Posted: 11 May 2020 6 min. read

The working mother’s guide

Fine-tuning the balance between career and caregiving

Working mothers continue to marvel us. How they manage to balance and maneuver their focus among career, caregiving, and themselves is incredibly inspiring. At Deloitte, we do our best to empower and support these moms do what they need to maintain that balance and power through.

Deloitte understands and respects how “Life as a working mom is incredibly fulfilling, but isn’t always easy,” as Shruthi describes it.

Shruthi Ganthi, from the Talent Acquisition team, double hats her roles as a recruiter and a mother, among the many such inspiring working mothers across Deloitte. She is passionate and committed to finding the best talent most suitable for impactful roles at Deloitte. Outside of work, she is a mother of one.

According to her, one of the most memorable moments of her career was when Deloitte extended her the flexibility to stay at home when she needed it the most, with her son and family for six months. “The autonomy that Deloitte offered, enabled me to customize my career with a variety of options and design a work life that serves me and my family,” said Shruthi.

When you step into the role of a care giver, the number of priorities in life increase vastly. As much as you want to remain committed to the ones that were previously in your list of priorities, sometimes you may find yourself in a catch 22 situation. These are the times when we empower professionals at Deloitte, who are mothers and care givers, to prioritize the aspects that require their immediate attention. We extend our support to them in ways that ease their workload and allow them to focus their energy and attention where it’s most needed—times when caregiving takes precedence over everything else, we understand that. Extending that flexibility is our way of supporting mothers in their heroic efforts of balancing between career and caregiving.

Working motherhood is a reality and has been so for years. Pivoting your attention and focus between career, caregiving, and yourself may not always be a walk in the park. This may even require a few mindset shifts.

As Monika Batra, from the Communications team, recounts, “When I was away on maternity leave, my managers at that time and the team would show genuine concern and interest in my well-being and kept me updated on important developments at the workplace.” As she resumed focus on her professional journey, she was welcomed back by the team, who assigned her work gradually and gave her enough time to get back to full capacity.

Monika joined us as a professional when she was in the early stages of her career. She’s been with us for nine years, and her life’s milestones have come to pass alongside her professional journey. Her journey has been nothing short of adventurous and daring, filled with twists and turns.

At Deloitte, we understand the responsibilities that you take on when you step into the role of a care giver. Whether it is maternity leave, or it is that day off you need to be away from it all, we are here to back you and ease your worries, while you recharge to come back refreshed. In all this, our approach to mental health and well-being is another pillar of support extended to all our professionals, including and especially working mothers, who selflessly and constantly dedicate their efforts towards all priorities but themselves. Monika quotes,

"Beyond the human dimension of caring for the well-being of employees, Deloitte is building a workplace that’s easy for parents to be a part of."

Motherhood, as a way of life, brings out various qualities in you—it nudges you to do that balancing act, more often than not.

“Being a working mom is a feat I am proud of,” as Monika phrases it, and we couldn’t have said it better! Power through moms!

 

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