Survey staff to assess what carers need and would value Understanding the prevalence and nature of caring responsibilities among your staff will allow you to assess their specific needs. It will also enable you to assess demand for different types of support and services. One method for collecting information about your staff’s caring responsibilities and their needs is a survey. Identify if there are different types of caring responsibilities and what the needs of different types of carers are. For example those with child care responsibilities and those with caring responsibilities for people with disability may have very different requirements. Identify any sets of common needs for carers that emerge from the survey results, and compare these sets of common needs. It is important to determine and address the work/life of all staff, regardless of their caring responsibilities. These surveys usually elicit more responses if they are anonymous. The questions you ask in your survey will determine the analysis that is possible. It is also recommended that you include a question to elicit whether staff feel too afraid to request flexible work arrangements. This will help you understand whether the culture is one that is supportive of people with caring responsibilities. Analyse the results to understand the needs and investigate further Once the surveys have been completed, you will want to know the extent to staff are able to navigate their work and caring responsibilities, and what aspects are creating difficulties. Hold focus groups with staff to dig deeper into what their needs are. If necessary, organise follow up meetings or discussions with targeted groups or with a broader range of staff. Think through the solutions and develop a carer strategy A carer strategy can be developed, based on an understanding of the prevalence and nature of caring responsibilities among staff and the possible barriers to balancing work and caring responsibilities. The carer strategy should be aimed at bridging the gap between the existing support available to carers and the extra caring needs identified in the survey, focus groups and other discussions. Based on the results of your survey and analysis, reassess the list of workplace mechanisms you currently offer your staff and identify any gaps. Consider how to address any gaps. Redesign your existing policies and practices if they are not inclusive of all carers. Prioritise new initiatives to support carers.
Survey staff to assess what carers need and would value Understanding the prevalence and nature of caring responsibilities among your staff will allow you to assess their specific needs. It will also enable you to assess demand for different types of support and services. One method for collecting information about your staff’s caring responsibilities and their needs is a survey. Identify if there are different types of caring responsibilities and what the needs of different types of carers are. For example those with child care responsibilities and those with caring responsibilities for people with disability may have very different requirements. Identify any sets of common needs for carers that emerge from the survey results, and compare these sets of common needs. It is important to determine and address the work/life of all staff, regardless of their caring responsibilities. These surveys usually elicit more responses if they are anonymous. The questions you ask in your survey will determine the analysis that is possible. It is also recommended that you include a question to elicit whether staff feel too afraid to request flexible work arrangements. This will help you understand whether the culture is one that is supportive of people with caring responsibilities. Analyse the results to understand the needs and investigate further Once the surveys have been completed, you will want to know the extent to staff are able to navigate their work and caring responsibilities, and what aspects are creating difficulties. Hold focus groups with staff to dig deeper into what their needs are. If necessary, organise follow up meetings or discussions with targeted groups or with a broader range of staff. Think through the solutions and develop a carer strategy A carer strategy can be developed, based on an understanding of the prevalence and nature of caring responsibilities among staff and the possible barriers to balancing work and caring responsibilities. The carer strategy should be aimed at bridging the gap between the existing support available to carers and the extra caring needs identified in the survey, focus groups and other discussions. Based on the results of your survey and analysis, reassess the list of workplace mechanisms you currently offer your staff and identify any gaps. Consider how to address any gaps. Redesign your existing policies and practices if they are not inclusive of all carers. Prioritise new initiatives to support carers.
UnpaidCaringToolkit_2013.docx