WORK & RELAX 2/2020 Business Spotlight 79
based: ...-~ [beIst]
, ansässig in ...
boundary-smasher
[(baUndEri )smÄSE]
, etwa: Person, die alles
umkrempelt
(boundary , Grenze)
broadcaster
[(brO:dkA:stE] , TV- und
Radio-Moderator(in)
decorum [dI(kO:rEm]
, Etikette, Anstandsregelndisrupt sth. [dIs(rVpt]
, etw. stören
editor [(edItE]
, Redakteur(in)
flappy [(flÄpi]
, lose, flatternd
founder [(faUndE]
, Gründer(in)
goal [gEUl] , Ziel
inherently [In(herEntli]
, von Natur ausit’s about time
[Its E)baUt (taIm]
, es ist höchste Zeit
lean in [)li:n (In]
, etwa: sich reinhängen
merely [(mIEli]
, bloß
miss the point (about sth.)
[)mIs DE (pOInt]
, das Wesentliche (von
etw.) nicht begreifenparenting [(peErEntIN]
, Elternschaft;
Kindererziehung
screaming reflex
[(skri:mIN )ri:fleks]
, Schreireflex
splash [splÄS] , Spritzer
trigger sth. [(trIgE]
, etw. auslösen
welder [(weldE]
, Schweißer(in)But how about taking babies and older
kids to work with you? According to Bev-
erley Turner, broadcaster and working
mother of three children, constant inter-
ruption is just the beginning of your prob-
lems. “Places of work require order, focus
and decorum. Kids are inherently chaot-
ic boundary-smashers to whom Post-it
notes are flappy stickers, quietness trig-
gers the screaming reflex and coffees are
merely brown splashes in cups designed
to be elbowed off edges,” she writes on
Telegraph.com.
Sarita James admits that she took a big
risk by bringing a young baby to team
meetings and client appointments. She
was lucky that her baby daughter slept
and fed easily at work. The ease with
which she was able to return to work
made all the risks worth it.
Helping an employee to return from
parental leave is a win-win for staff and
employer, reports The Guardian. People
who take their children to work show a
more human and caring side of them-
selves to their colleagues, which is espe-
cially important for managers and direc-
tors.
Carla Moquin, founder of the US-based
Parenting in the Workplace Institute, tells
the newspaper that flexibility and work-
life balance are huge deciding factors for
people choosing a place to work. She be-
lieves that employees are far more likely
to remain at an organization if they feel
supported in their family lives.
Every year, many firms celebrate
“Bring Your Children to Work Day”. It re-
ally misses the point, however, about the
challenges of balancing work and family
life, says Sally Peck, family editor at the
Telegraph.com: “Bringing children to work
for a special event is not useful, but regu-
lar visits to see what your parent does all
day is. The goal here is not to disrupt the
office, but to show your child what is so
important that it takes you away from
them.”
“Kids are inherently
chaotic boundary-smashers”
Peck takes her three-year-old into the
office a couple of times a week before
she drops her off at day care. She believes
that these visits help explain her work-
ing life to her child. She hopes it will help
her daughter “learn how to behave in the
adult world. It’s about time we got over
our strict separation of children and real
life in Britain — because it damages both.”
Not every workplace is a suitable place
for a child, of course. “If I’d been, for ex-
ample, a cook, a doctor, a bus driver or a
welder, I could never have tried it,” admits
Sarita James. “But many parents — and
not only the ‘lean in’ professional wom-
en [see “For more information”] that youChildren at work:
sometimes a
necessity, often a
distractionFOR MORE INFORMATION
BOOK
Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead
Sheryl Sandberg (WH Allen)➻
might expect — might find this model
works for them, if they can get their em-
ployers to agree.” And who knows what
that could lead to in the future? The Finan-
cial Times reported recently on the success
of its “Bring in Your Parents Day”. In years
to come, perhaps a grown-up Uma James
will invite her mother, Sarita, to her work-
place to share the secrets of her success —
if Mum promises to behave, of course.