How one employer is helping caregivers, 2 years into the pandemic

Maggie Smith, Traliant’s VP of Human Resources, is featured in this HR Dive article on how employers can support caregivers by first asking and listening to what employees say they need.

Here’s an excerpt:

How can employers support caregivers? For Maggie Smith, VP of HR at Traliant, the answer to these questions lies in employee listening, a strategy many leaders recommended throughout the pandemic.

Smith takes a proactive approach to employee listening. “I’m a big believer in surveys, even if it’s a quick Survey Monkey so you’re really getting in touch with your employees and finding out what they need rather than working on assumptions.”

As Smith noted, employee surveys at Traliant provide quick and easy access to employee sentiment; the California-based compliance training company employs about 120 people. The company launched a survey when schools reopened in the fall of 2021 to find out what kinds of support its employee base needed. By January, Traliant had a solution. The company launched a dependent care savings account that allows employees to set aside pre-tax dollars for employees to spend on care.

Smith emphasized the benefit’s flexibility. Employees can use it for care options ranging from childcare to adult daycare. “Caregiving doesn’t always look like younger employees with little kids. I’m concerned about my 80-year-old mother,” Smith said. “There’s multiple generations in the workforce. It may not always look like child caregiving.”

Read the full article HR Dive