“Bring in your parents day”: building inclusion and engagement through a cross-generational family-friendly workplace initiative
| Date | 27 November 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-07-2019-0058 |
| Published date | 27 November 2019 |
| Pages | 15-21 |
| Author | T. Alexandra Beauregard,Karin A. King |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
On another note
“Bring in your parents day”: building
inclusion and engagement through a
cross-generational family-friendly
workplace initiative
T. Alexandra Beauregard and Karin A. King
Abstract
Purpose –Employer-sponsored family-friendly events are designed to boost engagement and encourage
retention by building family members’ identification with the organization. These events are usually targeted
at employees with dependent children, but LinkedIn’s more inclusive ‘‘Bring in Your Parents’’ (BIYP) initiative
aims to introduce employees’ parents to the daily work of their adult children. This study evaluates the
impact of BIYP on the attitudes and behavioral intentions of participatingemployees and their parents.
Design/methodology/approach –Repeated-measures surveyswere conducted among participating
employees and parents in six organizations in six countries (UK, Ireland, France, Brazil, Mexico and
Colombia). These were followed by in-person interviews with participating employees (UK) and phone
interviewswith HR managers (Brazil, Canada, France,Spain, UK and USA).
Findings –Participation in BIYP increases employee engagement and parents’ instrumental and
affective support for their children and for their children’s employers. Hosting BIYP is perceived to
enhancecorporate reputation among bothinternal and external stakeholders.
Practical implications –BIYP serves the dual function of buildingemployee engagement and creating
new parental brand ambassadors for participating organizations. BIYP can be an effective tool for
employers to engage members of staff not traditionally included in organizationalfamily-friendly events
and may be particularlyuseful for firms with a high proportionof younger workers in tech-savvy jobs.
Originality/value –This evaluation of a new workplace initiative demonstrates measurable effects on
importantemployee attitudes and behavioralintentions.
Keywords Diversity, Inclusion, Generation Y, Millennial, Engagement, Generation Z, Identification,
Family-friendly
Paper type Research paper
Bring in your parents day
“Family-friendly” organizational initiatives designed to boost engagement among
employees and organizational identification among their family members have traditionally
been focused on parents of young children, and typically included events such as
children’s parties and “Bring Your Children to Work” days. Initiatives such as these can
provide an opportunity for employees’ children to gain a glimpse into the working world of
their parents, which can be valuable for children’s understanding of the role of work in
modern lives and possibly contribute to their future career considerations. However, these
T. Alexandra Beauregard is
based at the Department of
Organizational Psychology,
Birkbeck University of
London, London, UK.
Karin A. King is based at
the Department of
Management, London
School of Economics and
Political Science, London,
UK.
The authors wish to thank
LinkedIn for their collaboration
on this research project.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-07-2019-0058 VOL. 19 NO. 1 2020, pp. 15-21, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jPAGE 15
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