By 2050 projections indicate that the world’s population of people aged 85+ will have increased fivefold, and Europe will have the oldest population in the world. In the UK, 11 million of the people alive today will live to be 100. We need to think carefully about how these statistics might affect our businesses and the people working in them.
The lives of parents and carers are chaotic and reactive, and the number of people facing this daily balancing act is already creating a genuine pressure point on their wellbeing and the businesses they work for. A study by LSE found that in 2012 an estimated 315,000 working age carers had left work and remained out of employment. As the population continues to age, this number and its effect on the workforce is sure to grow as the struggle to combine work with care continues.
The age range at which most people are thrust into a caring role (45-64) is also the point at which they become most crucial to their companies’ success, so there is no question that supporting carers to stay in work will unlock significant economic gains. While the streamlining and personalisation of benefits is becoming more commonplace, more innovation is needed to help this cross section of workers tackle their haphazard worlds.
Quick and easy access
Some technology innovations are already working to great effect. Whether a carer to an elderly relative is office-based, working from home or on a train, accessing an Online GP service through an app like HAPI gives them quick and easy access to the medical care and advice they need wherever or whenever they need it. Using technology to access the service becomes as important as the service itself.
Existing HR technology can also add genuine flexibility. Where old paper-based systems were slow and unresponsive, a digital interface accessed online or via a smartphone app allows workers to adapt their PMI or cash plan to cover family members, or swap childcare support for elderly care support. Through the same tech they can set up notifications and reminders to stay up to date with any changes in the market, or relevant products that become newly available. Like a bookmark in a browser, they can favourite the benefits they value most, making them quicker to find, while single-sign-on (SSO) enables fast and seamless login across multiple platforms.
Access to financial support
While going through a life-changing time physically and emotionally, young parents often also face a struggle financially as new work patterns affect income levels. Any kind of support to cover afternoon clubs or nurseries can make a huge difference and yet parents nationwide are in danger of missing out on millions of pounds' worth of tax-free childcare credits because they are unable to access them, or do not know they are available. By using technology solutions to raise awareness, process childcare vouchers and reconcile payment, companies can make a genuine difference to working parents' finances, helping them to stay at work.
In addition to this direct financial support, access to relevant financial advice and wellness tools can also help through an EAP, while carers can benefit from different financial signposting to government forms or practical advice.
Mental Wellbeing, Communication and Community
As a carer life often takes you by surprise and the impact on mental health in dealing with these challenges can be overwhelming. One impact particularly common to parents and carers is a feeling of isolation. Young parents can shift very quickly from a vibrant workplace to being at home alone with a baby. Using technology, we can build social communities of like-minded people facing similar challenges.
A virtual coffee allowing a mother or father to sit at home and talk with colleagues sounds simple, but can be a transformative use of technology. Similarly, offering a carer a virtual network of people living through similar experiences can help on a practical level and alleviate stress. Companies can make available a whole range of resources – static information, videos and how-to guides - and tools for self-help such as mindfulness or meditation apps.
Leveraging Technology
Benefits only engage a workforce if they are useful and relevant. With investment in technology organisations can now use digital tools to harvest, store, categorise and present employee data in a way that allows for smarter analysis. Increasingly, data analytics and sentiment analysis can also provide deeper insight into employee perception and help identify trends and patterns to further enhance and sense-check a benefits offering.
A technology platform like HAPI that can be personalised and adapted enables a company to set its stall out far more effectively, spelling out to parents and carers exactly what is available to them as they navigate important life events. Even with these advances, though, knowing who our parents and carers are can often elude us, and require extra work.
Parents and parents of young children can usually be identified within existing data, if not by carrying out a company census. At Personal Group we recently went through this process and gained invaluable insight into the company’s demographic make-up. This, in turn, is allowing us to improve maternity, paternity and parental leave policies, inform employees better about government funding provisions related to childcare and target more effective communications.
Identifying employees who are carers is typically more difficult as their responsibilities can go unnoticed or be shrouded in discretion. As an employer it can be challenging to understand the burden and impact that caring is having on an employee’s work life without making employees feel obligated to share. By overlaying leave and sickness data we can help organisations understand the impact of caring responsibilities, and enable them to provide the necessary support. This data can be used positively to develop an effective benefits proposition that addresses all life events. In both cases, the key is to message it well and make it easy for employees to access the support they need.
