Did you know that over 55% of Canadians between 45-64 years old are caregivers? As the aging population grows, more employees are juggling work and caregiving responsibilities, leading to decreased productivity, mental health issues, and stress
Understanding the Challenges of Caregiving
Providing support to employees who are caregivers can benefit organizations. However, to provide effective support, organizations need to understand the challenges faced by caregivers. According to the Canadian Medical Association Journal, caregivers spend an estimated 19 hours per week on unpaid care and domestic labour. They often struggle with burnout, stress, depression, and other mental health conditions that affect their personal and professional lives.
Strategies for Building a Supportive Workplace
Are you looking to create a more inclusive and supportive workplace culture? Here are some steps companies can take to make a positive difference. By implementing these strategies, employers can help employees balance personal and professional responsibilities, reduce stress, and improve their overall well-being.
1. Open Lines of Communication
Creating open lines of communication is essential to supporting employees who are caregivers. Encourage employees to have candid conversations with their managers and co-workers. Give employees the opportunity to talk about their caregiving challenges and possible solutions to lighten their burden. Employees comfortable with open and honest conversations are more likely to express loyalty to a company.
2. Offer Flexibility
Workplace flexibility can make it easier for employees to balance their personal and professional obligations. This could mean allowing employees to come in late, leave early, or work from home to accommodate for caregiving or parenting duties. Flexible schedules help employees feel valued, trusted, and less stressed, which, in turn, improves their job engagement and satisfaction.
Review workplace policies that limit employee flexibility to ensure they are necessary for business operations. Examples of such policies include fixed hours of work and mandatory overtime. If overtime is required, make it as family-friendly as possible. Determine whether a voluntary, rather than mandatory, overtime system would meet the organization’s needs. If not, permit employees to schedule overtime in advance so they can arrange for caregiving responsibilities.
Encourage employees to request flexible work arrangements that allow them to balance work and personal responsibilities. Arrangements may include flextime programs, compressed workweeks, telecommuting, part-time work, and job sharing.
3. Promote an Inclusive Workplace Culture
Cultivate a professional work environment that recognizes and appreciates the contributions of all workers and demonstrates respect for employees’ personal lives. Employees who feel included and valued are likelier to feel engaged and satisfied in their jobs.
4. Revise Performance Expectations
Many organizations include time spent at work in performance reviews. Rather than focus on hours dedicated to a task, employers can consider analyzing results and creating better ways to evaluate employee success.
Monitor compensation practices and performance appraisal systems for patterns of potential discrimination against caregivers. Ensure that performance appraisals are based on employees’ actual job performance and not on stereotypes about caregivers.
5. Review Benefits
Employers can also help employees who are caregivers by expanding benefit offerings, including extra paid time off, resources and services for mental health, personal leave, and elder care coverage. An Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) is also a great first step in providing a safe space for them to find support and guidance.
Not sure if your Employee Assistance Plan has what it takes to support your employees’ mental health effectively? Contact us to discuss the options for a custom solution for your business.
Understanding the challenges that caregivers face and providing supportive solutions helps ensure that caregiving employees can balance their personal and professional responsibilities in a way that promotes their overall well-being.
