As a working parent and one experiencing caregiving on a daily basis, this topic is very personal and one I feel can be addressed with some tactical steps that will help with retention and burnout. As a caregiver, I want to do my best work, help grow a successful business, and be a present parent for my daughter. I used to believe this wasn’t all possible at once or was left feeling burnout trying. Finding a family-friendly workplace in Reverb showed me it was possible by making some small but important changes. If you want to make your workplace more family-friendly but aren’t sure where to start, continue reading below for some practical tips.
Let’s start by defining what family-friendly means. Much of the focus is placed on birth and adoption events which are incredibly important policies to develop in your company, but we need to expand caregiving to be inclusive of everything from childcare to eldercare.
Why is this important?
There are many more caregivers in the workplace than you realize.
“Caregiving employees comprise a large portion of the US workforce: an estimated 18-22% of the US labor force is comprised of family caregivers.” – Invisible Overtime
This means that a good percentage of your organization has caregiving duties outside of their job, which can affect how they are able to show up and be productive. In a recent study conducted by the HBS Project on Managing the Future of Work, “more than 80% of employees with caregiving responsibility admitted that caregiving affected their productivity, specifically their ability to perform their best at work all the time. In contrast, only “24% of employers responded that caregiving influenced workers’ performance.”
What can you do to support them?
We all want to create a workplace that is inclusive and allows people to do their best work in a way that works for them. There are a few tactical things you can implement to create a more inclusive environment for your caregiving employees.
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Flexible Working Hours
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- This is a simple change and can have a great impact on your team. Providing flexibility on when someone signs on to work or is available allows those with caregiving responsibilities to take or pick up children from school or take elder parents to a doctor appointment without fear of being seen as not available or not productive.
- To help make this successful, ensure you create an asynchronous work environment that allows people to stay informed and pick up work without needing to meet or leave someone out. Check out this article if you are interested in setting up a successful asynchronous work environment.
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New Parent Leave
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- The US does not offer family leave at a national level, and “only about a quarter of private sector employees have access to paid family leave” – The Skimm. While some states are implementing their own state level paid family leave programs, there’s still a large gap to fill.
- As an employer, you can set a new parent leave policy that’s inclusive of anyone in a caregiving role associated with a new birth, not just a birthing parent. There are many resources available for helping to create your policy, including:
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Caregiver Leave
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- This is different and in addition to new parent leave. As we started with, caregiving is on a spectrum from childcare to eldercare. This kind of leave is needed when a caregiver is supporting a child, parent, or partner going through a serious illness/treatment.
- Again, there’s not a national level paid caregiver leave in the US, but as a company, you can create a policy that allows people to take the time away from work paid to focus on their family members without a significant loss of wages.
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Create a Culture of Caring
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- “In the absence of a supportive “care culture,” employees worry that admitting to caregiving responsibilities penalizes their career growth.” – The Caring Company. This creates an environment where employees might be struggling with performance, productivity, and wellness, but you, as an employer, won’t know and can’t adequately support them.
- A start in creating a culture of caring is by implementing the policies above. Then you can educate managers and employees about these resources and encourage open communication.
If you need any help with creating a family-friendly workplace, Reverb is here for you.
