05 June,2011 07:03 AM IST | | Dhamini Ratnam
Even as an ASSOCHAM survey reveals that 82 per cent of Indian working women want to work flexi-hours, a growing number of employers are making flexible working a norm for women with personal responsibilities. Meanwhile an MBA course for homemakers in their 40s will soon roll out, and a Delhi-based company is set to hold workshops to make companies 'work-flex ready'
Till January 2011, 34 year-old Teja Lele Desai was a project manager at Mindworks, a New Delhi-based editorial outsourcing start up. Desai managed a team of 10 copy editors and designers in New Delhi and collaborated with an editorial team in Miami, USA. She worked six days a week for a whole year -- managing gruelling deadlines and crunch-time disasters -- out of her Mumbai home.
Co-founders of Fleximoms Anita Vasudeva and Sairee Chahal with CEO
of the company, Chitra Iyer, will roll out workshops in Mumbai, Bengaluru
and Chennai to train women to work flexi-hours. They already work
with 20 organisations to make them "work flex ready". Pic/ Subhash Barolia
Chief Operating Officer of Mindworks Nitin Srivastava was more than willing to "figure things out" when Desai, who was based in New Delhi, relocated to Mumbai in 2009 after marriage. He didn't want to lose a good employee. They hit upon a three-city arrangement, which to their amazement, worked rather well.
Srivastava joins a small but growing number of employers -- in sectors as wide-ranging as client services, banking and publishing -- who are making 'flexi-working' possible for women employees, who often need to relocate after marriage, or take a break from their jobs in their late 20s or early 30s after giving birth.
Unlike freelancers and part-time workers, flexible workers remain on the pay roll of the company, but work out of home or slash the number of hours spent in office or simply change their work schedule. They do so in order to manage their personal commitments as effectively as their professional ones.
New Delhi-based organisation Fleximoms has worked with 20 companies across the country in the last year to make them 'work flex ready' -- sensitising managers to set goals and create structures for employees who don't come in regularly. The job board on their website advertises flexi-work opportunities in over 150 organisations.
Fleximoms are also in the process of collaborating with companies to create what they call an "eco-system of flexi-work", which includes everyone from telecommunication giants that provide equipment for remote working such as video conference systems, to day care centres and cr ches.
"We recognise that flexi-working is the need of the hour," says co-founder Anita Vasudeva. "At the same time, if all the stakeholders work together, they can make 'flexi-working' more popular. At the end of the day, they stand to gain as much as the woman professional who benefits from their support."
As companies turn to flexi-hours for women employees, many are also beginning to see mothers keen to rejoin work as an untapped talent pool. A December 2009 global survey conducted by Regus, a workplace solutions firm, found that 64 per cent of the Indian companies participating in the survey were keen to tap into the "talent pool of returning mothers."
Eight months ago, Fleximoms began to hold workshops in New Delhi to train women professionals on working flexibly. Several professionals on a break attended the workshops, says Vasudeva. Last month, they opened their Mumbai chapter, and intend to hold training sessions in Bengaluru and Chennai by the year-end.
I am 40, and want to work again
Meanwhile, in Gurgaon, a management institute plans to roll out an executive MBA course this year to target women in their 40s who want to work again. They argue that employers should tap into this population of potential employees, since at their age, not only are these women more mature managers, but also more stable workers and less likely to switch jobs.
"We are losing fantastic potential by not using the experience of homemakers, who have managed family budgets and teenage children that are no less troublesome than the workforce in offices, and are skilled in delegation and prioritisation," says Shyam Vishwanathan, executive director of Executive Programmes for The School of Inspired Leadership that will roll out the Career Reconnect for Women programme in November 2011.
"When we bring this up with organisations they agree that this is a brilliant idea whose time has come," adds Vishwanathan.
Srivastava agrees. "I think women are better managers, especially when it comes to multi-tasking. It made sense for our organisation to hire women managers for this reason."
Social conditioning demands women play multiple roles, and while every one from big corporations to small and medium-sized businesses may have woken up to the management skills that such roles often imply, professionals warn the sword is double-edged.
Teesha Kochhar has been working flexi-hours as a principal consultant with Gurgaon-based company Luxury Hues since January 2010. The 36 year-old quit her earlier job in a bank after she gave birth to her daughter in 2008. Her current employer, says Kochhar, allows her to work mostly from home and excuses her from team meetings -- he sends her the minutes of the meeting instead, so she's kept in the loop.
Kochhar visits office twice a week from 2 pm to 6.30 pm, a time reserved for client meetings and one-on-one sessions with her employer. And while this may seem the 'perfect' work life,u00a0 there's a lot that doesn't meet the eye, Kochhar points out.
"I have had to make it clear to friends that even though I'm at home, I'm still working, so they can't just drop in for tea," says Kochhar, who was working for 11 years before she switched to a 'flexi' model.
Desai, who left Mindworks earlier this year since she didn't want to do the graveyard shift anymore, agrees.
"One needs to be very tough as far as deadlines, discipline and focus go, and one can't do that if your immediate family doesn't give flexi-work the same importance as regular office work."
But women professionals working flexi hours agree the benefits outweigh the concerns.
Nupur Kapoor, a 32 year-old HR manager who began working flexi hours in Standard Chartered Bank after giving birth to twins in 2009, says company support makes all the difference.
Standard Chartered Bank rolled out a flexi-working option for its employees in 2009, after holding 20 group discussions with 350 women employees across the country.
"After I had kids, I realised the need for a work-life balance. Flexibility helps me be more productive and contribute more to my job and team, since I'm not perennially stressed," says Kapoor.
The bank offers a day care centre for its employees, and six months of maternity leave, instead of the standard three.
"As a professional, I realise that six months is a long time to stay away, but my immediate supervisor helped me stay connected with changes," adds Kapoor, who returned to work recently, but clocks in her nine hours in such a way that she can take her children to the park or a doctor's visit whenever she needs to.
Regional Head, Human Resources, India and South Asia for Standard Chartered bank, Madhavi Lall says, "This option is available to all employees, including fathers and unmarried employees, who have to take care of old parents. We offer it on a case-to-case basis. We started flexi hours since our focus is on retaining talent."
Poll says it all
82% Indian women prefer flexi-hours
A survey conducted by Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) called 'Flexi HR policies make working attractive for women' has found that 82 per cent women preferred flexible working hours in order to take care of their children and many of them preferred working from home.
The survey was conducted among 4,000 people including 2,500 women and 1,500 men in major Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru, Chennai and Lucknow.
Mothers with children younger than four do not prefer working full time, the survey said and even found that more Indian companies are keen on providing a good working atmosphere for women with flexible timings and work from home option.
56 per cent said that flexible working arrangements should be made available to all if it increases productivity and work-life balance, while 71 per cent of women said that HR policies are becoming friendlier in Indian companies.
Freelancers
Freelancers offer their services to employers without a long-term commitment and can work on several companies at the same time. They are not on the pay roll of any single company and are therefore not required to come into office or follow office regulations of any company they work for.
Flexible workers
Remain on the pay roll of the company, but work out of home or slash the number of hours spent in office or simply change their work schedule. They do so in order to manage their personal commitments as effectively as their professional ones
Getting back to work isn't easy
A McKinsey survey found that more than 70 per cent women professionals take careers breaks or opt out of work. Barely 40 per cent return. Of these:
>> 29 per cent lack job satisfaction
>> 45 per cent feel they need more time for family
>> All feel out of touch, unskilled, and apprehensive
