I remember all those years ago when I first took my daughter to work. I know it made her feel special and included in my day a little more than the day-to-day monotony of going to school and coming home to do homework. This was an excellent opportunity to learn more about my job and the people I work with.
Established in 1993, Take Our Daughters to Work Day® originally focused on empowering girls, but has now become Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day® to become a broader way of including all children. Many simply refer to the name of Bring Your Kids to Work Day or Bring Your Child to Work. Whatever you want to refer to it is okay. This program was developed to help children maintain a positive and healthy self-image as well as help them with future aspirations. By showing our children the value of education, they can discover the possibilities of how they will envision their futures. Providing a hands-on and interactive environment for a child is a powerful fundamental to helping them achieve success.
Here at Hawkins, we have embraced Bring Your Kids to Work Day. Our Human Resources Department sends out an email with an attached flyer reminding every employee of the approaching day. We are lucky in that we all have private offices, which makes things easier if you have younger children joining for the day. We have a very nice kitchen/break room where there are healthy snacks for the children to enjoy. Parents will sometimes plan ahead and take their lunch breaks to provide special food such as pizza or sandwiches and host a brief introduction for the children to explain what our company does and how important their role is in one of our conference rooms.
I encourage anyone with children to take advantage of this opportunity and bring them to work with you. It is an excellent way to teach them about work ethics and the importance of hard work. This special day empowers children and teaches them some important life lessons. I know as my daughter got older, bringing her to work became “my assistant day” where she earned an increased allowance doing some of my errands and was a great help to me. She developed early social skills and time management skills, which she still carries with her today.