Workshop gleichstellen.ch

Identify and record existing knowledge about the subject, any known solutions, and possibly any reservations or opposition. These posters can be referred back to in the course of the workshop.

Discussion questions :

• What really stood out for you ? Why ?
• At the beginning of the video, you met Zoran Divitarov, an employee at Samuel Werder AG, as he was picking up his son from the day care. You also met Corinne Vitale, who works at the same company and is also a parent. What strikes you about the differences in Zoran's and Corinne's stories ?
• Zoran Divitarov emphasises parenting leave for both parents : the longer, the better ! How long do you think would be appropriate ?
• What differences do you notice between the stories of Corinne Vitale and Priscilla Tripodi ? How do their two employers handle motherhood issues differently ?
• What does Renata Lisser, head of nursing at the Buechberg Care Centre, do to ensure women come back after maternity leave ? What else could she be doing ?

Discussion questions :
Corinne Vitale, who works at Samuel Werder AG, was unable to return to her former office after her maternity leave, despite having years of experience and lots of customer contacts.

• How could we help CEO Claude Werder make better use of employees returning after maternity leave ?
• What measures would be useful to take before maternity leave ?

Then present results/ideas to the whole.

In the video, you met Corinne Vitale, who works at Samuel Werder AG. Before her pregnancy, she worked full-time in the office. After her maternity leave, she was glad to have the opportunity to continue to work on a part-time basis (40 %) and is now working as an assistant on the production line at a lower wage. If she is asked to step in for the colleague who took her place in the office, she is happy to do so.

Role play a conversation between her and CEO Claude Werder, also seen in the video and himself the father of four children, in these three variants :
Outcome 1 : Mr Werder is open to Ms Vitale's returning to the office to work part-time ;
Outcome 2 : The boss points out the difficulties this would cause and suggests a compromise ;
Outcome 3 : Mr Werder does not give in to Ms Vitale's wishes and offers her the job on the production line with a lower salary.

Then discuss in the whole group how the two roles felt in each of the variants and which variant would be most likely to occur in the real world.

Only very socially committed companies will grant parenting leave that goes beyond the statutory minimum. One way to promote work-life balance beyond company-based measures would be a national parental leave system. Have a panel discussion where students play the following roles :

• Employer representatives : categorically against a parental leave
• Representatives of a fathers' organisation : in favour of parental leave
• Equality expert : in favour of measures in favour of work/life balance for families that would include as many companies as possible

Then discuss in the whole group how the two roles felt in each of the variants.

Step 1 :
Word associations : Participants each have 30 sec. to write down on individual post-it notes as many words as possible that they associate with a phrase suggested by the facilitator (random words such as spring, solidarity, or having to do with the focus of the workshop). Quantity over quality here ! The post-its are collected after each round and then hung on an "inspiration board" poster.

Step 2 :
The actual tour of the three posts starts here. Participants have 5 minutes at each post and then move on until they have visited them all. The goal is to develop as many new and creative measures for improving work/life balance as possible.
Inspiration board : The post-it notes generated in step 1 can be rearranged or added to.
Random input : On the basis of random objects presented to them, participants write or draw associations related to the focus of the workshop.
Idea map : This is a brainstorming session in which the idea is passed around a circle, with each new participant providing new concepts, references and links.

Step 3 :
Inspired by the material around the room and the elements of the poster, participants each draft 3-4 ideas on how to achieve a better work/life balance for families or develop solutions to a previously identified specific problem. This is done in pairs arranged by the facilitators. Duration : 20 minutes.

Step 4 :
The pairs present their results in brief. Then the participants are given 5 glue dots each with which they can individually evaluate the ideas ; all of their points can be awarded to a single idea or split among the ideas as they wish.

Step 5 :
The pairs then decide on 2-3 of the most popular ideas and use them to develop concrete solutions or measures. Duration : 20 minutes.