Businesses costs of not supporting caregivers can be high
The costs of caregiving:
The business costs of not supporting employee caregivers can be high, but most of these costs are indirect. This section will help you understand the metrics that other organizations have used to gauge the cost impacts of unsupported employee caregivers.
Hard Metrics The 2006 Metlife Caregiving Costs Study (the most recent cost study available) attempted to estimate the costs of “intense” caregivers. In 2015 dollars, the estimated costs to the employer per intense caregiver were $2,490 per annum. Some of these costs included: replacement costs for employees who leave the workplace, costs due to workday interruptions, absenteeism costs, costs due to crisis in care, costs associated with unpaid leave, partial absenteeism, and costs due to the need for increased supervision.
Data on hard costs also indicates that the health-related costs of caregivers are a key piece to the story. The stress and time-intensiveness associated with caregiving might lead to chronic disease (such as hypertension), poor health behaviors (such as fatigue), and depression.
- Health care costs for caregivers are estimated at 8% greater than for non-caregivers.
- Poor health is also associated with lower productivity.
Data from Caregiving in the United States 2015 suggests productivity costs as well, with 5% of employees who are caregivers saying that they turned down a promotion and 7% saying they received a warning about performance or attendance due to caregiving responsibilities.
Soft Metrics Organizations who adopt policies that support employee caregivers often rely on soft metrics as evidence of whether or not the program is working. Metrics cited in case studies include:
- Work-family balance/fit or work-life balance/fit: Policies may help employees to balance work and family better
- Organizational commitment or loyalty: Employees may be more loyal to organizations that they believe care about them and their families
- Employee engagement: Employees may feel more engaged at work, leading to higher productivity
- Stress: Employees may be less stressed, both at work and at home.
An important aspect of soft metrics is that they do not necessarily apply only to current caregivers. Employees interpret policies — even those they do not use — as evidence that their employer cares about them and about their families. Hence, many people may feel more engaged and committed if their organization has caregiving policies, even if they are not currently caregivers.
Quick Guide: Assessing the Impact of Caregiving Policies
Employee surveys, particularly if conducted before and after the introduction or modification of a policy, can help you assess the potential impact of those policies. Here are some tips that may help.
- Augment employee surveys with other feedback mechanisms. If employee surveys show a slight increase in satisfaction with work-family balance after instituting a new policy, it can provide evidence that your policy has probably had a positive effect. Focus groups, listening posts, and informal employee feedback can also provide evidence that should not be overlooked.
- Consider brief measures. The following two measures can be used in employee surveys, with permission of the original sources.
Satisfaction with work-family (or work-life) balance
Adapted from Valcour (2007), work-family (or work-life) balance can be measured as the sum of the following items, each scored from 1 “Not at all” to 4 “To a great extent.” Higher scores indicate greater satisfaction with work-family balance.
How satisfied are you with the way you divide your time between work and personal or family life.
o Not at all
o To a limited extent
o To a moderate extent
o To a great extent
How satisfied are you with the way you divide your attention between work and home.
o Not at all
o To a limited extent
o To a moderate extent
o To a great extent
How satisfied are you with your ability to balance the needs of your job with those of your personal or family life.
o Not at all
o To a limited extent
o To a moderate extent
o To a great extent
How satisfied are you with how well your work life and your personal or family life fit together.
o Not at all
o To a limited extent
o To a moderate extent
o To a great extent
How satisfied are you with the opportunity you have to perform your job well and yet be able to perform home-related duties adequately.
o Not at all
o To a limited extent
o To a moderate extent
o To a great extent
Source: Valcour, M., 2007. Work-based resources as moderators of the relationship between work hours and satisfaction with work–family Balance. Journal of Applied Psychology 92, 1512-1523.
Caregiving policy fit
Based on Pitt-Catsouphes and Matz-Costa’s (2008) concept of flexibility fit, this measure taps into the extent to which employees perceive that their caregiving policies fit their work and personal needs.
To what extent do you have access to the caregiving policies you need to fulfill your work and personal needs?
o Not at all
o To a limited extent
o To a moderate extent
o To a great extent
Source: Pitt-Catsouphes, M., Matz-Costa, C., 2008. The multi-generational workforce: Workplace flexibility and engagement. Community, Work, and Family 11, 215-229.
- 3. More extensive measures are also available but may need modification for your organization. For instance, SHRM and Surveymonkey have partnered to provide an employee engagement survey. However, if you plan to repeat the survey often, you may need to trim the length of longer measures.
