The Center For Work And The Family is helping to bridge the gap between the needs of families and the world of work. Providing psycho-education and support services at the worksite since 1990, consultants Chris Essex and Leah Fisher bring expertise in parent education, group facilitation, corporate consulting, counseling and psychotherapy. The programs they design are innovative and in-depth, customized to address the needs of each corporate client. The Center's programs have an important and unique feature. Each program is designed with feedback mechanisms so that management can learn about employees' needs and experiences and so participants can provide constructive feedback to their companies.

Programs include a one day seminar on Coping Skills For Managing Work/Life Stress, noontime parenting support groups at the workplace, and couple seminars for employees and their spouses. Titles include, "Professional Lives/Personal Lives: Finding A Balance," "Coming And Going: Coping With Business Travel" and "Communication And Negotiation Skills For Work And Home." All of these services are offered at the workplace, either during the workday, during employees' lunch hour or, in the case of the couples' seminars, on weekends.

Fisher and Essex describe how their service evolved. Initially, they were invited to deliver brown bag lunchtime talks on balancing work and family life. Although offering a one hour talk is an important introduction to the issues facing employers and employees today, it is only a first step . "We were concerned," says Fisher, "that we contribute to the solution and not become part of the problem. If we deliver a glib one hour talk, ending with the predictable 10 coping tips, we run the risk that employers may conclude, 'We've done our part; now we're family friendly,' while overwhelmed employees might conclude, 'I guess if I were just a little more organized (patient/smart/assertive) my life would be in balance.'"

To counteract this possibility, the Center brings employees the message, "THIS IS YOUR PROBLEM BUT IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT." Essex and Fisher point out the unique social conditions under which today's men and women are attempting to sustain relationships, raise families and earn a living. A huge influx of women into the workforce has taken place without necessary changes in support for families, the structure of work, and roles of men and women. Caretaking is still needed for our children, our homes and our relationships. Yet available time and energy for caretaking are greatly diminished. The result is a crisis felt both at home and at work.

The Center's goals for all its workplace-based programs are to normalize the struggles faced by men and women, to teach coping skills until larger social changes take place, to enlist seminar participants as proactive advisors and problem solvers, and to further the dialogue about work/family issues by means of feedback loops between employees and management.

Successful programs at several Bay Area companies illustrate this process. At Chevron's Research And Technology Company, the Center offered a six week series, "Strategies For Balancing Work And Family Life" on an ongoing basis. The series included sessions on stress management, negotiating shared roles at home, setting priorities and making hard choices. The series concluded by asking participants to identify ways in which Chevron Research supported and assisted their efforts to do a good job at work and a good job at home. Participants were also asked to make suggestions and recommendations about how Chevron could further support their efforts to successfully meet responsibilities at work and at home.

These recommendations were presented to the executive management team at Chevron Research. Respect for the process was mutual. The management team appreciated that Essex and Fisher didn't come in and tell them how they ought to run an oil company. Their only recommendations, unless asked, were those which came directly from employees. Fisher and Essex, in turn, were impressed with management's responsiveness to feedback from employees. They arranged for the Center For Work And The Family to conduct a series of focus groups for middle managers in order to learn more about the experience of those in the middle. Middle managers are in the critical position of implementing flexible policies; they confront the challenge of responding to employee needs while striving to achieve corporate objectives.

Another program was initially developed in San Francisco for an internationally recognized consulting management company whose employees are challenged by long hours, tight deadlines, and frequent business travel. Their work/family task force requested a seminar for couples to address some of the stress placed on employees' relationships by the demanding nature of their work. Essex and Fisher designed a day-long seminar for employees and their partners.

The result was a Saturday seminar entitled, "Professional Lives/ Personal Lives: Finding A Balance Together." In keeping with their philosophy, Essex and Fisher teach coping strategies, stress management and communication skills, while building in opportunities for participants to offer feedback and suggestions to management. Participants are asked, "What do you wish your family better understood about your workplace?" and also, "What do you wish your workplace better understood about the needs of your family?" After the seminar, the couples' responses are summarized and shared with the work/family task force. Feedback from the workshop participants has been received with interest. Employee recommendations led the Center to develop "Coming And Going: Coping With Business Travel," a seminar for couples on how to better cope when an employee's work involves extensive travel.

"Coping Skills For Managing Work/Life Stress" was designed to help employees who wished to receive work/life balance training, but might not have partners or who did not wish to attend with a partner. This seminar teaches nine important coping skills for maintaining work/life balance. Each participant develops a personalized work/life stress management plan over the course of the day-long training.

Participants in our seminars repeatedly ask for MORE - more time with their partners in the couple seminars; more time to communicate about their needs, goals and priorities; more skills for working together to achieve shared goals. Busy contemporary couples need time to step back from the pressures of daily life to think about their priorities and review their progress. In response to this need, the Center developed "WEEKEND PLANNING RETREATS FOR COUPLES."

For further information about these and other programs, contact Chris Essex at (301) 309-0870 9912 Willow Tree Terrace, Rockville, Maryland 20850 or Leah Fisher at the Center For Work And The Family, 910 Tulare Avenue, Berkeley, California 94707 (925) 258-5400.

©1999 The Center For Work And The Family