August’s Workforce Wednesday discussion highlighted the importance of recognizing employees who are also working caregivers. A caregiver can be anyone caring for parents, children, friends, neighbors or loved ones. We heard from a panel of subject matter experts who shared ways employers can better support working caregivers in their organizations. We heard some great advice, which you can read below:  

Maureen Kenney - Live Well at Home Supervisor, Department of Human Services 

• First recognize that employees might not consider themselves caregivers. They see themselves as a spouse, parent, or neighbor instead of a caregiver. That term might never be something they use for themselves.  
• Focus on understanding the impact that a person engaged in caregiving can have on the workplace and how as a business, it’s important to listen and learn how you can create a space that is supportive to them.  
• Knowing and providing the relevant resources for caregiving employees right away is helpful, because then they will be less distracted at work trying to find those resources themselves and they can better focus on their work.  

Matt Carlson - Child Care Capacity Building Coordinator, Child Care Aware of MN 

• When exploring ways to better support your workers who have childcare needs, it’s best to start small. Start by establishing a partnership with a nearby childcare center and offering subsidized childcare slots for your employees.  
• For larger organizations with lots of childcare needs, it might be beneficial to create a childcare center onsite at your business as a huge incentive in attracting and retaining talent.  

Leah Budnik - Child Care Start-up and Retention Navigator, Child Care Aware of MN-NE Region 3

• Childcare is a tough business. The cost of caring for young children is very high and the current business model doesn’t really work so they struggle to stay open.  
• As an employer, if you’re able to assist a local childcare business financially by splitting administrative or custodial costs with the childcare employer, that support can be huge for childcare providers.

View a recording of this session and other past sessions, find a full slate of downloadable resources mentioned during August's session, and access a schedule for upcoming Workforce Wednesday sessions on the Workforce Wednesday page on CareerForceMN.com.