Full-time-working-house mothers!

A friend of mine is contemplating returning to work after a decent 'maternity' break of 3 years! We discussed about how easy or difficult it will be for her to find an opportunity considering the fact that such long breaks are still not looked upon positively by a lot of organizations in India. 

Many organizations are opening up to long-time-been-housewives-cum-mothers who are either reconsidering their career aspirations or looking to earn that extra income for their families. But there are still many others companies who think that the skills they will get on the table are now outdated and rusted...

So why should or shouldn't organizations tap on this highly unexplored talent pool?

Let's start by adding a little context...

Women undergo three phases in life - the first phase is when they actually come in to the world i.e. when they are born (",), the second is when they get married to a hopefully self-organized individual who can at least manage to find his own socks and handkerchiefs, and the third is when they become 'mothers'. The last phase brings about a complete overhaul in their lives, their routine, their habits and sometimes even their core behavior. It definitely is a life-altering event! Even today, most responsibilities after a little one comes into our lives are managed and handled by the mothers. This echoes with the recent change in the maternity policy that now grants women employees in India a 6-month paid leave, while no body thought about extending the paternity leave for new fathers!

Amidst all the mental, physical and psychological changes woman undergo during the journey of motherhood - teaches her a few vital lessons that translate into rarer skill-sets or traits needed in the corporate world:

1. We make emotions our strength 

It's a tough time when you are expected to hold a wailing infant or a toddler while the doctor pricks a needle into their little arms or legs. Fathers walk away because they cant see their babies in pain. The mother is usually the one holding and consoling the baby. This is just a minuscule example of the strength a women shows right from giving birth, experiencing after-birth troubles and raising a child. It needs a blended effort of adding what is logical and right for the baby irrespective of the short-term pain and inconveniences. It's about facing difficult situations and not getting swayed by emotions because that's the need of the hour. 

2. Planning & Organizing 

Ever happened to travel with an infant and his or her mother. The extend of detailing that goes in planning a travel with a baby is extensive. You got to plan for avoidable and even the unavoidable circumstances. Right from the color and type of clothing, to the no. of napkins, diapers, wipes, medicines, types of toys, the placement of these things in the bag matters and all mothers irrespective of how are their planning skills need to be adept at this one. The best part is they get attuned to such planning behaviors and tend to follow it for everything else in their lives. 

3. Crisis Management 

A playful toddler is entertaining! But how about those pint-sized, unpredictable, troublesome, little beings who dictate their way through by their acts that can wreck your brains and almost make you insane! It's not  easy to sometimes expect even BASIC things to get done smoothly. The other day my 2.5 year old daughter dropped water on herself while we were watching a movie in a theater. She demanded a change of clothes and me being a selfish-movie-buff not wanting to miss an imp scene tried taking advantage of the dark to change her in the auditorium rather than taking her to the washroom. I undressed her, by this time she was quiet, and then removed another dress from the bag. SUDDENLY, now she wanted to go to the washroom to change! She started screaming at the top of her voice that she will only change in the washroom. How do I  take her all the way out while she was only wearing a diaper? She refused to budge by which time people around started giving us dirty looks. Thankfully, I had a blanket which I usually carry when we go out with her so I could drape her in that and take her to the washroom! Becoming a mother, makes you learn to manage threatening situations and bring those skills at work with ease!

4.  Multi-tasking with near perfection: 

Those cartoons of women showing multiple hands is not overrated. We are simply wired and made that way. Research says that multi tasking makes men slower while women can quickly switch to another task on hand and then come back to the previous one! I see my mother talking over the phone, while cutting vegetables, also watching the TV, sharing recipes with her sister . Her attention will suddenly shift to the cooker that has already whistled thrice so that she can go and switch off the gas stove. On another hand, my dad wants pin-drop silence while he is talking on the phone else he forgets what he was saying! 

Apart from these, there are many other behavioral traits that make women employees an asset to have. Managing a little-life and taking care of them makes us selfless, low maintenance, and self-motivated. We find happiness in building and nurturing our families, our children, and our work because our motherly instinct now dominates everything that comes in our purview. 

So the next time, you ponder upon a resume of a full-time-house-mom wanting to start her career for various reasons, do not ignore it! 

PS: Just looking at the brighter side of not having a self-organized husband in the Phase 2 of your life - you get trained for Phase 3 :-D