Career Skills/Parenting Skills. Is there a Match?

Successful career people are focused, can problem-solve and make decisions. They know how to set reasonable goals, they recruit good people to advise and support them and they know when to develop new skills to help them deal with a changing workplace situation or to move their career forward.

Successful parents are focused, can problem-solve and make decisions. They know how to make and set reasonable goals, they recruit good people to advise and support them and they know when to develop new skills to help them deal with a changing family situation or in order to move forward as their children age and mature.

Based on this it would seem that those who are successful in the workplace would have no need to participate in parenting skills training events as part of a complete workplace wellness program. In fact, the opposite is the case.

The sorts of goals they set, the people they work with, and decision-making process is often completely at odds. So while workplace skills are transferable, the context needs to be better understood.

The biggest challenge is the obvious one. In the workplace you interact with trained, qualified and skilled adults. At home you interact with immature, impulsive and capricious children. The bigger difference is that you are unbelievably attached to and totally in love with your children. Your acceptance of them and their behavior, positive or negative, is unconditional. Your child is forever. Your workmates are temporary.

While the workplace will change over time, constant change is not the norm. Children, however, are constantly growing and developing and the nature of your relationship with them adjusts as they grow and develop. For example, it is the parent’s job to set the limits and expectations of their child’s behavior. However, the rules for a toddler are very different from those for a school-aged child or a teenager. Then it changes again as the kids become young adults.

Parents in the workplace are more attentive, effective and focused when they know that they have their parenting job under control. A workplace that helps parents with their job of raising the next generation of workers is one that will benefit immensely.

Everyone wins. The workplace finds itself with a workforce that is not only more productive, but also loyal. Employees will stay with a company that supports them at home and at work. The staff retention rate increases, saving the company money, time and the energy needed to make and train new hires.

Bringing quality parenting skills training into your workplace is as simple as calling Kathy Lynn at Parenting Today. Pick up your phone now and dial 604-258-9074.