Is your organization ready to go back to school?

As I sit and ponder what life will be like this year, when both of my kids are at the same school, I find myself wondering how other organizations deal with family pressures at work. I am blessed. OMNIview (notice our new name!) affords me the opportunity to be more than just the breadwinner for my family, but also the ability to be a parent. Being a single mom, this means a lot. The list of potential work interruptions are endless. Sickness, conferences, sports activities, homework … I am sure you can think of more.

So, this conversation in my head turns to thoughts of other single parents and the companies they work for. Do organizations do a good job of recognizing the whole person and the impact that life has on an individuals’ work? How does an organization continue to feed not only the career aspirations of their workforce, but also the human side? Because it is really two halves that make a whole, right? If you aren’t able to develop on the career side, you won’t be at your best at home. If you don’t have the ability to take care of your family, can you really be a good worker?

In this new age of social media, networking, androids, iPhones, web-this and web-that, what opportunities exist for organizations to provide their workforce with guidance, training and resources to develop both sides of the individual? Human Resource departments spend countless hours and dollars developing training programs and buying guidance from outside resources to deal with developing the “career side” of an employee. Wouldn’t it be nice if they provided even a 10th of the time and effort on developing the “heart” side of their employees? I wonder what the “ROI” would be on that?

I believe there is great opportunity for organizations to really set themselves apart. The simple act of acknowledging the “heart” side is huge, but could your organization provide a platform that would give your employees access to a wealth of information regarding common issues that people struggle with? Imagine a place where your employees could share ideas, ask advice, and gain access to all kinds of resources that would help them navigate through life, kind of a social media site for development. Just an idea …