December 12, 2012 at 8:40 am
It is that time of the year when your employees can be expected to spend time (virtually or in-person) with family such as older loved ones.? Employers that provide employees company-sponsored adult/elder care and caregiving resources should not miss this window of time to communicate.? From now through the first quarter on 2013, employees are getting an up close (for many, annual) look at how well older loved ones are faring.
As they return to work after the new year, many will reflect on what they should, could, wished they did, wonder if they should..? Basically?just overall worry about how to support the realities associated with aging loved ones and family care responsibilities.? While this is going on, ?incidents of presenteeism and lost productivity can be expected to follow.
We know from AARP ?that employees experience caregiving challenges because?45 to 64-year-olds make up the biggest age group in the workplace to care for a parent (22%).? And with people delaying retirement (often for financial reasons),the?aging and/or?medically fragile spouse represents an emerging segment of the family care population in need of current or future caregiving support.
Did you see ?Silent Scream, the PSA sponsored by AARP and the Ad Council?? It is designed to raise awareness about the caregiving challenges in the US,?how complex and destructive unsupported careginging can be to?families.? It is so important that employers? address these realities.
If you work in an organization that is providing some kind of support to employees with elder care giving responsibilities THANK YOU (that is from society)!? But as with any and all employee benefits, they are only as useful as employees are aware of and can access the resource.? This is the time when you have employee?s attention.? Consider it a teachable moment.? Speak with your vendor and explore ways to communicate and promote these important resources so that employees get the help they may need.? And employers benefit from an engaged workforce.
If however, your company has not begun to explore the needs of employees with adult care and elder caregiving responsibilities, now is the time.? We have learned a lot about best practice approaches to supporting employee caregiving responsibilities.? SHRM released an interesting report Best Practices in Workplace Eldercare that offers several options.? At Bright Horizons we know the impact supports can have through a company sponsored back-up program.??the employer will benefit from reduced absenteeism and increase loyalty.
As an employer, perhaps it begins with an assessment of current need.? And if you just want to check in with your managers and C-suite folks, I can almost guarantee that there is pent up demand for resources, information, guidance and/or services that can make it easier for these high potential employees to manage work responsibilities and family care challenges outside of work.? However you choose to proceed, wait until after the holidays to ask employees about their adult/elder care concerns.??After they have been with family and had first- hand experience of an older relative who is, well, getting older?
Hey- any good ideas for reaching your workforce with reminders and promotions of your existing adult/elder care resources?? We would love to hear about it.
Other posts by Andrea Wicks Bowles
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Source: http://blogs.brighthorizons.com/saw/home-for-the-holidays-or-skype/
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