Civil Service Proud

My son’s week of work experience coincided with the 25-year anniversary of The Office. The British mockumentary about office life captured the boredom, absurdities, power struggles and dynamics that occur when a bunch of strangers come together to sit in a building to achieve shared goals. Breaking the fourth wall to make you part of the cringe.

While office life is perfect material for comedy, this week restored my faith in the office and the connections we make at work. My son is in Year 10 and split his week between the Insolvency Service and the Home Office. He commuted to the office all five days, wore a suit, did some work and engaged with adults to learn about their jobs. So many people finding time in their busy days to speak to him about what they do and why.

He wrote a blog on why work experience matters for teenagers and responded positively to feedback from the head of communications. He helped me deliver a presentation, laughing when I could not make out the tiny text on my slides on Teams. He asked questions, showed interest in people’s jobs and the roles they play in the civil service. From insolvency to immigration to national security and everything HR does to make departments run effectively, he had a taste of what it is like to work for a living.

Seeing him transform into a young man made me a proud dad. The way civil servants helped make his week a memorable experience made me Civil Service Proud.

Even though I rarely consider his safety when he is at school or Scout camp, being responsible for him in an office was incredibly stressful. What if something happens? Maybe I should do developed vetting of all my colleagues to check there are no homicidal maniacs in the office. If only I had done the school run more when my kids were growing up, this responsibility would not have been so debilitating.

Relax and breathe. A colleague even tapped on the door of my cubicle to show me she was taking my son back to the safety of his desk. He was fine. Of course he was. The client I was coaching even wished him luck at the end of our session. It was a great week to be a civil servant to see what happens when we create an inclusive culture for all.

Sometimes we are just a bunch of adults staring at screens, with nothing to say, not knowing if we should say goodbye at the end of the day if we did not say hello when we arrived. That is how office life can roll. But when office life clicks you realise you work with people who care and are here for you and your kid on work experience.

The only lesson learned is his work experience was mainly talking and listening rather than actual working. Five days of work may be too much for 15-year-olds. However, more needs to be done to get young people work ready or it will come as a shock. It did to me and young people need time to develop workplace maturity.

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