Growing up, most of us probably got up in the morning, headed off to school, came home and went about our afterschool routines. While we were doing that, our parents were doing their jobs too. But what did they do?
As we transition into the workplace, we find ourselves at an intersection. Some of us have children who don’t know what we do at work. For others, we still have trouble explaining to our parents what we do for our jobs.
Bring Your Kids Day
On the first Wednesday in November each year in Canada, many Grade 9 students are given the opportunity to go with a parent to their workplace as part of Take Our Kids to Work Day. This year, eligible students of D2Lers participated both virtually and in person at D2L HQ. It was a day filled with fun, learning and hopefully a bit of demystification about what their parents do for work.
Their morning was spent in a classroom-style forum, hearing from D2L CEO John Baker, president Stephen Laster and various members of our People and Culture team about how the work their parents does impacts millions of learners—including students like themselves—around the world.
After joining their parents for a group lunch, students in HQ spent the afternoon shadowing their parents to see firsthand what they do, how they interact with other people in the company, and thinking about what they might want to do in their careers. For students who were participating virtually, we provided to the on-demand recordings from the morning sessions to accommodate different time zones. We also gave them access to career preparation videos provided by The Students Commission, the entity that organizes this event.
Feedback from participants was positive, and we look forward to hosting a new group of students next year as well.
Bring Your Parents Evening
At the other end of the spectrum is trying to explain to your parents what you do or what your company makes. D2L being a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, there isn’t a physical product that you can just show your parents, which can add an interesting layer of complexity to that conversation. With this in mind, we hosted our Bring in Your Parents event in December.
We hosted D2Lers and their parents in person and virtually to give attendees more insight into D2L as a company, what makes our culture special and why employees both come to work and choose to stay here. We watched two product demos and then had their D2Ler take them on a guided tour of the office to see where they work. Feedback from participants so far has been amazing. After pausing during the pandemic, we can’t wait to run this yearly going forward.
Thank you to our D2Lers who brought in their parents, members of the people and culture team who organized the event, and our IT and facilities team for making everything run incredibly smoothly. And a special thanks to the family members of the D2Lers who attended and spent time with us all.
At D2L, we believe learning is something that never stops regardless of your age, profession or stage of life. If you want to understand what we do or want to get involved, check out our resources.
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