Flexibility still means commitment

19Jun08

Aruna’s article in todays Mint Careers highlights how through out India “employers seek out stay-at-home moms” She notes that flexibility is a key attracting force for the many women who are torn between home and earning a livelihood. But even in flexibility commitment is key whether it is fulltime, part time or project based work.

If your child needs caring for or a family member needs to be taken to the hospital understandably you, the mother/ wife / bahu, will drop your work commitment do to so. But slowly that line blurs. Do you put your commitment on the backburner when relatives are visiting or when your mother-in-law wants to go shopping with you? Where does that leave your employer? I saw this happen so much as an employer that eventually I toyed with the idea of not hiring women.

Then I noticed those few women who had got it right. These women only took on important but not urgent projects, ones where they were sure they could deliver in terms of quality, cost and time commitment. They built impressively organized work plans that included buffers for their family needs. They were also very clear about sifting through their priorities on the home front, the things they could do and the things they could not. These women understand even with flexibility you still have to ensure commitment!

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