Joanne Austin, HSBC – 27/3/2020
I care for four of my closest family members aged between 19 and 79 and who all have different disabilities/illness and needs. My caring role involves facilitating appointments, managing all of my families’ affairs, providing emotional support, dealing with education and healthcare providers and supporting with personal care. In addition, I work full time as a Manager for HSBC where I am also heavily involved in an Employee Resource Group for Carers and those with physical and mental health conditions.
Through my own experiences and supporting other carers in the Bank, I understand the day to day challenges faced by working carers. Whether this is trying to juggle work with care and/or facilitating appointments, managing work deadlines and priorities or being exhausted, it is clear to me that all carers face significant challenges.
Carers bring a range of transferable skills and an empathy for others to work which is why it is so important to have them in the workplace. For example, the skills they may use advocating for their child’s educational needs such as listening and letter writing can easily be transferred into the workplace for the benefit of our customers. It is therefore essential that they are supported and able to be themselves at work.
To support people, we have an Employee Resource Group which focuses on providing carers from across the bank with support in identifying themselves as carers and also the help and support they need at an appropriate time. We do this in a number of different ways such as issuing a monthly newsletter, holding events and offering a support call on a variety of carer related topics. The Group also supports those with physical and mental health conditions which gives additional help to carers when managing the needs of their dependants.
In addition to the banks internal policies and access to an Employee assistance programme, Carers are supported in a variety of different ways through the bank’s partnership with Carers UK. This partnership gives our employees access to the Jointly app, a wide range of on-line resources and the opportunity to link in with other carers through the various forums. Line managers are equally well supported through the Employers for Carers resources which supports them with being equipped with the knowledge to support their teams.
I am very grateful for the support I receive from HSBC. They provide me with the opportunity to pursue a career and by working flexibly, I am also able to provide the care and support required by my family. My team are very supportive, there’s always someone to have a coffee and a chat with and to make me laugh, even when things are really difficult. My line manager is equally supportive helping me to manage my workload, giving me a different perspective of things and just being there when I need him. Working at HSBC has made a huge difference to my wellbeing and that of my family.
Welsh 
English