Helping People and Organisations to Achieve the Balancing Act

Facilitators
Almuth McDowall and Lynne Millward Purvis

Who should attend
This workshop is a must for every practitioner interested in how to reconcile the demands of work and life outside work. The workshop does not require prior knowledge of theory or frameworks in this area, and will be fast paced to stimulate learning even with very
experienced practitioners.

Workshop overview
This workshop is aimed at practitioners across all fields of Occupational/Organizational Psychology and HR, to encourage a holistic perspective on work/life management throughout the employee lifecycle. The content and format will appeal to experienced and inexperienced practitioners alike. Work/life management is crucial, as not only do organisations have a moral duty to facilitate working families given recent changes in legislation, there is also considerable productivity and retention benefit to be gained from holistic practice. In addition, effective work/life management is a strong selling point for organisations in an economic climate where salary increases and bonus packages might not be viable. Also, not only workers with family look for employers who offer sound work/life balance strategies but also young ‘Generation Y-ers’ for whom the opportunity to balance work with outside interests is a key decision factor when applying for jobs.

Whilst the field of work/life balance has mushroomed in terms of press coverage as well as popular and academic articles on the topic, few researchers have tested interventions or formulated evidence-based implications for practice. We will fill this knowledge gap by translating current thinking into tangible and pragmatic tools for practice. Our approach is rooted in the principles of active learning, where practitioners gain knowledge through experience through the use of metaphors, images, reflective tools and interactive questioning and debate.

The day will start with a knowledge quiz on the current status quo in work/life balance research and practice to stimulate debate and discussion. This will lead into exercises to separate out the key concepts underpinning the workshop (e.g. how does facilitation differ from enrichment?) and develop people’s understanding of their own conceptions and assumptions. The afternoon will start with a design workshop to enable participants to develop simple reflective assessment tools. We will then take participants through case studies at the organisational, team and individual level in groups. We will close the day with coaching exercises in triads to help embed the transfer of newly gained knowledge into future practice and enable attendees to manage their own working lives effectively.

Aims of the workshop
The aims of the workshop are to:

• To promote the use of a systemic and ‘holistic’ approach to work-life integration for the benefit of individuals, teams and organisations.
• To facilitate understanding how a strength-based approach to work-life integration as opposed to a deficit or conflict approach will impact on outcomes at different levels, such as enhanced identity and satisfaction, engagement and retention and organisational productivity.
• To aid understanding of the key concepts of work/life enrichment, integration and facilitation based on current research evidence.
• To enable participants to build their consulting toolkit by fostering skill in engaging individuals and organisations to reframe their work-life integration policies and practices in accordance with a strengths-based approach.
• To build a knowledge network among interested professionals who wish to use an evidence based approach to their practices in the work-life integration domain.

Projected outcomes and benefits of attending
This workshop will familiarise attendees with latest thinking on work/life management that is rooted in psychological research. This provides the foundation for the development and use of reflective techniques such as metaphors, images and reflective assessment tools that can be applied in this and other contexts. As part of this, we will equip attendees with tools and techniques to manage working lives in an optimal and strengths-based manner, starting with their own. Successful work/life management is now crucial to many areas of organisational practice, such as selection and assessment, retention and engagement practice and
interventions aimed at enhancing well being and individual functioning. Practitioners will leave with a clear understanding of how an integrated approach can benefit each of these.

Psychological theory underpinning the workshop
Our approach is rooted in theories pertaining to work-family enrichment, facilitation, integration, conservation of resources, identity, as well as the use of critical reflection (Gray, 2007). We will circulate case studies from our own practice as well as an academic paper
as pre-coursework, and encourage delegates to bring an issue from their own working lives to the day to work on in during the afternoon. Our approach will create a safe and reflective environment to ensure that the day is dynamic and interactive and maximises subsequent
transfer of learning.

Pre/post work required
There will be no work required prior to the workshop, however, we will circulate a reading list prior to the workshop which participants can read at their own leisure.

Date and venue
9 July 2009, 09.30 - 17.00.
The British Psychological Society, 30 Tabernacle Street, London, EC2A 4UE.

Booking A Place
To book a place at the workshop please download a registration form WS200907.doc or visit the Learning A Living website to book online. www.bps.org.uk/learningaliving2009

For further information please contact Lianne Bruce and Reshma Patel on 0116 252 9555 or email learningaliving@bps.org.uk

Places are limited so please book early!