Bolsa Rosa

Empower Women and Increase Productivity in Companies Through Flextime Jobs Opportunities

Authors

Mariana Irigoyen

Mariana Irigoyen

Aracely Mariscal

Aracely Mariscal

Angelica Aracely Merla Chavez

Angelica Aracely Merla Chavez

School

Universidad de Monterrey

Universidad de Monterrey

Professor

Consuelo Garcia-de-la-torre

Consuelo Garcia-de-la-torre

Global Goals

5. Gender Equality 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth 10. Reduced Inequalities Flourish Prize Honoree - For Business as an Agent of World Benefit - Weatherhead School of Management

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Summary

Bolsa Rosa offers a solution to improve company's productivity, by implementing the latest working trends and by giving them access to the best talent, such as professional moms that want to reenter the workforce in a flextime scheme and achieve work-life balance.

This win-win strategy allows, in one hand, to reduce the gender gap, by connecting women to recognized organizations with flextime jobs. And, in the other hand, to increase productivity of the companies, by hiring exceptional talented women, inaccessible through traditional methods, that will bring economic benefits.

Bolsa Rosa, concerned about the high number of employers having difficulties to fill their job vacancies and the lack of fair working conditions for women, especially after maternity, that make them quit and truncate their careers and economic and professional growth, decided to start this project that promotes flextime jobs and provide consulting services to improve working conditions in the organizations, driving more human companies. Ana Lucia Cepeda, Bolsa Rosa’s founder, was inspired by her mother, who left her job after giving birth, because balancing her personal and professional life was very hard. According with the interview made to Adriana Casillas, Bolsa Rosa’s Virtual Headhunter & Commercial Director, Ana Lucia’s mom was reached out by the company she quit to, because they wanted her back. She decided to renteer to the workforce establishing her working conditions to achieve a work-life balance. They company accepted a flextime scheme for Ana Lucia’s mom and she has been there since then (more than 30 years).

That experience influenced Ana Lucia to find a way to give these same work conditions to all women, especially to moms. So, after she finished her career of Organizational Psychology, she started to investigate about flextime models and realize that in Mexico a job opportunities with flextime are very limited which increase the gender gap in the workforce.

As a result, Ana Lucia decided to start Bolsa Rosa in 2013 to create a space where companies and talented women can connect and also where flextime models e promoted in order to increase productivity in the organizations and to reduce the lack of opportunities for women that wish to have professional and personal quality of life.

Innovation

The innovated services that Bolsa Rosa offers are:

1. Virtual Headhunter. Bolsa Rosa performs the recruitment and selection service according to the vacancy and customer needs. Also provides an advice on the flexible working schemes available to find the one that fit the best with the position and company’s requirements.

2. Online Job Bank. Bolsa Rosa connects professional women / moms with flextime jobs opportunities. Set-Up companies can post vacancies and search talent in the web. Women can submit their resume and apply to flextime jobs. Companies have to pay a membership, women have free access to the job bank.

3. Certification Programs. Bolsa Rosa trains leaders to develop flexible schemes in their organizations. With this certification program for Experts in Flextime, companies implement flextime working cultures and provide better working conditions for their team members, making it easier to hire and include a more diverse workforce in the organization.

4. Consulting services and workshops. Bolsa Rosa offers consulting services to companies to implement flextime schemes and innovative work policies, with the purpose of create competitive work centers with greater quality of life, diversity and gender equity, which generate greater job satisfaction, increase productivity, improve attraction and retention of talent, decrease turnover, among others.

Empower Women and Increase Productivity in Companies Through Flextime Jobs Opportunities

Inspiration

Ana Lucia Cepeda, Bolsa Rosa’s founder, was inspired by her mother, who left her job after giving birth, because balancing her personal and professional life was very hard. According with the interview made to Adriana Casillas, Bolsa Rosa’s Virtual Headhunter & Commercial Director, Ana Lucia’s mom was reached out by the company she quit to, because they wanted her back. She decided to renteer to the workforce establishing her working conditions to achieve a work-life balance. They company accepted a flextime scheme for Ana Lucia’s mom and she has been there since then (more than 30 years).

