BT MPW 2020: 'WFH very inclusive; families must respect women's work hours,' says Neeraj Bahl

While speaking about managing businesses virtually, MD CEO of BSH Home Appliances India Neeraj Bahl said that work from home has proven to be very inclusive but acknowledged that the key to it lies in the perfect balance. "Work from home has opened up a lot of opportunities for a lot of people. But it has to be balanced. Lot of women are finding it convenient to work from home. But families also have to respect that women are working from home -- and not make it more difficult for them by pressuring them to take on additional chores and online schooling for kids," said Bahl. He was in conversation with Ameera Shah, Promoter and MD, Metropolis Healthcare, Anjali Bansal, Founder, Avaana Capital and Frederic Widell, South Asia head and MD, Oriflame India at the Business Today's India's Most Powerful Women 2020 .

Speaking about diversity at the workplace Anjali Bansal said, "Gender is definitely one aspect of it. Employees who are differently-abled, have different sexual orientation, ethnicity, diverse backgrounds can work with fewer challenges. Employees would now be paid for productive work. Homemakers do a lot of productive work at home but they are not paid. Work from home will ensure productive work that can be paid. Also managers have learned to manage teams efficiently."

"At 60, retirement age is pretty low. If people can work from home, why not," said Widell.

Bahl also said that unnecessary meetings are avoided and work from home ensures unnecessary travelling is done away with.

Speaking about management takeaways from the lockdown, they all agreed that the lockdown ensured that the period has been rich for innovation and ideas. "I learned how to keep a team motivated without meeting them. Also, not a management takeaway but a takeaway nevertheless -- hats off to all women who are managing work and home together efficiently," quipped Bahl.

Bansal said that along with new ideas and innovation, and helping teams adapt, drawing the boundary on when the work stops has been her key takeaways.

Talking about the impact of coronavirus, Bahl said, "We have 1,100 sales consultants on different stores. We immediately increased their insurance and ensured we got COVID covered into that. We increased their insurance because it was our moral responsibility to take care of these guys who are not on our payroll are but would travel once the shops reopen."

Also read: Business Today India's Most Powerful Women Awards to take place on October 3-4

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