Working moms possess a set of acquired skills that can come in very handy in the workplace and help businesses prosper. But most working moms and most organizations do not realize their true worth. We know that working moms juggle many roles – they are often the primary caregivers, even if they are working. A 2021 study by the Center for Global Development reveals that women took on three times as much childcare as men during the pandemic. The multitude of tasks they handle equips them to handle professional duties with diligence and quality.
Let’s delve a little deeper and understand why working moms make the ideal professionals. Here’s a list of the special skills they possess that can be valuable to the workplace.
1. Multi-tasking
Working moms are great at multi-tasking. They often begin their day attending to their childcare duties, one of the three responsibilities in the famous 3Cs they are often tied up with – cooking, cleaning, and caring – and attend to professional work right after, taking short breaks from work to take care of their kids’ needs, while making sure they do not miss any deadline at work. Flexibility and autonomy provided by organizations serve as critical enablers for working moms, helping them perform to the fullest of their strengths.
2. People management
People management is a crucial skill that moms learn as they step into maternity (if they have not already acquired it as soon as they got married). Managing different sets of people of different ages and attitudes, a mom learns the skill of relationship building organically at home, particularly if she is part of an Indian joint family.
3. Crisis Management
Working moms face crises frequently. For example, imagine these all-too-predictable scenarios – a loud tantrum from kids right when their mom needs to make an important virtual presentation from home or an urgent call from the child’s school to a mom on a busy workday that her kid is not doing well, or an important meeting at work for the mom on the same day as an important event of the child. The juggling power and conflict management skills of moms play well here, and they find a way out of such crises.
4. Time management
Working moms have a host of responsibilities on their shoulders. So they simply cannot manage all of these duties without planning their time flawlessly and working efficiently. Sharanya*, a mom of two young kids, says, “I always get up early and finish all my urgent work tasks before my kids wake up. And I attend to the house tasks along with my kids. I plan it this way because I get to fully focus on my work, and I find that house tasks are doable with my kids around.”
Apart from these key skills, working moms are adaptable, empathetic, and patient, all of which are critical qualities that a leader and a successful working professional need. But it is important to note that the above points are not a glorification of the extra burden that working moms carry every single day. This is simply an acknowledgment of the exhaustive effort that a working mom puts in to manage her home and work, which certainly is commendable.
Companies have become mindful of the different dimensions of a woman’s life. The 7th edition of the Best Companies for Women in India or the BCWI study conducted by Avtar in association with Seramount shows that flexible working is at 96% for the 100 best companies. The study reveals that the ‘BEST’ companies are keen to support their employees, particularly women, across all facets of life. And here's hoping that more organizations understand the immense potential that moms have and emulate the ‘BEST’ companies by striving to make their workplaces supportive and sensitive to moms.
(*Name changed to protect identity)
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