The Flexi Career Debate

Josephine and Sushma bump into each other at the local supermarket.

Josephine Samuel – Hi Sushma, it’s been a long time…. You know I had a son recently? He is 8 months old and really a handful. I dropped in here leaving him at my mom’s place…I just needed a break! How are things with you?

Sushma Raj – Hey congrats on your baby, Josephine! I got your email about the birth of your baby. In fact, I do miss seeing you at the Gym, you know…. These days, I work out in the afternoons, after coming home from office.

Josephine – From the office?? But I thought, when we met last time, you told me that you had taken a break since you wanted to take care of your daughter. I quit my job just before I had my son – you know how it is, I don’t want to leave my small child in a crèche and I don’t have any support system at home…

Sushma Raj – You are right. Without a support system, it is difficult to continue working after a baby…Even I had taken a break - but I am back to work with a change.

Josephine – Change? What’s that?

Sushma – Now I have found a way to manage my daughter and my career without compromising on either

Josephine – Is it…how do you do it?

Sushma – I have chosen a flexi career option where I work for about 5 hours a day.

Josephine – I too have heard about flexi careers, but honestly, Sushma, somehow I am not too kicked about it. Tell me….can a serious career ever be a flexi career? I believe that if someone is serious about their job, they need to give it all they have. In today’s highly competitive environment, where is the place for flexi careers? Today we find people slogging more than 10 hours and still not able to walk out of office without pending work.

Sushma – It’s a conscious choice that one makes for ensuring work-life balance, Josephine. See, my view is like this – we spend about 40 years in a career. In case we wish to spend about one-fourth of it placing our home or our children as priority, I don’t see it as a big loss. Plus, if you work flexi, you are never really out of the picture.

Josephine – But, Sushma, working for less hours and less pay – is it truly a satisfying thing?

Sushma - Josephine, Flexi careers are not just about working for less or for convenient timings. There is more to it. Today it is in the radar of many forward looking organizations to retain talent, source talent and most important of all, for their Diversity and Inclusion Practice.

Josephine – What is Diversity and Inclusion?

Sushma - Diversity is ensuring that there are different types of people working in an organization - like colour diversity - blacks, whites, etc or racial diversity - Chinese, Afro-Americans, Indians, etc or even Gender diversity to maintain a balanced Male : Female employee ratio.Inclusion means including those types of people whom we typically do not have in a standard workforce - like Non-graduates, physically challenged persons, old people, women seeking part-time due to family commitments.

Josephine: Don’t you think it is just for a CSR initiative done for PR sake? How serious are the companies about such practices?

Sushma: Organizations which are in high growth industries see that talent is found in very different places….besides, they feel it is their moral responsibility to follow an inclusive practice rather than discriminative practice. This ensures that talent or skill is the sole selection criteria. As far as women are concerned, organizations do not want to lose them due to their family commitment. Wherever possible, women employees are given the option of working part time, flexi time and from home during such periods when they are forced to take a break. You know, this helps in tackling the acute talent shortage and maintain a balanced workforce.

Josephine – That’s really good to hear Sushma! And I can see that you surely are one very strong advocate for Diversity and Inclusion!! But I still have my doubts…. What about the pay and job responsibility? Don’t you think there will be some amount of discrimination when compared to a full time employee?

Sushma – Your doubt is a very valid one. Some companies which implemented flexi careers did initially find that they tended to treat full-timers and part-timers differently. They then found that you had to have very clear guidelines on how Flexi Careers are treated. For this it is best to go to an accredited D&I consultant – one who has implemented Diversity and Inclusion practices in the workforce. So, today, companies are approaching this more from a business case angle, rather then merely a feel-good thing.

Josephine – Meaning, it makes business sense for a company to employ different types of people – even people who have special requirements…such as women who can only work part-time, is it?

Sushma – Yes! You are right. A policy of Diversity appreciates the differences in people and Inclusion is a proactive tool which actively employs different types of people. A strong D&I practice is based on the kinds of assignments which are available and how one can look for the most ideal person to manage it, without keeping stereotypes in mind. So, part-time women employees are now very much in demand. The organization looks mainly for commitment levels, ability to complete the job and a ‘flexi’ mindset.

Josephine – What are the chances of getting back to a full time career?

Sushma – One of the reasons for such a practice is to support the women during their break is to make it easier for them to move on to a full time career.

Josephine – Thanks Sushma. You have given me a fair idea on what a flexi career. I would definitely like to try it out myself