Meet the parents

But networking events require social skills – the absence of which in many students is often deplored by employers. That’s where parents come in. Redmond says the phenomenon of ‘helicopter parents’ – who hover over their offspring’s every move at school, university and even beyond – means employers need to create a good impression with more than just their potential recruits. Mum and Dad are increasingly accompanying their children to careers fairs and checking out potential employers for themselves. This may irk some employer representatives – but resistance is futile.

‘You can’t dismiss parents,’ says Redmond. ‘Since the mid-1990s, the rhetoric of choice has led to education becoming more of a marketplace, with parents increasingly seen as integral to a child’s academic and personal success – and both socially and culturally, that’s a powerful driver.

‘Helicopter parents are in some ways a consequence of this,’ he continues. ‘They also prove that the discourse of the “good parent” is socially constructed; that it’s redefined by different generations. For many of today’s baby boomer parents, the idea of not accompanying your child to a university open day, or driving them back to college after a vacation, equates to bad parenting, particularly when everyone else’s parents are doing the same.’

Morton believes the desire to influence one’s child’s job prospects is a generational concept: ‘A key characteristic of the parents of Gen Y is that they were so determined to be successful themselves that, if a couple of generations later, their kids don’t have the same attitude, they’ll intervene in a way that their own parents didn’t. If kids are being brought up to be too dependent, however, then mentoring in the office may be invaluable once they enter the workplace.

So, in the new world of work, young and old may be closer to each other than many realise. ‘It’s critical that employers really understand what makes their employees tick,’ concludes Morton. ‘Those who are willing and able to embrace the new world of work will be more successful at getting the best people and getting the best out of them, for the time they have them’.

About the Author:

Emma Reynolds background includes marketing for a global airline, building the employer brand for one of the UK’s leading FMCG organisations and building an employee / customer engagement model. As co-founding Partner of e3Unlimited, Emma has investigated the aspirations of today’s bright young things and is at the forefront of driving cutting-edge initiatives when it comes to understanding how this generation is impacting organisations in the UK.