A phenomenal growth trajectory, from doing to leading, all done flexibly: Shipra Sonthalia

Life had taken Shipra Sonthalia, Recruitment Lead with FlexiBees, through a number of different roles before landing the profile that was her calling – Human Resources Management. After her marriage, Shipra took an almost seven-year break from corporate professional life. “Over the years, I dabbled in a few things, which included a business selling decoupage products, when my daughter was a year old.”
 
While this fueled the creative side of Shipra, it did not satisfy her professionally and she felt the urge for a profession where she could put her academic qualification in Human Resources Management to use. “Motherhood is very satisfying and rewarding, but I was missing the whole work culture and wanted to do something productive. I felt I had a very big career break and if it gets any bigger, it would be very difficult to get that momentum back,” Shipra explains.
 
That was when FlexiBees happened. After coming across an article on work-from-home opportunities from FlexiBees, on a mother’s group on Facebook, Shipra decided to apply for it. “Initially, I was not sure what to expect. On February 2017, I got a call from the team where they offered me the role of internal recruitment. I grabbed it as this was the opportunity that I had been waiting for.”
 
Shipra joined on a part-time basis, working for a couple of hours every day, which gradually increased. Where, initially, she used to work on only one role at a time, this has grown to around 8-10 roles, simultaneously. “Starting off, I took an entire month to close one project and gradually it grew from there. In the first month I closed one position, in the second month we did two positions, in the third it was more, and so on. Now, we close 15-20 positions a month,” Shipra explains.
 
What Shipra did not anticipate was the growth journey she would chart
 
What Shipra did not anticipate was the growth journey she would chart. “Over time I started taking up more responsibilities. I brought in a lot of process changes within the recruitment process so that we could save time. I started with a one-member recruitment team. Now I have another person with me and am in the process of hiring more team members. My roles and responsibilities have grown from pure recruitment to a managerial one which includes setting up the whole division, streamlining the process and increasing efficiency, and being involved in the business delivery process. As a team leader, I am also responsible for managing, mentoring and coaching new recruits and assigning work.”
 
In-line with her increased scope and importance of her role, Shipra joined the Team as their full time employee, all while working remotely and flexibly.
 
In-line with her increased scope Shipra joined the Team as their full time employee, all while working remotely and flexibly.
 
Shipra has also seen the organization grow immensely over the two years that she has been associated with FlexiBees. “When I started off, FlexiBees was a small team comprising of the three founders and two more people. Over the years, the organization has also grown – there is a whole team of business development people, finance, talent acquisition, social media specialists, writers, graphic designers.”
 
Each one is highly skilled in a specific area of expertise – be it accounts, business development, graphic designing, across various levels of seniority. Despite being in different geographical locations, the team is highly professional and works together, thus being able to grow at the rate that it has.
 
According to Shipra, the fact that FlexiBees is a remote, all-women’s team staffed by highly skilled professionals is a major reason for its success. They have all taken breaks in their careers and returned to it with FlexiBees.  “Each one is highly skilled in a specific area of expertise – be it accounts, business development, graphic designing, across various levels of seniority. Despite being in different geographical locations, the team is highly professional and works together, thus being able to grow at the rate that it has,” Shipra explains.
 
The team shares a close bonding which is brought on by the fact that the members are there for each other whenever anybody needs any help or guidance. The team also believes in having fun while at work. “ We have a concept called Fun Friday wherein for an hour every alternate Friday, we leave aside work and come on to our WhatsApp group. We then we pick up a topic for the day and chat about our personal beliefs, likes and dislikes,” says Shipra.
 
Some days are tough, some are easier but it is working out.
 
Life, though, is not easy while managing a household and a full-time job. But Shipra has managed to strike a balance now by have chalking out a daily schedule. “ I plan ahead and allocate the time that I need to spend on my work with FlexiBees, with my daughter, and for myself. I break my day down on a per hour basis and as I cannot work in an unstructured environment. Some days are tough, some are easier but it is working out.” she quips. Shipra also believes that women need to keep updating their skills and knowledge and stay abreast of what is happening in their respective fields.
 
If I was working full time outside, I may have achieved professionally. But, on the personal front, I would not have been satisfied or been able to strike this work life balance.
 
The remote nature of her profile is what has enabled Shipra to continue working and growing. “If I was working full time outside, I may have achieved professionally. But, on the personal front, I would not have been satisfied or been able to strike this work life balance. Eventually, I would have felt guilty and then quit the job. But this flexibility, sense of work-life balance and the knowledge that I am not missing out on my daughter’s journey completely, has helped me continue and grow in my profile,” Shipra acknowledges.  
 
I see myself being a part of this exciting future as our business and organization grows
 
Going forward, Shipra sees the organization expanding further as the team grows and more projects come in across industries, roles and functions. “We want to create a pipeline of profiles that we can choose from, across sectors and levels of expertise. With the expansion of the team, we plan to have the bandwidth to take up more projects. We are also increasing the use of technology to make processes more efficient and faster. I see myself being a part of this exciting future as our business and organization grows.” Shipra concludes.
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If you are interested to explore flexible work options with FlexiBees clients, register yourself with your detailed experience, skill-sets and resume at  https://www.flexibees.com/for-job-seekers.html
We are not sending individual responses for registrations. If you are shortlisted for any role based on your experience, our recruitment team will get in touch with you.