6 Ways to Support Caregivers During the Return-to-Office Transition

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In the modern world, the role of caregivers has become increasingly significant as the aging population and changing family dynamics create a growing demand for caregiving responsibilities. Caregivers play a crucial role in providing physical, emotional, and logistical support to their loved ones, whether children, disabled or sick relatives, or aging parents.

Many caregivers, however, face significant challenges in balancing their caregiving duties with their professional lives. In this context, companies have an important role to play in supporting caregivers through various initiatives that promote work-life balance, employee well-being, and a compassionate corporate culture.

In partnership with the Deloitte Center for Financial Services, my company, Workplace Intelligence, recently surveyed 700 executives in the financial services sector. We found that 3 out of 4 executives with caregiving responsibilities are experiencing issues with stress or work-life balance. Compared to non-caregivers, these leaders were more likely to have considered measures such as reducing work hours, changing roles, or taking a sabbatical to alleviate stress.

Perhaps most alarmingly, caregivers were 30% more likely than non-caregivers to say they’d leave their current role if their ability to work remotely was eliminated. That’s in spite of the fact that caregivers reported being more engaged, more connected to their manager and their organization, and more likely to recommend their company to their children or a relative for future employment.

These workers have also developed a unique set of workplace skills as a direct result of their caregiving responsibilities. For example, new research featured in Harvard Business Review found that workers who provide unpaid caregiving reported improved skills in empathy, efficiency, teamwork, emotional intelligence, multitasking, and more. 

If you’re a manager or business leader, you may be surprised to learn that 73% of U.S. employees are caregivers, and 4 out of 10 caregivers are men. You may even think that these numbers can’t possibly be right. However, there’s a reason for this disconnect: more than half of caregivers don't tell their supervisors about it, revealing that there’s still a significant stigma associated with caregiving.

Fortunately, most companies are encouraging employees to be open about their caregiving responsibilities, but leaders could be doing much more to create a compassionate and supportive corporate culture. And with so many employers pushing for a return to the office right now, I believe there’s a pressing need for leaders to improve their awareness of this issue and ramp up their support.  

In fact, for employers — especially those in the financial services sector, where return-to-office mandates are in full effect — these findings should act as an important wake-up call. Not only do caregivers likely comprise the majority of your workforce, but they may be some of your most dedicated and hardworking employees. Without the right support in place, however, they may have no choice but to leave.

In today’s article, I’ll discuss 6 ways employers can support workers with caregiving responsibilities. Subscribe to my FREE Workplace Intelligence Insider newsletter and you’ll immediately receive the full article.

To learn more about my company’s new research with Deloitte, be sure to read the full study report.