Axis Bank has reserved 15 vacant positions in its human resources department for ‘homemakers’. If this hiring programme — titled ‘HouseWorkIsWork’ — is out of the ordinary, what led to it is even more unusual.
A homemaker, Pallavi Sharma sent in a CV that spelt out how her responsibilities in the Sharma household — which is her own — qualified her for the role she had applied for.
Rajkamal Vempati, president and head — HR, Axis Bank says Pallavi’s CV set them thinking, and encouraged them to be open to hiring homemakers coming right out of a career break, or without prior experience, provided they have the requisite qualifications and job-oriented skills.
This hiring exercise is being driven by Pallavi, now an Axis Bank employee. It is inclusive, having been extended to not just women, but also men, and those with other gender identities. And also those with different sexual orientations.
“We recognise that homemakers could be of all genders. Though majorly, it is women who are seen in the role of a homemaker: a thing we hope will change with more and more women taking the plunge in corporate skies,” she says.
“We have received hundreds of CVs from women, men and LGBTQIA+ homemakers,” reveals Rajkamal and notes that the hiring team would make the effort to connect and evaluate each of them.
The minimum qualification is graduation and work experience can range from 0 to 15 years.
Breaking stereotypes
Rajkamal calls for shift in thinking that values skills honed at home — budgeting, housekeeping, learning and development (of their children) — as applicable to the workplace. Rajkamal says homemakers are the pillars of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the fundamental unit of a family.
Cloud talent pool
Shubhashree Naldurg, Head, Interweave Institute of Inclusion, notes that organisations must try to leverage the additional skillsets that homemakers bring to the table.
Going on a break to take care of the family is often seen as a setback.
“Organisations must recognise that a career break gives the woman an opportunity to acquire a new set of skills — an ability to juggle different priorities and manage time better; and also build resilience and cultivate patience, which are all very important managerial skills,” she says.
In such hiring, recruitment managers should be made aware of their unconscious biases.
Shubhashree suggests that as some homemakers may not be ready yet to join the workforce full-time, companies could find time-bound projects for them. She recommends the concept of a “cloud talent pool”, something akin to a cloud kitchen. Offering them flexible working hours and remote/ hybrid working would also help.
Author - Liffy thomas.
Source - www.hindu.com
