Nearly 60 million working adults qualify as a caregiver in the U.S and Canada, each having unique needs and responsibilities when caring for loved ones. When employees’ well-being is not supported in their journey, the effects spill over into the workplace. Approximately one in three employees leave the workforce entirely due to caregiving responsibilities, and an estimated $44 billion in revenue is lost each year due to decreased productivity and employee turnover related to caregiving.
As the impacts of caregiving continue to impact employee productivity and overall well-being, employers can no longer afford to ignore the needs of this growing, diverse employee population.
Why Take Action Now?
Financial Benefits of Caregiver Support Solutions
Implementing caregiving solutions has a proven return on investment for businesses, and can help reduce healthcare costs. Caregivers who are under stress often push their own needs away. Parents, unpaid caregivers of adults and other caregivers had significantly worse mental health than adults not with these types of roles, and more than 40% of family caregivers report having two or more chronic diseases. Because they’re not able to prioritize their own health, this can lead to increased healthcare costs – both for the caregiver and their loved ones. Offering support can alleviate this stress and, in turn, these costs.
At Cariloop, we’ve proven an average of 3x ROI for our current customers on their caregiver support investment, as well as reduced employee leave durations and return-to-work ratios.
Non-Financial Benefits for Businesses
When companies support employees’ caregiving needs, they send a powerful message that they’re empathetic to their workforce’s needs and understand their personal and unique experiences. This directly impacts employee morale, as with a benefit solution like caregiver support, they’re able to lean on experts who will guide them toward a more balanced life. They’re more present at work as a result, leading to a more engaged and productive workforce.
Companies offering caregiver support see a 48% increase in employee engagement compared to those without such provisions.
Enhancing the Benefits Ecosystem
Caregiving benefits not only fill a much-needed gap to service a largely unseen population, but it also enhance the utility of other related benefits. Even with robust well-being benefits, almost half of employees are still feeling stressed on a regular basis. They may have access to pieces of care—like backup care or maternity support—but an inclusive, all-encompassing benefits solution provides employees with all forms of caregiver support in one place.
With one-on-one guidance through all kinds of life events, employees can learn to use their existing benefits package to solve their needs. Viewing a caregiving benefit as an investment rather than an expense is a strategic move that brings positive returns.
Getting Started with Caregiver Support Solutions
Take the step to provide employees with a benefit offering like caregiver support. Once you’re ready, implementing a caregiving support program requires careful planning and execution. Here are the first steps you can take in launching a solution like Cariloop:
1. Initiate the Journey
First, identify the size of your employee population by applying the caregiving statistics to your workforce population. Understand your caregiver population’s needs and identify essential themes that need to be addressed. This will help give a realistic picture of the caregiving landscape within your organization.
2. Build the Business Case
Next, engage a caregiving benefit specialist to quantify the financial impact on the business. This step helps in building a business case for implementing a comprehensive caregiver support program.
3. Implementation and Communication
Once you’ve implemented your new benefits offering, develop a success roadmap to drive awareness and engagement of this benefit among your caregiving employees. A well-planned and executed communication strategy can ensure that your caregiving employees are aware of the available support, leading to increased utilization and improved employee satisfaction.
With these steps, companies focused on employee well-being and measurable ROI will be able to see real-time results with a caregiver support solution. If you’d like to learn how our personalized caregiver support solutions help address the individual needs of your employee caregivers, download our latest eBook.