David Grayson - Working carers and how to support them

In this episode, I welcome back David Grayson, author, speaker and Emeritus Professor of Corporate Responsibility at the Cranfield School of Management. You’ll remember that when he appeared previously, in episode 2 of the podcast, we talked about his thoughts on business and sustainability. He is also the author of the book ‘Take Care: How to be a great employer for working carers’, and it’s that topic we’ll be focusing on mostly in this episode. If you are someone who has had to juggle work responsibilities with caring for a partner, a child or a parent, you’ll know how tough that can be. And if you’re an employer, you will have people in that situation in your workforce. So how do you support them? In this interview, we talk David’s own experience of becoming a caregiver, and then mine some of the deep wisdom from his book about how large employers, small businesses and even solo operators, can go about squaring the circle of working effectively while supporting a loved one. Even if you’re not currently a carer, you may know people that are – even if they’re not telling you – and you may be facing the prospect that it will apply to you one day. Show Notes What has been happening for David in the six months since he was last on the podcast? (2:11) The difference between socially responsible and ethical behaviour in business (3:54) The example of Enron (7:11) What is company culture, and how it shapes day to day decisions (9:48) The continuing impact of David’s book ‘All In’ (11:25) David’s mother, whose life inspired his book ‘Take Care’, and provided his first experience of being taken care of (12:20) The impact that becoming a carer had one David’s own lifestyle (18:32) How David ended up becoming chairman of Carers UK, and how he sees the task ahead (23:00) What has David discovered about the issue since getting involved in Carers UK? (26:48) Some statistics about the impact of becoming a carer on working people (29:27) What are the implications of our ageing society for how such carers can be supported? (33:15) What distinguishes the companies that do really well at this? (42:30) The challenges of actually finding out how much of a problem you have in your workplace (45:50) What about examples of small businesses and how they respond to the agenda (49:21) What about those that become self-employed in order to become a carer? (52:00) How does a global business approach this area? (54:00) Links Take Care, How to be a great employer for working carers, David Grayson https://www.amazon.co.uk/Take-Care-Employer-Working-Carers/dp/1787142930/ Carers UK website: https://www.carersuk.org David’s website: https://davidgrayson.net David on twitter: https://twitter.com/davidgrayson_