Say you had to choose between two similar candidates for a non-technical role. They both have similar backgrounds, education and work experience. Except one candidate took two years off from her career to look after her dying father.
In the business-as-conventional world, where business is just business, you would pick the one who did not take time off.
In the social-mediated world of business, where business is absolutely personal, you would pick the one who did the human thing.
If you had to pick a colleague to work with, with all factors being equal, which would you pick?
If you are serious about making it in the social mediated world of business, you must seriously examine how you hire and treat employees.