Nancy Affolter has been involved with the planning, development, and implementation of Employee Assistance Program since 1981 and is responsible for the EAP provided to 30 companies in central Illinois and their National Affiliates. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Development from Northeastern Illinois University and has had extensive consultation and training experience, providing training to more than 200 Fortune 500 corporations. She is a certified stress management consultant through the Institute of Personality and Ability Testing and a certified Employee Assistance Professional. Nancy also serves as senior consultant and trainer for the Leadership Development Center.

What is BHA? What kind of services do you provide?

BHA is a consulting firm who’s primary focus is on helping individuals and businesses effectively address “human factor” issues.

We help businesses address these human factor issues through the provision of employee assistance and managed behavioral healthcare programs, and through organizational consultation and training.

We currently provide EAP and managed behavioral healthcare services to 35 central Illinois companies and to their satellite locations nationwide. We’ve formed a separate managed behavioral healthcare company, Advantage Behavioral Health, which has allowed us to expand the scope of our services to include “carve out” managed behavioral healthcare programs for HMO’S, employers and others.

ABH is a limited liability company created through the partnership of Fayette Companies and Chestnut Health Services in Bloomington.

Our training and consultation division provides services locally, nationally and internationally, and in 1194 established BHA Poland in order to better serve multinational corporations located in Eastern Europe.

Our training and consultation services cover such topics as organizational culture, change integration, management and leadership development, and teamwork, all with a focus on helping businesses increase their success by focusing on their great resource, their people.

BHA addresses human factor issues for individuals through the provision of professional counseling services and educational programs. BHA is fortunate to have a highly skilled and experienced team of counseling professionals with expertise in a wide range of areas.

Our counseling team offers individual, group, and family counseling for a variety of problems including career counseling and divorce mediation. We also offer a monthly calendar of educational events-life skills education-on topics ranging from parenting teenagers to managing stress.

What are the most frequent reasons people give for coming to BHA? How have the problems people need help with changed over the last ten years or so?

Within our counseling programs the types of problems have remained relatively constant over the last ten years. The most common problem has always had to do with relationships-family, couple, or co-worker. People reach a point where the pain and conflict in a relationship has become more than they can bear. They know they can’t solve the problems alone, and most often don’t know where to begin. Other common problems include depression, anxiety, and stress.

What is your role as VP of BHA?

I believe my most important role is to provide leadership and direction for BHA, to seek out new business opportunities, and to always be on the lookout for new and better ways we can add value to the services we provide to our clients.

From a direct service standpoint, my focus is in our training and consultation division, something that, for the last seven months has kept me out of the office more than half time. This is something I couldn’t possibly do were it not for the excellent team I’, able to leave behind, or for the day to day management of BHA’s Manager of Behavioral Health, Ginny Kich.

When and how did you become interested in this type of work?

I’ve always been drawn to work that offered a variety of experience and new challenges. As a child and young adult I was more sure of what I didn’t want to do…the traditional opportunities offered to young women of my generation-a teacher, a nurse, or a secretary-than what it was I wanted to do. That led me to try a number of career possibilities over the years.

I’ve been a small business owner, worked in marketing and public relations, and had the opportunity to be involved in the start up of a number of new programs and services at the Human Service Center before we established BHA in 1989. I found myself more and more interested in management\ and in organizational dynamics, and returned to school to complete my degree in organizational development from Northeastern Illinois University.

In addition, I have ongoing training in leadership and development, employee assistance programs and in the use and interpretation of a variety of instruments used in consultation and training.

Are you a native Peoria? Were our parents or other family members in the mental health field?

Actually, I’m a Pekin native and have always lived in this area. This may be evidence of either stability or lack of imagination. No one in my family was employed in the mental health field.

In 1994, BHA established BHA Poland sp.zo.o. What do the abbreviations in the Polish company stand for?

I’m not sure what the Sp.zo.o. stands for, but it’s the Polish equivalent of “Inc.”

How were you involved in the establishment of BHA Poland? Why was it started and why was Poland selected? Was this BHA’s first foreign office? Have there been others since?

BHA was invited to come to Poland by Bob Burgess who was, at that time, the partner in charge of Price Waterhouse Poland. Bob had become aware of our work when he headed up the Price Waterhouse Office in Peoria. He saw a tremendous need for the type of work done by our consultation and training division and asked Jack Gilligan if he would be interested in exploring these business opportunities.

Jack spent some time in Warsaw and the surrounding area and shared Bob’s assessment of the business potential. It was decided that it would be best to establish a Polish division of BHA to demonstrate our commitment to doing business in Poland.

