Program Can Help Women Balance Work and Family Commitments
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ictQATAR's ICT Skills and Development Manager and Qtel's Executive Director, Business Solutions Announce the Project
In today's fast-paced world, women often face challenges in balancing the often-competing demands of professional aspirations and family life. As part of a new initiative, 'Women Working from Home', ictQATAR and Qtel are partnering on a pilot project to help ensure women can remain fully committed to their family obligations while still being an effective part of Qatar's vibrant workforce. ictQATAR and Qtel signed an agreement on Thursday, April 1, 2010 to officially launch the project.
"The work-from -home model has been successfully implemented at countless organizations around the world and I am certain it will be very viable here in Qatar. By using the latest information and communication technology, we will be able to empower women to work in new ways, creating benefits for both the women and their employers," said Reem Al-Mansoori, ICT Skills and Development Manager, ictQATAR.
The initiative will be piloted over a 6-month period with women working for Qtel as Customer Research Agents within Qtel's Business Solutions directorate. Their responsibilities will include customer contact, data entry and word processing. The team will be linked to Qtel through a special application on their web site in which their work will be assigned and monitored on a daily basis.
Eng. Khalid Abdulla Al Mansouri, Executive Director, Business Solutions, Qtel, said, "Technology can play a huge role in empowering people and transforming their lives. This project will help demonstrate the potential of a work-from-home model for the employees involved, for the organizations that recruit home-workers and the wider social value of encouraging everyone to get involved."
A comprehensive field study will be conducted as part of the project with the goal of producing a work-from-home model that can be deployed at other organizations in Qatar. The field study will be benchmarked to other international experiences of similar scale and focused on producing a blueprint for three of Qatar's major sectors - Government, Health, and Oil & Gas.
The true measure of success of this program will be the creation of a sustainable model that can be replicated at other organizations in Qatar, bringing even more skilled women into the workforce.
