I commend the work that Fleximoms is going to bring women, particularly mothers who quit the workplace, back into the fold. I have been attempting to do the same in my own little way, by making work policies at our firm flex friendly.
Since 1998, I run an agro-based enterprise manufacturing organic wheatgrass powder. We have a good sales network that spans India and 40 countries worldwide. It was about four years ago that I work up to the importance of tapping women talent for the organisation. Since then, I have worked on permutations and combinations and evolved my own “work-from-home” jobs for women. We select and train women to work as business development executives for domestic and exports work. We started this module on an experimental basis in 2006 with just one woman.
Today, I have a team of seven women who live in different parts of Pune, tend to home and families, and manage all our work from the convenience of their homes. Work begins when they switch on their laptops. I have to admit that far from being a problem, work happens through the day just as it would in office premises. Productivity is excellent. Review meetings are held once in a month for a few hours at a rental meeting place in flexible office clubs like Regus. We have scaled up our business to sales in 60 countries thanks to the work-from-home module without having any fixed office premises. Now, we have bought an office but I would like to run our company with a combination of office workers and work-from-homers. I find this system a combination of corporate social responsibility, convenience, flexibility, economy and efficiency, especially now when real estate costs have soared and everyone finds the work commute a strain.
I feel the work-from-home system is really very effective cost-wise as well as from the productivity perspective. Moreover, it has created employment opportunity for women who are qualified but need to be at home due to some domestic responsibility/limitations.
I realise that both of us are working for the same cause and would like to wish you all the very best!
This articles was by Hemant Girme for Fleximoms 22 August, 2013
Hemant Girme is the CEO of Girme Wheat Grass, an agro-based enterprise manufacturing organic wheatgrass powder