Poland was and still is in a state of rapid growth, and many companies were there to turn a quick buck…or zloty (Polish currency) and move on. We wanted to differentiate ourselves from this group. I began work as a consultant for Price Waterhouse Poland shortly thereafter.

The PW Poland practice had grown from 10 employees to more than 300 in less than three years. It’s not difficult to imagine the challenges this rapid growth created.

My first project was the development of an organizational audit which would provide a baseline of understanding of the current situation, and provide guidelines for future human resource strategies. I’m surprised at the long-term use this report has had.

Last year I received a request from London for an additional report, and two months ago in Moscow I met a man in charge of expatriate deployment who said he’d been following me all over Eastern Europe, and had used everything in my report except for the training outlines.

At this time Poland is our only foreign office.

BHA Poland has a contract with Price Waterhouse Russia that involves a project called “How we work together.” Explain the goals of this project and how it works. How many people are involved and in what cities? Are the Price Waterhouse people American or Russia?

Actually, the Russian contract with Price Waterhouse Russia is through BHA, Inc.-our U.S. Corporation. We’re currently working only with one corporation in Russia, PW, and with Coopers and Lybrand as we assist in the merger. The new name for the PW/C&L firm has not yet been officially announced. PW has taken care of all the necessary requi-rements – multi-entry visas, etc.—needed to do business in Russia.

The How We Work Together process was developed with the long term goals of:

1. Insuring PW Russia will remain the provider of first choice throughout Russia.

2. That PW Russia will be the most desirable organization in which to work, learn and grow professionally.

We believe that these long term goals will be achieved through three short term objectives:

1. To solidify and maintain habits of respect, appreciation and recognition.

2. To enhance and strengthen working relationships.

3. To provide a clear sense of unity and purpose for all PW Russia people.

The process began in October of 1997 with the training of more than 100 people from all levels and locations throughout PW Russia.

These individuals provided us with the initial input around three questions. “What characteristics would describe for you the ideal environment for how you work together in PW Russia?” “What images would you like for the community to have of PW Russia?” and “What obstacles do you believe stand in the way of achieving this ideal?”

These people then solicited this same information form their peers, and added the replies to a database that could be accessed throughout most of Russia. In all more than 450 people provided input which resulted in the creation of PW Russia’s Guiding Principles of How We Work Together.

This unifying document now provides guidance for a variety of long and short-term action steps designed to make these principles a reality throughout all of PW Russia.

The process is expected to extend over a two year period, and includes PW offices in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Togliatti, and Vladivostok – nine time zones from Moscow on the far eastern coast.

PW also has a large number of staff working at remote locations on-site with large clients throughout Russia, including Siberia. In all, there are currently 1,300 staff members, representing 26 nationalities. The addition of Coopers and Lybrand will bring the total close to 2,000. Eighty percent of the PW staff are Russian.

Did you have work experience overseas before this project?

My work in Poland began in 1994 and was my first overseas work experience. My previous language skills were limited to high school Spanish—not my best subject. Unfortunately, I also lack the ear for picking up language easily.

I’m committed however, to at least know appropriate greetings and the polite comments–please, thank you, excuse me—before entering any country for the first time. I work with language tapes between visits and am learning a little bit at a time. I always feel that my language skills go backward when I’m in Russia as everyone in Moscow seems to speak English. This is not the case outside of Moscow.

What are the challenges in establishing a business in a foreign country, and in Poland in particular?

Fortunately, Price Waterhouse assisted us with the initial organizational issues in Poland, and Fayette companies staff handled most of the paperwork, in other words I was spared those hassles. Our operations are also simplified since we don’t require a permanent office. Our client’s offices become our base of operations when we are working there.

The greatest challenges, I believe, are those facing any expatriate on a foreign assignment. I think success begins with the realization that, no matter how well prepared you are, you will never be able to use all of the skills you’ve drawn on so effectively in your home country.

Some things just don’t translate in language or culture. For me, as a consultant and trainer, it means I’m unable to use some of my favorite analogies, examples, or humor, it just doesn’t work as well in that environment.

One American described this feeling as “having to work with half the skills I’d learned to count on—like having one arm tied behind my back.”

Another important realization is that, despite popular opinion, it’s still a big world after all. Things simply take more time. Flights are delayed or canceled, phone lines go down, internet connections can take forever, express mail can move at a snails pace, things never go exactly as planned, and major time zone changes take their toll on mind and body.

I’ve come to believe that success in a foreign assignment requires a great deal of flexibility, a strong tolerance for ambiguity, the ability to think on your feet, and perhaps above all else, a good sense of humor—the ability to laugh at yourself.

