The RoR of Caregiver Resilience: Why Companies Must Measure Support
- Saeed
- Dec 7
- 3 min read
Two weeks ago, I wrote about why caregiving is not sustainable without support. That article focused on the human side: the invisible work caregivers carry, the stigma of asking for help, and the need for teammates and communities to step in before burnout sets in.
Around the same time, Christy Wyatt published a powerful article on the economics of resilience in cybersecurity. She argued that resilience must be measured, not just discussed, and that KPIs should tie directly to business outcomes. Her framing resonated deeply with me. If resilience in cybersecurity requires measurable RoR, why shouldn’t resilience in caregiving be treated the same way?
🧩 Caregiver Resilience as Business Strategy
Resilience isn’t only about markets, competitors, or external shocks. It’s also about the internal realities companies face when employees suddenly become caregivers.
A top performer may need to manage medical appointments for a parent. A manager may juggle responsibilities at home and at work. A colleague may quietly balance caregiving while trying to meet deadlines.
Ignoring these realities isn’t just a human oversight—it’s a business risk. Companies that fail to support caregivers risk losing talent, productivity, and morale. That’s why caregiver resilience must be measured with the same rigor as financial or cyber resilience.
🔑 Translating Cyber Resilience to Caregiver Resilience
Christy introduced terms like Cost of Disruption (CoD), Revenue at Risk (RAR), and Return on Resilience (RoR). These concepts apply just as well to caregiving inside the workforce:
Cost of Disruption (CoD)
In cybersecurity, CoD is downtime per minute or hour.
In caregiving, disruption is measured in lost productivity, absenteeism, or attrition.
Example: When a caregiver leaves, the disruption cost is the replacement cost (~$50,000 per employee) plus lost institutional knowledge.
Incident Cost per Month
Cyber incidents are measured in minutes/hours of downtime.
Caregiving “incidents” often last weeks or months—reduced availability, missed deadlines, or scaled-back hours.
Revenue at Risk (RAR)
In cybersecurity, RAR is tied to lost transactions or customer trust.
For caregiving, RAR is tied to missed projects, delayed launches, or reduced team output when caregivers aren’t supported.
Return on Resilience (RoR)
Christy’s equation applies here too:
For caregiving, this means:
Value avoided = savings from reduced turnover, absenteeism, and productivity loss.
Investment = cost of caregiver benefits, flexible scheduling programs, manager training, and tools like SimpliTend.
📊 The Scale of Caregiving Today
63 million Americans—nearly 1 in 4 adults—are family caregivers.
70% of caregivers under age 65 are working, and half report impacts on their job.
Caregivers spend an average of $7,200 per year out-of-pocket on caregiving expenses.
Nearly half of caregivers report financial strain, and 64% report high emotional stress.
These numbers make caregiving impossible to ignore. It’s not a niche issue—it’s a workforce reality.
📈 Example
Let’s apply this to a company with 1,000 employees:
Caregiver prevalence: 250 employees (1 in 4).
Baseline disruption (CoD): 10% attrition among caregivers = 25 employees × $50,000 = $1.25M annually.
RAR: Productivity loss from absenteeism = 250 caregivers × 5 hours/month × $50/hour = $62,500/month (~$750K/year).
Investment in resilience: $200K annually (benefits, flexible scheduling, manager training).
Value avoided: If support cuts attrition by half and absenteeism by 25%, savings = $812K.
That’s a 4x return on caregiver resilience investment. And that’s before factoring in reduced healthcare claims from stress and burnout, which would push the return even higher.
Inputs
Attrition cost (CoD) = $1.25M
Absenteeism cost (RAR proxy) = $0.75M
Investment = $200K
Outputs
Attrition savings = $625K
Absenteeism savings = $187K
Total avoided disruption = $812K
RoR = 4.06
🌱 From Charity to Strategy
Supporting caregivers isn’t charity—it’s strategy. Just as companies forecast market risks, they should forecast caregiver risks. Just as they invest in cybersecurity tools, they should invest in caregiver support programs, flexible policies, and cultures of compassion.
Christy Wyatt’s call to measure resilience through KPIs applies here too. If resilience is measurable in cybersecurity, it is measurable in caregiving. And the return is clear: stronger teams, lower costs, higher engagement, and a workforce that can thrive even when life changes inside the company.
✨ Closing Call
Caregiving is not sustainable without support. But support must go beyond empathy—it must be measurable, strategic, and tied to resilience. Companies that measure caregiver resilience will not only protect their people; they will protect their future.