What about working grandparents?

Published in today's HR daily...

As an increasing number of baby boomers find themselves caring not only for children and parents but grandchildren as well, the NSW Equal Employment Practitioners Association (NEEOPA) is urging employers to reassess how they manage and support their caregivers.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that 41 per cent of employees are also caregivers, and NEEOPA says that with an ageing population, this number is set to rise.

Given that mature workers represent a third of the total workforce, employers need to understand and connect with this generation and support them to be able to work longer, says Alison Monroe, director of SageCo and a member of NEEOPA.

Fellow NEEOPA member Karen Miles says that there needs to be a cultural and social shift, not only in how working parents are perceived, but working grandparents as well.

"We think grandparents are old and grey and sitting on their porches in their rocking chairs and that's not what grandparents look like any more," she says.

"We've been talking for a while now about the fact that we've got an ageing population, but I think that's really only just showing up in organisations as becoming an issue.

"We're still hammering down the wall in terms of flexibility and culture change for working parents; I think this is another level organisations haven't even really got their heads around yet," she says.

"Grandma and grandpa are still working and yet they're being called upon (or want to put their hands up) for different caring duties for their grandchildren, but also for their elderly parents who are still alive."

Case study: a classic "triple-decker sandwich" baby boomer
The coining of the phrase "triple-decker sandwich generation" reflects the new responsibilities that baby boomers face as they become grandparents.

Miles, an author, consultant and motherhood expert, says that her father-in-law is a classic example of someone of the "triple-decker sandwich" generation. He is currently in his late 50s, his wife works full-time in a high-level corporate job and he works part-time running his own business. He looks after his grandchildren two days a week and cares for his elderly parents, who are in their eighties.

"He also provides a lot of care and support for my husband and I in terms of cooking dinners and all kinds of different things, so he's a classic example of someone who's looking after three generations of people," says Miles.

Prior to starting his own business, Miles' father-in-law worked full-time with a technology company. After many years of service, he began to feel that he had "been there, done that" and grew "bored", she says.

"He achieved a lot of great things in his career and was up for the next challenge," she says, so he "put his hand up" to help with the children. What Miles finds most interesting is his motivation. He says that he did not simply volunteer to help her and her husband, but did so because he thought he could "make a difference".

Re-think the traditional work day
Asked how a company employing such a person might hold onto them, Miles says: "I think the idea of a traditional work day really needs to shift."

The key, she says, is flexibility that allows the employee to either work from home or work part-time. It gives them the option of looking after grandchildren a couple of days a week or doing afternoon pick-ups, she says.

If both parents and grandparents can have flexible work arrangements, care can be shared more easily in what Miles calls a "tag-team effort". Also important is "genuine understanding from the employer".

In terms of keeping older workers engaged, "There needs to be an opportunity to mentor the next generation coming through and to pass on skills," says Miles. "Not just as a legacy, but for continuity of the work."

In the case of her father-in-law, who had been employed with the same company for more than 15 years, "he'd seen the growth of the company, the growth of the products and the client work that they did. To be able to nurture that in somebody else would be really valuable but instead it was lost".

Just as a desire to make a difference caused her father-in-law to leave work in favour of caring for grandchildren, the opportunity to make a difference in the workplace could help people at a similar crossroads to stay engaged.

Employers need to give mature employees the opportunity to nurture the new talent that's coming into the organisation, and to feel their contribution is unique and worthwhile, says Miles. The option of "phasing" into retirement, passing on skills and experience in the process is also valuable, she says.

Act sooner rather than later
In Miles' opinion, these initiatives are overdue, but she acknowledges that from an employer's perspective, the need might not seem imminent - yet. However, all employers can benefit from acting sooner rather than later, she says, summing up the incentive in two words: fantastic PR.

"St George implemented their grandparental leave and won awards and received massive amounts of PR for that initiative," she says by way of example.

"Only a handful of grandparents put their hand up to take grandparental leave but it was the fact that it was an opportunity that was offered and it was just so new in the marketplace that they got such acclaim for it.

"So in terms of being an employer of choice, and getting recognised for that and getting the PR for that, that's gold."