from the Des Moines Register…

Workbytes: Helicopter parents invade workplace

By KAREN MRACEK • kmracek@dmreg.com • May 12, 2008

I took two years of calculus in college to become a journalist.

Why, you ask? It’s not like we do a lot of conditional convergence or quadratic equations in our daily reporting. Even in business reporting, it’s not much more strenuous than percent change calculations, and we have a handy dandy calculator for that.

It was because my Dad said: "Math is important."

That’s it. Three words. His direction on the courses I took in college stopped there.
Advertisement My parents (Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!) didn’t tell me what class to take, or where to go to school, or what to major in.

I would call my parents the opposite of helicopter parents.

You know, the ones who represent and speak for their children at career fairs. The ones who are handing out resumes, calling up recruiters and complaining to hiring managers.

Yes, there are people out there who actually do this.

They also wipe their child’s (30-year-old) mouth after he eats. They lick their finger before pushing down a stray gray hair on their child’s head.

Nu Huynh, campus relations manager at The Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, has seen her share of these "involved" parents.

"We understand the critical roles parents play in helping their children make important decisions about their careers, and it makes perfect sense for them to be involved," she said.

But there is a limit to how involved they should be. Human resources consultant John Putzier says hovering parents may be bad for the workplace behavior.

Putzier, author of "Weirdos in the Workplace," — its working title was "Working at The Des Moines Register" — told the Society of Human Resource Management that many outlandish behaviors are becoming commonplace. He blamed "helicopter parenting," where parents have repeatedly swooped in to rescue their children from bad grades, bad coaches and, apparently, bad bosses or work experiences.

What makes it worse, Putzier said, is that some employers have actually embraced parental involvement in the hiring process. "Which I think is ludicrous," he said.

Merrill Lynch is one of those companies. Merrill has started offering a parent day for interns’ families, a move to help convince parents that their workplace is right for the child.

And after the UBS meltdown, you can see why parents are skittish.

The Army is another employer trying to lure the parent as well as the child. Their new slogan: "You made them strong, we’ll make them Army strong."

Apparently, "An Army of One" has become an Army of Three.

"There are certainly some companies that have embraced the helicopter parents and even provide parent orientation, while some companies are still very much conservative and frown upon this," Huynh said.

The key is to know which type of environment you want and are exploring in a future employer.

"I believe you have to be flexible and adapt to changes and provide what is a win-win situation for everyone, but be realistic at the same time."

The key is how parents interact with their child’s future employer, she said.

Huynh offers this advice for parents:

"Please, do play the role as adviser. Help the child understand the total compensation package and ask for additional information. But let the child be the one to follow up with the recruiter and hiring leader – for their own independence and confidence," she said.

To which I say: Good job, Dad!

"After all, the parents can’t come to work for their children," Huynh said.