Can one take a kid to the office and work properly? Yes!
This summer, for a month, the living room at our Valmiera office turned into an improvised daycare. Thanks to a grant provided by the Society Integration Foundation of Latvia, we were able to provide professional childcare during office hours while the parents were working.
Children’s summer holidays in Latvia last for 3 months while the usual summer vacation for parents is 20 working days or 1 month long. In order to take proper care of the kids, the parents usually have to organize their summer vacation sequentially – first one, then the other. We wanted to enable our employees to have more time during the summer to spend together as a family, therefore we came up with the idea of having a nanny at the office who can take care of kids while parents carry on their duties.
“This was a nice opportunity to prolong my daughter's holiday and bring more colors to it. Kids were busy with many interesting activities like making LEGO models, playing board games, drawing, and spending time outdoors. As a mother, I also value hot meals, thus allowing me not to worry whether my kid's stomach will be full and spend the summer evening doing other things than cooking for the next day.”
During the one month of the project, there were 10 children aged between 2 and 13 who visited the office daycare at least once, and eight of them spent there at least a week. All the time kids were supervised by a professional nanny. That made the parent’s minds much calmer and also allowed the hugs and cuddles during the breaks thus also strengthening the psychological safety of both, the child and the parent.
“I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical about the - kids to work - idea at first, but this opportunity proved that it is possible and even enjoyable because every time I entered our office kitchen, my son was running to hug me and happily showing what he has made from LEGO.”
The grand finale of the office daycare initiative was the backyard party with an inflatable trampoline, a mini swimming pool, outdoor games, and a nice picnic. The event was a nice retro on the month spent together at the office both playing and working and simply a nice gathering before getting back to kindergarten and school.
This is just one of many initiatives that make Wunder a family-friendly company, also recognized by the Latvian and Estonian governments. Every spring we are celebrating a Family day and spend an adventurous day together with our beloved ones. Our office doors are always open to Wunderer family members. We are happy to be there for our colleague’s life events like birthdays, new family foundations, new babies, and new first-graders. And around Christmas time WunderSanta has always prepared a nice surprise for every little second-generation Wunderer.