What are some of the gender-related issues women face in Poland? How do they differ from those issues women face in Peoria?

Since we don’t offer counseling services in Poland or Russia, I can only speak to the business and career related issues women have mentioned. In some ways, I believe women in Eastern Europe are achieving greater success more rapidly than their western counterparts. To a large extent this is due to the urgent need for talent in a rapidly expanding the urgent need for talent in a rapidly expanding market, and talent has no gender or racial bias.

The first Russian PW partner was a woman, and I am sure other will follow soon. A common problem shared by U.S., Polish, and Russian women is the difficulty they find in achieving balance between their work and personal lives, between career and family. We constantly hear these concerns in the US, and here are some initiatives—on site day care, flex time, or the opportunity to work part time are being tried.

In Eastern Europe no such initiatives exist. Young women in Russia who are employed by multinational companies are also often supporting additional family members whose wages were frozen at pre-inflation levels. One young woman supported her parents. Her mother is a physician, and her father is a professor at a university. Between the two of them they brought home appr-oximately $400 per month.

What other projects are ahead for you at BHA?

Within our behavioral health services, we are looking forward to expanding our Managed Behavioral Healthcare through ABH. We believe we possess both the expertise and the experience to provide cost effective behavioral healthcare in a manner that doesn’t compromise either quality of service or responsiveness to our clients.

In the short term, our work in Russia has expanded to include work with PW’s upcoming merger with Coopers and Lybrand. I’m excited to have the opportunity to address those human factor issues that often determine the success or failure of a merger, and would like to see us do more work in the area of mergers and acquisitions in the future.

I would also like to expand our consultation and training services in the U.S., as well as internationally. I would like to be able to do all of this while maintaining the commitment I have to our local clients, and finding my own balance between home and personal life.

What have been some of the major developments—good and bad—you’ve seen in the mental health field since you first became involved in it.

On the negative side we have too often seen managed behavioral healthcare focus solely on cost containment at the expense of quality care. In some cases, the oversight system designed to eliminate excess has done little more than divert dollars for client care to cover administration services.

We have seen a growing number of people who “fall through the cracks” in the system. They are often employed, but lack adequate insurance for mental health concerns. They either earn too much, or their concerns are not considered serious enough to qualify for assistance. These individuals have few options open to them.

On the positive side challenges to the mental health status-quo have resulted in new and innovative approaches to dealing with human problems. Managed care programs have, in many cases, improved quality of care. Advances in medication and psychotherapy have enabled many individuals to lead satisfying and productive lives that were not possible ten years ago.

A colleague once told me that trying to sort out all life’s problems and issues within one’s head, without help, was much like trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together in the box.

Tell us about some of the seminars you’ve given at BHA.

BHA seminars encompass the wide variety of services that we address. My personal interests are in the areas of leadership and team development. These are provided through BHA and through our relationship with the Leadership Development Center.

Fayette Companies was an original sponsor of LDC, and I’ve worked with them as a trainer and facilitator since 1986. A number of BHA’s professional staff serve as feedback consultants for LDC—for their management training programs, as well as for the Center For Creative Leadership’s Foundations of Leadership program.

Training and development is an integral part of all we do at BHA.

What favorite community activities are you involved with? What do you like to do when you’re not working?

One regret I have is that I’m not, at this time, able to give the time I would like to community activities. I, too, strive to achieve some balance in my life. In my off time I want to be able to share in my adult children’s lives, spend time getting to know my grandchildren.

I also enjoy running, mountain climbing, and gardening. I’d like to be able to donate my time to community board activities, but since my present schedule would not allow for consistent attendance and involvement I limit myself to offering my services to community groups who are establishing new initiatives.

Some of these include The United Way Teen Pregnancy Task Force, The Woman’s Fund, Peoria City Beautiful, and the United Way Union Counselor Program.

What one message would you like to share with today’s professional woman?

Get to know yourself. It’s very easy in today’s fast paced business and professional environment to forget, or not take the time to know, what’s right for you. It’s also very easy to be persuaded that the model for success is what you see exhibited by male leadership—but it may not be right for you. Take the time to actively pursue feedback on your strengths and weaknesses, develop a course that’s right for you, and have fun along the way.

Never stop learning, growing, or embracing new challenges. A very good friend of mine, Lin Brimeyer—who I lost last year to breast cancer—expressed this best when she would respond to each new experience with the comment “Oh, how exciting!” I would invite every woman who reads this to embrace life in just that manner…Oh How exciting! TPW