For all attrition cases, FlexiLoans ensures exit interview data is collected and analysed:
FlexiLoans is amongst India’s top MSME-focused digital NBFC growing at a CAGR of 500% with more than Rs10 billion of disbursements to more than 1.5 million registered users across 1400 cities through 100% digital originations and zero branches.
Gitanjali Mayani heads sales at FlexiLoans. From her extensive experience in banking of over 2 decades, she brings to the table a wide range of skills relating to loans and banking, wealth management, and call centre operations. She has worked in the branch setup in Standard Chartered Bank as well as on the digital platform at Bankbazaar.com.
Strength Of Employees, Team
Flexiloans has strong representation of women employees across all levels and functions of the organization. Primarily, teams such as sales, credit, HR, and business
development have higher representation of women employees. Current women representation at Flexiloans is over 31% out of a total strength of 355 employees. Gitanjali heads a team of 100+ employees, who convert leads into logins with credit for underwriting. She updates: “This FY we have hired 54 women employees across multiple roles up to third quarter. Women occupy a higher ratio in roles at junior and middle management levels. Top leadership comprises of 25% women leaders. My team helps the customers to complete their post sanction documentation, so they can get the business loan disbursal in the fastest possible time.”
Accept Innovative Ideas
Gitanjali’s team at FlexiLoans comprises almost 50% of women with 25% in leadership positions. The suggestion that the company should outsource call centre activities rather than use inhouse employees came from a woman team member. Gitanjali informs: “This has led to the organization saving almost 30% in terms of cost as well as having unlimited ability to scale at a much faster pace.”
Another interesting idea was to allow women to choose their shift timings. So, the company has early shift in the morning. She adds: “Here women leave early in the evening post her shift. In late shifts they come only by 11 am so that they have more time in the morning at home to manage their personal responsibilities.”
No Gender Data During Hiring
25% of leadership team at FlexiLoans comprises of women employees across functions such as sales, business development and operations. Gitanjali bifurcates: “We have women holding critical positions in policy, sales, risk management, HR, data science, founder’s office and tech. With respect to hiring, we make sure that our hiring process is gender agnostic. We do not collect gender data during the hiring process. We provide bonus fees (over and above standard fees) to recruitment partners for women candidates hired.”
Attrition: eNPS, GPTW Surveys
Women ratio at FlexiLoans in attrition numbers is approximately 30% of total exits. Gitanjali explains: “For all attrition cases, we ensure exit interview data is collected and analyzed. As an organization, we ensure that apart from the exit interviews, we take feedback across multiple avenues such as Employer Net Promoter Score (eNPS) and Great Place To Work (GPTW) surveys. The finding from these surveys also helps us identify early signs of attrition and deal with them proactively.”
Day Care Facilities
All managers in FlexiLoans across functions are highly sensitive to women working while managing home and especially kids. From providing flexible timing to work from home facility, the company tries its best to support women through the childbirth process to post childbirth. Gitanjali narrates recent past: “Even when we moved into a new office in 2022, having a creche in the office vicinity was one of the criteria for office space selection. In our current office, we have a day care within the same building so that it is convenient for women to work while also being in proximity to their children when they avail such facilities.”
Do Grow: Don’t Carry Work Home
As the company inches closer towards the next FY, FlexiLoans’ focus on hiring talented and ambitious team members continues to drive the recruitment efforts. In the long term, FlexiLoans wants to be a workplace which is both safe and productive for all its employees especially women. It has initiatives for women hiring right from the company’s Women-On-Wings program for women returning to workforce to ensuring a gender agnostic hiring process to actively working on new policies to support women employees in their professional growth. Gitanjali points out: “We want to be known as a workplace that helps its employees to grow professionally and personally while supporting them through their life challenges.”
She also makes a conscious effort towards achieving a good work-life balance. She doesn’t believe in carrying work home. Gitanjali adds: “Good time management is essential so that all goals and ‘to do’ are completed during office hours only. Time is really in short supply at home and is completely devoted to the family, friends, and self.”
Gig Economy, New Opportunity
As per statistics only 27% of women form part of the workforce compared to 80% of men. Global average for women participation in the workforce is about 49%. Women are concentrated in few industries in India namely agriculture, textiles and financial services, and there are very few women in industries like engineering and technology. Women participation in the workforce has definitely increased over the years. Gitanjali alerts: “However, we still have a long way to go. There is also the question of gender pay gap where women are paid almost 20% less than their male counterparts which is a serious discrimination.”
Despite these challenges, there is reason for optimism about the future of women in the workforce in India. The government has made commitments to promoting gender equality, and there are a growing number of initiatives aimed at increasing the representation of women in STEM fields and addressing the gender pay gap.
Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WEST), was launched on 5th September 2022. The WEST program will cater to women with a STEM background and empower them to contribute to the science, technology, and innovation ecosystem. Gitanjali adds: “Additionally, with the rise of digital technologies and the gig economy, there are new opportunities for women to enter and succeed in the workforce.”
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