Caring , High-trust leadership
Here are four things every company should consider for National Family Caregivers Month.
The number of caregivers — people providing care to an adult or a child with a medical condition or disability — has increased by 45% since 2015. Today, 63 million U.S. adults are caregivers, according to AARP.
Despite the rising burdens, caregivers struggle to get the support they need at work. National Family Caregivers Month is a timely opportunity to ask whether your workplace provides the support employees need.
More than two-thirds (67%) of caregivers report having difficulty balancing their jobs with caregiving responsibilities. More than one in 10 have turned down a promotion or stopped working entirely for a period of time.
One challenge is that employers often define caregiving too narrowly. Eight in 10 caregivers say that employers are more understanding of childcare issues than of adult caregiving, per a 2023 S&P Global survey.
Caregiving burdens can also overlap, creating a “sandwich generation” caring for children and aging parents. More than half of Americans in their 40s and a full quarter of U.S. adults are part of this generation, Pew Research says.
How great workplaces respond
The best workplaces are not immune to these trends. They see the business benefit in tackling the challenge head-on.
If you can’t afford to lose top workers to caregiving emergencies, you might want to follow their example.
Here’s what great companies are doing to respond:
1. Launch a caregiving platform
Hilton, which has stood atop many of the Fortune Best Workplaces™ lists produced by Great Place To Work®, has been on a journey to increase support for caregivers. It launched a dedicated caregiving hub, “Care For All,” in 2022.
The platform offers support for a wide range of caregiving profiles (children, elderly, disabled, pets, and more) and is available publicly so team members can share resources with family and friends.
You don’t have to build your own resource hub. KPMG, for example, offers resources through Cariloop, including a dedicated care coach to help employees navigate caregiving challenges. Employees and family members can consult a certified care coach by phone or video chat.
2. Offer an employee resource group for caregivers
Sometimes, caregivers need to connect with someone who understands what they are going through. A dedicated employee resource group (ERG) for caregivers offers an elegant solution.
Many companies have ERGs for working parents. Fewer support caregivers more broadly. Memorial Healthcare created its “Caregivers 365” group to honor and assist caregivers of parents, children, or other loved ones. The group curates resources, peer support, and dedicated discussion time to help employees feel seen and valued.
Hilton Grand Vacations also offers a Parents and Caregivers Team Member Resource Group.
3. Expand backup care and paid leave
Companies can often meet caregivers’ needs by expanding existing resources. For example, backup care resources for children can be expanded to cover a wider range of cases.
Ally Financial offers backup eldercare in addition to backup childcare. Ultradent offers a caregiver leave program that offers paid time off to care for loved ones needing short-term, full-time care, and is a supplemental benefit to maternity leave and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) events.
Caregiving emergencies are often sudden and unpredictable, and broadening support ensures employees have the flexibility they need to care for their families.
4. Train managers to respond with empathy
You can offer all the benefits and programs you like, but employees will struggle to use them if their direct manager isn’t involved and engaged.
Great workplaces are built through leadership behaviors, reinforced in the little moments that build trust. When an employee trusts their manager, they are more likely to seek support.
That’s what happened for a senior assurance manager at Plante Moran named Anthony when his wife had a stroke in March of 2024. “When I called my team partner with the news, the way he reacted and responded was incredible,” he shared. “He took care of everything and rallied everyone around my family. … I was able to let go of work to focus all my attention on my wife and children.”
Without trust, employers may never know when workers need help. Measuring trust can reveal gaps in support, and lead to stronger loyalty, collaboration, and performance.
Plante Moran can boast that nine in 10 employees find it easy to collaborate across the organization — a key driver of productivity in its work with clients in every industry. Higher levels of trust are the fuel that allows Plante Moran to deliver a higher level of service to clients.
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