How Publicis Sapient Is Helping Their Employees In Dealing With The "Sandwich Generation?"

While everyone is talking about Gen Z and their work culture, there is one generation, who are raising their own children and caring for their ageing parents. Sandwich Generation are individuals in their thirties and forties, post the pandemic, many of these caregivers have been struggling financially to meet family obligations.

 Kameshwari Rao, Global Chief People Officer, Publicis Sapient is here to throw light on this newly evolving culture and that how Publicis is aiming to foster a culture where colleagues support each other's caregiving responsibilities.

1. How would you define "sandwich generation" in the context of caregiving responsibilities?

The traditional definition of the sandwich generation limits it to millennials and Gen X, who are caring for aging parents while raising young children. On one hand, you have growing medical concerns for aging parents, and on the other, you have the physical and emotional support that children need in their formative years.

But we believe anyone who is sandwiched between two sets of caregiving responsibilities falls into this generation. This could be people who don’t have children but are caring for two sets of in-laws with their partner. Or even someone who is caring for their child and their spouse at the same time. The weight of these responsibilities can leave people emotionally drained while juggling work, family, and finances.

We understand that life happens. We also believe that our people do their best work when they are truly enabled in both their professional and their personal lives. The question then is, how do we help our people navigate their responsibilities such they can manage their lives better while continuing to grow in their careers?

At Publicis Sapient the support we offer caregivers is an important part of our people practice. We are also exploring custom initiatives that can make a real difference in how caregivers in the sandwich generation find balance in their life.

2. Why is it important to prioritise support for the sandwich generation at this point in time?

It’s a dated notion that careers take a backseat as responsibilities grow. Our people in their 30s and 40s are at the prime of their professional lives. They are ambitious and they want to succeed and scale newer heights in their careers. As a people-driven organization, addressing this was as crucial as enabling our client success.

We believe it’s our remit to support our people in their career aspirations such that they have everything they need to balance their personal responsibilities while bringing their best selves to work. Only when we do this is when we have a shot at growing as an organisation.

3. Do you think their caregiving responsibilities impact their work performance or work-life balance? If so, are there any strategies or best practices that have benefitted the employees?

It’s not uncommon for caregivers to feel sandwiched by the guilt of not doing enough on either side – it is also the key reason why many end up leaving. The problem we want to solve is how do we create an environment where our people know they will not be judged for taking the time to care for their loved ones.

Our Flexwork policies and awareness sessions play a key role here. It lets our people set their own working hours to accommodate their caregiving needs. It’s not about the policies alone, our people are encouraged to take time off when life calls for it. Our programs for educating team members and managers be it in terms of taking the extra load, or accommodating odd hours further enable the success of the flex-work programs.

4. Being a people-centric organization, what approach has Publicis Sapient taken to address these challenges and create a supportive work environment for caregivers?

Our culture at Publicis Sapient helps us ensure that our people are sensitive to the needs of their colleagues. We drive this through our caregiver's Business Resource Group (BRG) who spend significant time raising awareness about the personal and professional priorities caregivers handle. This creates a certain mindfulness in the way team members work with each other.

At the same time the sessions hosted by the BRGs give people a common platform to interact with others who are in a similar stage of life. When our people hear their peers share their own experiences about how they handled a difficult situation, it reassures them that they are not alone. It creates a sense of community and belongingness that does more than any policy can.

5. Does Publicis Sapient have specific policies or programs that help employees in the sandwich generation navigate their caregiving responsibilities more effectively?

Our family’s well-being is crucial for all of us, and that is why our Employee Assistance program is open to family members as well. This creates an accessible avenue for both our people and their families to seek help for their mental health needs. Our free virtual doctor consultation programs are also available to both our people and their families, so they can receive medical help from the ease of home, saving our people significant time and resources.

Medical treatments are expensive, especially if you have older people to care for, and that’s why our insurance policy covers not just their immediate family but in-laws and live-in partners too. The benefit also includes a vast array of treatments that come up for family members beyond the traditional coverage.

When it comes to caregivers raising children with autism, special education and treatment become primary concerns for them. These interventions are often more expensive than regular healthcare. Recently, we started reimbursing medical and educational expenses of our people raising children with autism.

We are also aware of the physical and mental strain people face when they have to fight their own health challenges. Working With Cancer is another initiative by Publicis Groupe that offers our people 12 months of paid leave if they are battling cancer.

6. Are there any flexible work arrangements or policies to accommodate the needs of employees? If so, could please elaborate on these initiatives to acknowledge their dedication and commitment to both work and caregiving?

I would like to take this opportunity to talk about a colleague who faced a challenging period when his son was diagnosed with Infantile Spasm and his wife with Multiple Sclerosis. Balancing his caregiving duties with his career was no easy task. Our Flexwork policy provided him with the necessary flexibility to navigate these responsibilities effectively.

We try to foster a culture where people are empathic and there is understanding among colleagues, particularly through our caregiver's business resource group. The colleague’s team members went above and beyond, offering support and adjusting their schedules to accommodate his needs. Some even sourced trial medications from abroad for his son. Despite these challenges, his professional growth within the organization remained on track – he is currently the VP of technology, and it gives us immense pride to have seen him grow through his career alongside his caregiving responsibilities.

7. How do you oversee the rollout of these policies and programs to ensure employees can avail help for their caregiving needs?

We typically have a ‘pilot-experiment-scale’ model for every program we implement. Our approach is to question the how at each juncture of the activity. In doing so, we break down the complexity, uncover crucial details and arrive at the right way forward.

The model essentially allows us to learn fast and fail fast. If it takes years to implement a program, understanding whether it works or not will take that much longer to understand. The model allows us to identify pros and cons early in the game.

The timely visibility lets us assess how the plan needs to be adjusted to meet changing circumstances and if there are any corrective measures to be taken. This way we are not caught by surprises later or in the middle of implementations because in the ‘how’ exercise we would have anticipated and developed the foresight to plan for contingencies in advance.

8. How do you ensure that employees in the sandwich generation have access to resources and support networks to manage their caregiving responsibilities?

Supporting employees in the sandwich generation goes beyond just having resources available. Managers and leaders in our organisation play a crucial role in ensuring their teams can access these benefits and receive the support they need.

We understand the importance of leadership involvement in enabling these facilities. Alongside periodic awareness sessions conducted by our Business Resource Groups (BRGs), our leaders go above and beyond to make employees comfortable when using these resources. They create an environment where there's no fear of negative consequences for seeking support.

When we celebrate Family Day programs, it’s not just another people activity. It’s from the lens of letting our people know that we acknowledge what’s important to them. By making our appreciation for families visible we try to build communities and crucial to maintaining a healthy environment.

Our learning and educational sessions address challenges and top-of-mind topics for caregivers through the year. We also maintain constant communication about our key programs. For example, every Friday, we remind our people about our counseling sessions through helplines anchored by a

strong network of mental health first aiders and compassionate listeners who provide safe spaces and support. These calls are anchored by our trained Mental Health Ambassadors, many of whom are part of the leadership team, volunteering to address the concerns of our people who need additional support in dealing with their caregiving needs. All calls are conducted with utmost levels of confidentiality.

9. How do you see the future of workplace support for the sandwich generation evolving, and what steps are you taking to stay ahead of these changes?

People’s expectations of work are changing. As an organization, we are constantly learning and considering the implications of how human psychology will shift at work. One way we try to stay ahead of the curve is by listening closely to what our people are saying. We use active listening to identify, ideate and pilot new programs.