April 29, 2010
A serious White House meeting on workplace issues — and a pretty cool afternoon, too
It was a serious and substantive meeting with White House staff over workplace flexibility issues that Randi Shapiro, UW Work Life director, got to attend on March 31.
But it was also — let’s face it — a pretty darn cool afternoon, getting to see and hear President Barack Obama and to meet the charismatic first lady, Michelle Obama.
The occasion was the White House Workplace Flexibility Forum, an afternoon-long meeting on providing such workplace options for all Americans. It was hosted by the President and Michelle Obama in the Eisenhower Executive Office Branch, and moderated by senior staff.
Gathered were about 100 leaders in finance, manufacturing, small businesses, labor, academia and more — “a broad cross-section of leaders throughout the country who have implemented policies and programs that have made a difference,” Shapiro said. The meeting covered several issues regarding workplace flexibility, including the increase of women in the U.S. workforce, the prevalence of families where all adults work, increasing elder care responsibilities and “the ongoing struggle to piece busy lives together,” she said.
One of the underlying themes, Shapiro said, was that “no longer do we have to make the business case for flexibility — it’s well documented that it actually saves employers money.” She said the forum took up the issue in all its forms, from sick and vacation leave policies to staff development and education and flexible work schedules, “all of the things under the umbrella” of workplace flexibility.
Shapiro said she was honored to be invited and to represent the UW at the meeting. She guessed her invitation may have come because of a chapter she wrote for the 2009 book, Establishing the Family-Friendly Campus, edited by Jaime Lester and Margaret Sallee. It was “quite significant” that the UW was included, she said.
There wasn’t much advance notice of the meeting. Shapiro got an e-mail from Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, on March 23, just a week before the meeting. Shapiro laughed when saying she had a minute of disbelief before researching the meeting and finding it was all for real.
Michelle Obama spoke sincerely about her own experiences. “It’s true in our current life we are incredibly blessed, with amazing resources here at the White House I could never have imagined.” She got a laugh when she added, “Number one is having grandmother living upstairs. We all need one of those —so can you figure that out?” (Watch her remarks online here.)
The first lady went on to say, “For many years before coming to Washington I was a working mother, doing my best to juggle the demands of a job with the needs of my family, with a husband who has crazy ideas.” Another laugh. “And as I’ve said before, I consider myself as many of us in this room do, a 120-percenter. Which means if I’m not doing something at 120 percent I feel like I’m failing, and I know you all can relate to that.”
Shapiro spoke briefly to the forum about two issues: first, that giving workers daily flexibility over their own schedules is vitally important, and second, that managers and supervisors need training in such matters, too. “You can have fantastic work life programs and services, but if the manager is standing in the way it’s just not going to happen,” she said. (Watch part of the meeting online here. Shapiro speaks at about the 22:34 mark.)
Shapiro said the Obamas made every effort to make their guests at home. “Really, it did feel like they were just normal people. Incredibly bright, articulate and powerful people but real people. They were cracking jokes and putting people at ease. It was just wonderful.”
Shapiro is delighted the Obama White House is prioritizing workplace flexibility, and she feels the UW has a strong record on the issue, with generous leave policies, flexible working hours for many and, most recently, 11 lactation stations across the campus for working mothers.
But she said she thought from time to time as she sat in the meeting, “This is even beyond a dream — it’s like an out-of-body experience.”