That experience influenced Ana Lucia to find a way to give these same work conditions to all women, especially to moms. So, after she finished her career of Organizational Psychology, she started to investigate about flextime models and realize that in Mexico a job opportunities with flextime are very limited which increase the gender gap in the workforce.

As a result, Ana Lucia decided to start Bolsa Rosa in 2013 to create a space where companies and talented women can connect and also where flextime models e promoted in order to increase productivity in the organizations and to reduce the lack of opportunities for women that wish to have professional and personal quality of life.

Overall impact

With almost 6 years since its foundation, Bolsa Rosa has greatly transformed the working environment in more than 5,000 companies located in some of the most important cities in Mexico. With is headhunting services and online job listing, the company has obtained more than 6,000 job postings, each and every one of them guaranteeing the accomplishment of Bolsa Rosa´s main value: flexibility in different working schemes.

Thanks to other services such as consulting, workshops and certification programs, the company has trained over 250 members of the Employment and Labour Tendencies Committee. With the help of these professional leaders, the extension of the movement of productivity thru flexible work schedules is possible, contributing in the mindset rebooting much needed in many traditional companies.

Altogether, Bolsa Rosa´s online job platform has considerably aided in the change and improvement of the life dynamic and quality of working women and their families. With this flexibility in their work lives, working mothers and women in general can give their best not only with their employers, but also be present in their family's most important moments.

Business benefit

Unlike popular opinion, applying a flexible work schedule is easier than it is believed. With the significant improvement of communication tools (such as cellphones and computers) and technology overall, it is possible to work pretty much everywhere. In order to have a successful application of this work scheme, it is important to work in a results - oriented and timely - delivery focus, instead of where is this work executed.

Bolsa Rosa has been a pioneer in inciting the application of these type of work plans, showing that not only is the employee benefited but the company as well. It has been revealed that this could help increase up to 50% the productivity and 25% of the rentability of a company. Stress levels can be significantly reduced, support towards inclusion and work diversity can be increased as well as the motivation and flow of creativity.

According to Bolsa Rosa´s research, more than 80% of workers wish to have a flexible work life. Employers who offer this flexibility would not only have a competitive advantage against their peers, they would also gain more compromised and loyal employees. Also, costs could be significantly reduced (up to 80%) by applying these schemes. An approximate calculation shows that up to $6,000 dollars could be saved per employee per year if one day of home office is implemented per week. Overall, the benefits of a flexible work scheme are more than the disadvantages of correctly applying this mindset in our everyday jobs.

Social and environmental benefit

Besides of happier and more productive employees, a flexible work scheme can bring other benefits to society overall. A significant increase in the work-life balance for any person would also mean their families and people nearby would be hit by this effect. For example, if a working mother has more flexibility and free time to be with her kids, her kids would be happy to spend more time with their mother. Also, if they don't have to stay in daycare or school for as much time, teachers and staff would have more free time for themselves, increasing their life quality as well. In general, children that come from an attentive household background are less likely to be violent or cause trouble, have a low performance at school or turn into self destructive habits when they reach their teenage years.

Less stress at work can also translate into a better mental health. For a person to have time for him or herself , for their own interests and hobbies or simply to decompress is crucial to maintain a healthy mental balance. This work-life balance can help diminish life threatening conditions such as depression, anxiety and suicide, which unfortunately are at a raise in certain first world countries.

BOLSA ROSA VIDEO

Interview

Adriana Casillas, Commercial and Virtual Headhunting Director

Business information

Bolsa Rosa

Bolsa Rosa

Monterrey, Nuevo León, MX
Business Website: https://bolsarosa.com
Year Founded: 2012
Number of Employees: 11 to 50

Bolsa Rosa aims at providing opportunities for women to work in flexible jobs inside companies and drive organizations to prepare for the future of work through innovation in working practices.

Bolsa Rosa is the first and only company in Mexico and Latin America that seek to reduce the gender gap, discrimination and disadvantages of women in the workforce, by allowing them to participate in the economy of the country.