A Stressed Workforce Hurts Everyone. We MUST Support Our Caregiving Employees.

HR Colleagues,

You would never know it.

But this employee was struggling.

She was not only balancing a demanding career with being a wife and mother …

She was also the sole caretaker of her father—who had dementia.

There were nights she would be up all night, trying to keep her father safe amid his behavioral changes. And she still had to be in the office by 9 a.m.

The worst part?

She never told anyone.

She suffered in silence.

Her employer didn’t make her feel comfortable enough to ask for help.

Sadly, this is the case for many employees across our country.

As leaders, we have a responsibility to support our caregiving employees. It benefits not only our workforce—but also our businesses.

Let’s dive into why.

A GROWING PHENOMENON

Caretaking is a full-time job.

Employees, who are also caregivers, have to balance their day-to-day responsibilities with:

• Providing daily care to their loved one.
• Handling this person’s behavioral changes.
• Managing their medical bills and appointments.
• Coping with grief, loss, and the emotional toll of the disease.

These challenges often lead to stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout.

You may be thinking to yourself: “This isn’t my problem. None of my employees are caretakers.”

But, odds are, you’re wrong.

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey, 30.6% of the employed population ages 18 and older provided care to a household and/or nonhousehold member on an average day in 2023.

Driven by demographic shifts, longer life expectancies, and evolving family dynamics—this dual responsibility is not a temporary phenomenon.

It’s a growing challenge.

The bigger issue?

Organizations are not prepared for it.

In fact, a SHRM survey of workers with caregiving responsibilities found at least 80% of caregivers anticipate the primary care they provide to be long-term. However, only 35% of HR professionals say their organization is effective at addressing the long-term needs of employees with caretaking responsibilities.

Furthermore, 1 in 3 HR professionals is unfamiliar with the caregiving needs of their organization’s workforce.

This raises a pressing question:

How can we do a better job of supporting our caregiving workers?

PRACTICAL STEPS LEADERS CAN TAKE TO SUPPORT CAREGIVERS

I want to be transparent with you all:

The solution here is not simple.

And it’s not going to happen overnight.

But, as HR professionals, it is absolutely possible for us to foster awareness, develop supportive policies, and create inclusive environments.

Here’s how:

1. Adopt a Proactive Approach to Caregiving Policies.

We must assess and modify our caregiving policies on a regular basis. This will ensure policies remain relevant and effective. We can accomplish this by: doing routine evaluations, collecting feedback from employees, and assigning a team to oversee caregiving policy performance.

2. Align Benefits with Long-Term Caregiving Needs

Caregiving responsibilities are often long-term, but many organizations only address short-term needs. We can change this by: training HR on the challenges of caregiving, conducting surveys to understand caregivers’ challenges, expanding paid family leave programs to cover diverse situations, and offering flexibility.

3. Equip People Managers to Support Caregivers

People managers play a key role in supporting caregiving employees, but they often lack the necessary tools. This is why we must: offer training sessions for managers on strategies to balance caregiver support with team fairness, develop resource guides for managers, and establish a feedback loop where managers can collaborate on solutions.

4. Increase Awareness and Accessibility of Caregiving Benefits

We need to make sure our employees are aware of their benefits. This starts with clear communication. It also includes: launching educational campaigns, creating an online portal or resource hub, incorporating caregiving benefits into onboarding programs for new employees, and highlighting success stories of caregivers who have used benefits to reduce stigma.

5. Foster a Supportive and Inclusive Workplace Culture

Workplace stigma discourages caregivers from using these benefits. So we must build a culture of trust and inclusivity. We can do this by: publicly reinforcing leadership’s commitment to supporting caregivers, regularly assessing workplace culture through anonymous surveys, ensuring employees feel safe and supported, and implementing anonymous reporting channels.

WE CAN’T FORGET THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP

We’ve laid out the instructions.

We’ve established ways to support our caretaking employees.

But, in actuality, we can’t start any of these steps without addressing one major issue:

Our lack of empathy.

We’re experiencing a severe empathy deficit across U.S. workplaces.

This is often why caregivers are hesitant to open up to their managers in the first place.

The good news is, we can work on this. Empathy is a muscle we all have. It’s what makes us human.

We just have to exercise it.

So, before you take a poll of your staff and try to identify which of your workers are caregivers, let’s ask ourselves:

Are we practicing active listening? Are we checking in with our staff? Are we creating spaces where employees feel comfortable and empowered to share their personal and professional struggles?

Empathetic leadership will not only benefit your employees …

It’s also a smart business move.

Teams with support have higher engagement, improved retention, and increased productivity.

Together, let’s support our caregiving employees. Because when they thrive—we thrive.

Yours in service.

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP

President & CEO, SHRM