging Matters International to provide the resources and support your employees need.