Life Based Value, an organisation that creates innovative solutions for the development of human capital, has launched the digital training platform CARE – a programme dedicated to helping the nation’s growing population of carers gain the transferable skills needed to thrive in business and beyond.
Research from Carers UK has uncovered that 65% of UK adults had been a carer at some point in their lives, and between 15-18% of people in work had been carers between 2016 and 2018. CARE hopes to improve quality of life and opportunities for some of the nation’s most invaluable and under-appreciated invisibles. According to Carers UK, the contribution made by carers to the UK economy is £132bn a year.
With 80% of carers reporting that the experience gave them greater self-confidence, and 86% claiming that caregiving taught them how to manage challenging situations, the new platform provides a space where carers can put these skills to use, free from being penalised for their care responsibilities. Built on the back of scientific research that has been moulded into a unique proprietary training method, CARE allows employees who care for elderly, sick or dependents refine their relationships with others and the external environment, as well as their personal development and leadership skills.
Training modules cover everything from stress management, to change management, risk and error management, on top of softer skills such as patience and perseverance, self-confidence and self-awareness.
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“There is an urgent need for innovative solutions to support the endemic lack of carers – in the UK alone, there is an expected need for 580,000 additional social care workers by 2035,” said Nicola Palmarini, director of the UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing at Newcastle University. “Life Based Value brings a concrete example of how this issue can be addressed [by] leveraging a collaborative interaction between employers and employees to empower each other in a joint play to benefit both the work-life balance of the individuals and the needs of an ageing society.”
Riccarda Zezza, CEO of Life Based Value, said: “Taking care of others teaches us behaviours that can make us more effective in every area, because it concerns our relationships and our capacity to leverage all our resources into every role we play in life. Care tends to be an area that is underserviced and misunderstood by both businesses and governments, especially at a time of socio-economic uncertainty like the UK is currently undergoing. The CARE platform empowers businesses and individuals to bring value to the experiences that can often be overlooked, and truly nurture and upskill existing talent.”
Lafe Based Value’s platform is already being used by over 60 Italian firms, including Accenture, Danone, Boston Consulting Group, Amgen and UniCredit. It is currently being piloted in 23 countries and 218 cities across the US, Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia.
“Companies spend large portions of their budgets developing soft skills through courses and classroom lessons,” said Sonia Malaspina, Southeast Europe HR director at Danone. “The goal is to help them become emotionally smarter, empowered to solve problems, become more agile and flexible. However, life experiences such as parenthood can be 10 times more effective. With Life Based Value, we can find practical solutions that bring value to your teams.”