Those of us who are the most capable in the workplace are often the most capable caregivers, when demands collide we have to place priorities on those we love the most. The problem is caregiving can leave gaps of years in our resume and make us feel out of touch with the business world. New York Time’s Clair Cane Miller pointed out on February 4, 2021 that we should not penalize people for care giving. In her article, Working Moms Are Struggling. Here’s What Would Help. What government, employers and the rest of us can do, she says “hiring managers should not discard résumés with pandemic-era gaps, and consider rehiring the employees who left for caregiving reasons.” This empathy for caregivers during the pandemic should be extended to all who are caregivers, in whatever circumstances they have been in.
Whether it is motherhood or elderly care, caregiving builds many soft skills that are important to becoming good leaders and effective employees. In 2019, Berline Cameron did a study on Motherhood and Leadership, aptly titled Reframing Motherhood . They found “that 75% of mothers believe that parenting has made them better leaders.” Jennifer DaSilva, the president of Berline Cameron commented on this study by explaining
The skills that you develop as a parent — empathy, multitasking, flexibility, understanding, time management, communication skills, staying calm under pressure, and many more — are all skills needed for being successful in the workplace. It’s no wonder, then, that even non-parents who worked with managers who were parents found them to be better in all of these areas.
Due to the soft skills learned in caretaking, our company has a policy of hiring farmers and teachers because they have learned through the constant caretaking of children, animals and/or crops the skills of hard work, adaptability, and leading others. It is fun to watch Molissa, a cow farmer, who works in sales and fulfillment, handle communications snafus with particularly dense salesmen we have. She takes no guff as she pulls that stubborn bull into line.
Yet about one third of the workforce have left to give care at home. “Overall,” writes Joyce Famakinwa at Home Health Care News in August of 2019, (pre-pandemic) said “researchers found that 73% of the employees surveyed had some form of current caregiving responsibility. About 32% of employees reported voluntarily leaving a job due to caregiving responsibilities.” Shelley Zalis, in her 2019 article for Forbes, The Power Of Caregiving In The Workplace No One Talks About, says “The best leaders today are caregivers, and yet we’re losing our best leaders to caregiving.” So how do we help our leaders to stay?
In the tight labor market this question seems to be on every HR person’s mind. Forbes had a panel discussion on this very topic. An article dated July 26, 2021, named Nine Ways For Organizations To Better Support Working Parents first mentions the big ways “major steps like setting up a breastfeeding area and offering daycare during working hours” which are often out of reach for small employers, but then gives several “little ways” to support working caregivers. This list includes: flexibility, autonomy, letting employees account for their own time, extended maternity leave, giving parents time off for children’s activities, allowing them to bring kids to work, and ultimately a focus on results. It is interesting to note that every one of these is practiced by my company, not just for parents, but for all employees. When I started back to work, I did have a baby in tow. I was allowed office space where she could hang with me all day without disturbing or being disturbed by the noises in the shop. The breaks from what I was focusing on to nurse or play with her served as a cognitive reset, allowing me space to think about what I was doing and accomplish the tasks clearer and easier when I returned to them.
Whenever another interesting job would cross my feed it was easy to stay loyal because of the incredible flexibility and autonomy my employers allow. Sharon Rusinowitz at Chart Hop in September of 2022 offers 4 Ways to Support Working Parents beyond parental leave policies. She explains it is all about the work-life balance and points out that “According to a study by Catalyst and CNBC, 64% of working parents are considering changing careers for a better work-life balance to meet their new priorities and schedules.” Rusinowitz discusses the same ideas of flexibility, autonomy, and the focus on results rather than seat time that were brought up in the Forbe’s Panel, and says businesses should be
Creating a culture of flexibility. Cultivate a culture of trust, where parents can leave if needed, with no shame attached. In a results-oriented company, leaders trust employees to meet deadlines, whether that happens at 10am or 10pm.
These policies can be applied equally to caregivers and non-caregivers with minimal costs and high increase in worker satisfaction.
Another awesome idea to hold on to and attract caregivers is suggested by Zalis. “Rewrite job descriptions to include caregiving qualities. . . such as being nurturing, collaborative, empathetic.” Zalis explains why this will help women to apply; “research finds that men apply for a job when they meet just 60% of the qualifications, but women don’t apply unless they meet 100% of them.” She then says “Imagine how many women would feel more qualified if we rewrote job descriptions to include caregiving qualities.” When job descriptions are written to include skills we have honed in caregiving, we are way more likely to include the caregiving on our resume and fill in the gaps, but even if the gaps are left in the resume, it could be a sign of something good.
Works Cited
Brower, Tracy. “Working Parents Need Better Support: 3 Ways to Build the Best Support Systems.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 11 July 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2022/07/10/working-parents-need-better-support-3-ways-to-build-the-best-support-systems/?sh=3acea35f75ea
Famakinwa, Joyce. “32% Of Employees Quit Jobs to Provide Informal Care at Home.” Home Health Care News, 7 Aug. 2019, https://homehealthcarenews.com/2019/08/32-of-employees-quit-jobs-to-provide-informal-care-at-home/#:~:text=About%2032%25%20of%20employees%20reported,job%20due%20to%20caregiving%20responsibilities
Miller, Claire Cain. “Working Moms Are Struggling. Here's What Would Help.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Feb. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/parenting/government-employer-support-moms.html
Rusinowitz, Sharon. “4 Ways to Support Working Parents (beyond Parental Leave).” ChartHop, 23 Sept. 2022, https://www.charthop.com/resources/blog/employee-experience/how-to-support-parents-at-work/
Zalis, Shelley. “The Power of Caregiving in the Workplace No One Talks About.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 14 May 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/shelleyzalis/2019/05/14/the-power-of-caregiving-in-the-workplace-no-one-talks-about/?sh=67cdbd1047c8
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