From Maintaining Healthy Lifestyles, to Mentoring and Referrals: Booz Allen Provides Comprehensive Support for Staff Concerns
A wide range of forums, programs, and other resources help employees and their families navigate work and personal challenges.
“We all have lives outside of Booz Allen, and some are more stressful than others,” says Parsippany, New Jersey associate Kathy Kull. “The firm provides programs, forums, and other opportunities to assist you in achieving a work-life balance. The help is out there—you just need to go and get it.”
Help for Kull and her family started with the Parents’ Forum, one of many Booz Allen Hamilton resources that provide support, education, and guidance to staff members. She also contacted the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and participates in a mentoring program.
Kull serves as administrative services manager in Parsippany, where she has helped oversee office functions for 13 years. Her nine-year-old son has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). “We were having issues with homework—getting my son to bring it home, sit still, and focus,” Kull says. “It was hard on all of us, and my son would get upset when we got angry and lose any focus he had.”
She attended a brown bag seminar sponsored by the Parents’ Forum about parenting kids with ADHD. “It addressed topics that included homework and structure, and reminded me how important it is to review the basics periodically,” she says
With ADHD, structure is key. But Kull’s husband owns a business and Kull’s job demands flexibility, so the family is very unstructured. “We made some changes, including putting our children in an aftercare program oriented towards their ages,” she explains. Motivators also helped, such as a reward program at her son’s school. “If all the children in his class bring in their homework for a week, they get one day without homework. This is a strong motivator,” she says.
Another popular resource at Booz Allen is the EAP, which Kull used to get assistance for her daughter. The EAP helps employees and their families manage life challenges that they may not be able to handle alone with free, confidential short-term counseling, referrals, and telephone crisis intervention services.
“My daughter was reacting as a typical 7-year-old sibling of a special needs child, but some of her behaviors were unacceptable, such as being rude and dictatorial towards her brother,” says Kull. “EAP put me in contact with a local child therapist. The three of us met for several months and by the end of the summer, her behavior had improved.”
The firm also offers research and referral services, covering topics from finding an apartment or locating pet care, to assistance with legal issues.
Diversity Forums: Opportunities to Connect and Share
Because Booz Allen provides such a variety of resources, associate Natalie Jackson suggests that employees who are seeking information on programs or services start by reaching out to the Core Services Help Desk.
Hundreds of employees, however, have already found Booz Allen’s forums on their own and become regular participants. More than a dozen forums are targeted to specific lifestyles, cultures, and career experiences, such as Asian Americans, current and former Armed Forces personnel, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons. Each forum provides a structured network where staff share knowledge and experiences, and grow personally and professionally.
Forums have four primary goals: Raising cultural awareness, enhancing professional development, providing a venue for community relations and outreach, and networking. Jackson says, “The forums are a great resource because they address diversity in many ways and provide an opportunity for employees to be connected with others with similar situations, likes, and goals.”
“Booz Allen’s approach is that all groups focused on social identities should be grassroots driven—that is, they should be initiated and led by those who are passionate about them,” says associate Randy Carswell, who manages the firm’s forums and affinity groups. “Each of our forums works hard to provide an inclusion environment for all.
“Through forum-sponsored events and initiatives, participants have a unique opportunity to celebrate who they are, feel part of and give back to the community, and make connections with others that provide career-long benefits,” he continues.
When Carswell first started working with the forums, each one operated independently. “But over the last few years, they have collaborated in unprecedented ways, cosponsoring events that bring together people from many backgrounds, have greater impact, and reach beyond the traditional constituency for each forum. This is indicative of our overall commitment to create an inclusive environment at the firm.
“Our employees are encouraged to bring 100% of themselves to work each and every day,” he adds. “The forums offer another way that employees can celebrate and share who they are at Booz Allen.”
Formed in 2002, the Parents’ Forum has about 625 members nationwide. “The firm truly supports parents in areas where they need it most, and is also ahead of its game providing flexible working arrangements when necessary, whether it pertains to our children, aging parents, or a family member in need,” says administrative professional Gillian Holt, who co-leads the Parents’ Forum in McLean.
“All the forums are helpful because everyone needs someone to talk to, someone who has an idea of what you’re talking about,” Kull says.
Learning from Each Other
Mentoring is another option for Booz Allen employees, especially if they need career guidance. Mentors provide insight based on experience to support and encourage other staff members to develop their skills and improve performance so they can excel in their chosen career path or assume future leadership roles.
Associate Sallie Dewar manages the firm’s Mentoring Circles program, which features mentoring in a small group format. Booz Allen also provides one-on-one mentoring opportunities. “Mentoring happens in many different forms, and relationships can be short or long term,” she says. “The main benefit is that the mentors see how they can positively influence another person’s career, and the mentees can learn from the mentors the unwritten rules of working at Booz Allen.”
Kull’s involvement in the mentoring program had other advantages as well. “I’m passionate about mentoring and helped roll out our program in Parsippany,” she says. “My mentor has been invaluable to me, first in how to be a parent at Booz Allen and have a successful career, and also in how to handle a special needs child, because she also has a child with special needs.
“Though her daughter and my son have different situations, she has listened, guided, and been a sounding board to me,” she continues. “We work on my career, but it’s so helpful to have someone who not only knows Booz Allen culture, but also knows what it’s like to be the parent of a special needs child.”
Kull mentors another staff member as well, who—coincidentally—also has a child with a learning disability. “We help each other, discussing homework frustrations, medications, issues with teachers, and more. I recently was able to provide her with information about state standardized testing options for her child that she didn’t know existed.”
But Booz Allen’s resources are not just for kids and parents. “There are plenty of places at the firm to call if you just need someone to talk to, to validate your feelings, or to start you in the right direction towards solving your problem,” says Kull.
story posted November 26, 2007
