Linkedins Bring In Your Parents Day Potential And Pitfalls

LinkedIn’s “Bring In Your Parents Day”: Potential and Pitfalls Do you battle to get family members to understand what it's you actually do on the office all day? You’re not alone. But worry not â€" a solution could be in hand, with a brand new worldwide occasion introduced by LinkedIn: Bring In Your Parents Day, which is able to happen this November seventh in 14 totally different countries throughout numerous continents. But is introducing Mom and Dad to your boss the best idea? Let’s take a look at the arguments for and towards this new event. The Background Bring In Your Parents Day is being introduced at a time when old conventions are being dissolved and the two youngest generations currently at play in the office are blurring strains between private and professional lives for all of us. The first of these, Generation X (born between ), at present makes up around a 3rd of the labor pressure. With firsthand experience of the issues brought on by their dad and mom’ sturdy work ethic and, some would say, overcommitment to company life, the “latchkey children” of this generation are motivated by a desire for a greater work-life balance. And what better method to steadiness work and life than by combining the 2? Meanwhile, Generation Y (born between ) are starting to come into the office in full swing. Technologically savvy, these “digital natives” come bearing units like smartphones and tablets that make it simpler to mix your skilled and private lives by checking your work e-mail at home and your non-public Facebook account at work. Generation Y are additionally used to having Mom and Dad round at work. Subject to the involved, hands-on childcare types of “helicopter parents” a daunting eight% of GenY job seekers have been accompanied to an interview by a parent. They’re also unencumbered by the normal office formalities which may previously have saved parents at bay; the overwhelming majority of this generation also thinks they should be allowed to put on blue denims to work. Is It Really a Good Idea for Your Parents to Meet Your Boss? In this context, it was only a matter of time before someone got here up with the concept of a Parents’ Day at work. Enter LinkedIn, the skilled social community and a key protagonist in Generation Y’s career path. From an organization perspective, LinkedIn’s argument for bringing dad and mom into the office is that workers who're supported by their family are happier, more loyal and more productive. And kids, supposedly, have much to gain from the years of expertise older family members bring. Although I suppose LinkedIn has genuinely honorable intentions (in addition to a good serving to of promoting savvy), I disagree with this occasion. At work, we’re obliged to satisfy a really completely different function than we are at home. By permitting these two circles to overlap, you permit your colleagues to see you in a new light â€"- and, should you’ve spent time and effort fastidiously crafting your skilled persona and popularity, that might not necessarily be a great thing . If you’ve seen Bridget Jones’s Diary, you most likely have some concept of what I’m speaking about. Furthermore, while one day a year is unlikely to current a lot of an issue, within the grander scheme of issues, it can be argued that over-involving parents of their kids’s careers can result in lack of independence and an incapability to make decisions. And it’s not simply those whose parents attend such a day who need to fret. How do you clarify your Mom and Dad’s absence to your colleagues when you don’t have mother and father, or don’t get on with the ones you've? Bring In Your Parents Day additionally runs the danger of patronizing mother and father, who might have jobs or different duties of their very own to attend to. (Take a have a look at LinkedIn’s Bring In Your Parents “report card” to see what I imply.) Meeting the Parents: Any Benefits? In addition to being a minefield of potential pitfalls, it’s unclear how bringing dad and mom into our professional lives in this method presents any real advantages. Apart from the odd interview with individuals, there’s no clear analysis to show that this sort of initiative genuinely improves productivity. Not every thing is about numbers and profit, in fact, and seeing employers’ commitment to accommodating family life could, quite rightly, improve employee loyalty. But wouldn’t a better way to do that be to easily give workers a day off to spend with their loved ones quite than obliging them to wheel them into the office? (Click here to tweet this thought.) Although support from shut personal networks is significant in forging a successful career path, there are many ways to encourage this with out having to convey both groups into the identical bodily house. Surely picking up the cellphone and having an excellent, sincere heart-to-coronary heart is much extra use than pa rticipating in a free-for-all company activity? In short, being a great father or mother, professional or employer is a troublesome enough job as it's. Without eager to rain on the parental parade, making an attempt to mix social and professional circles is, fairly simply, expecting an excessive amount of from everyone concerned. How would you're feeling a couple of “Bring In Your Parents” Day at your office? Share your ideas in the comments! Penelope Cain is in-house careers author for international employment search website JobisJob. You can meet up with her on the JobisJob Blog, where you’ll discover up-to-the-minute information about careers and employment developments. Image: Passive-Aggressive Notes