Page 50 - Impact of WfH study report _SCOPE-ILO_Neat

working from home has provided comfort but has also often resulted in merging of
boundaries between work & home,
The prevalence of ‘Work from Home’ thereby demanding women to
arrangements, necessitated by this inculcate higher self-discipline,
assertiveness and accountability.
Pandemic, have presented women working
in PSEs with an opportunity to redefine
their roles both at home and at work. However, I do believe, that the WfH
Women now have to make additional arrangements, with the enabling IT
efforts to structure their day and support systems and associated
governing policies will encourage
compartmentalize their roles so that they
more women to focus on their
can continue to be productive and add- careers and prevent mid-career
value both in offices and WfH. Although the attrition, the stage where the
flexibility of working from home has demands of both work and home are
provided comfort but has also often pronounced.
resulted in merging of boundaries between
work & home, thereby demanding women This will enable women to continue
to inculcate higher self-discipline, their growth path on the professional
assertiveness and accountability. front, make significant contributions
to the work-place and bring diversity
Ms. Vartika Shukla, Director-Technical, into the decision making process,
furthering the growth trajectory of
Engineers India Limited
their organisations.”

4.4 Conclusion

The WfH concept is not a new concept; however the COVID declared pandemic
necessitated revisiting the concept to ensure everyone’s job responsibility and
compliance. Moreover, the companies’ felt a sense of obligation wherein it needed to
i. assuage employees that the company shall back them up in the event of any crisis;
ii. Take steps to make work place safe and hassle free iii. Encourage contribution to
the business operations by way of infrastructure, facilities and training, etc. iv. Ensure
adherence to team ethics, and support to other verticals.

41
As noted by a KII respondent, SMART companies require to be pragmatic and need
to show empathy towards the employees while facing a situation like COVID. While
WfH was an arrangement to continue doing the business, it is only one of the many
arrangements that a company can offer. Considering similar situation, a SMART
company is required to: i. Provide safe environment to the employees to work without
apprehensions ii. Isolate critical support systems to continue operations iii. Empower
and decentralize the decision making based on local conditions and iv. Ensure robust

41 Respondent at the time of the interview served as Director (Commercial), Steel Authority
of India Limited. By the time the study was completed, she was the first woman CMD of this
Maharatna Company.
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