Schneider Electric's Yasemine Yehia - an employer branding manager based in the company's Cairo office - reflects on managing parenthood with her career and how the company supported her to spend more quality time with her daughter.
The company's two work from home days per week is the global standard across the company
Agile work-from-home support
"Being a single mother requires double the effort and double the attention. 2020 was such a challenging year for me with all the uncertainties, fears, and support I needed to give to my daughter experiencing online schooling for the first time in a critical year and also pushing myself to stay positive and hopeful!" says Yasmine Yehia, a single mother to a 12 year old daughter, Celine.
"But I didn’t do that on my own, Schneider Electric helped me, empowered me, and truly provided me with all the tools I needed to pass this unique, unforgettable year."
Yasmine lives in Cairo, Egypt. She is a certified ICF career and life coach and she has a passion for women empowerment which is her specialization in life coaching. In her personal time, she aims to positively impact the world and leave a footprint and be a role model to those who need it.
After joining Schneider Electric as a Senior HR Manager in the Cairo office, Yasmine then moved to a new role heading MEA Employer Branding function. She shares how Schneider Electric supported her as a single parent during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly through the company's new ways of working policies.
Benefiting from Schneider Electric's support
During the pandemic, Yasmine benefited from Schneider Electric's wellbeing programs, sessions and workshops as well as regular communications and online catch-ups with management teams. She also appreciated the company's flexible remote working policies and the online development kits on how to work properly and efficiently from home.
"Not a single small detail was missed," she adds. "I felt safe and proud working for such an employer that is taking good care of me and my life."
Spending more time with her daughter
Schneider Electric also enabled Yasmine to spend more quality time with her daughter, and share with Celine the important work she does at the company.
"My daughter used to think that my career was taking me from her, taking too much time from us – in 2020 we were able to build an even stronger connection!" she explains. "She introduced me more to her world and I did the same – she is now more familiar with what I do and she had a sense of how important my role is – she had the chance to celebrate work wins with me, share moments of success with me and we took photos and shared with the teams too."
"The new ways of working policies are giving us the power to drive our lives and careers and to work efficiently. Being able to work two days or more from home gives us the flexibility to spend more time with our families and kids, develop our skills and live a balanced life," she adds.
Focusing on her hobby and skills expansion
This flexible way of working helped Yasmine manage her time better, so she could focus more on her favourite hobby: life coaching and women empowerment coaching. She felt empowered to not only be positive and happy but also help and support other people, while positively impacting the world.
Plus, Yasmine was able to finalize two important certificates related to her career at Schneider Electric, enabling her to expand her capabilities and skills.
"Change is not always a bad thing – sometimes it is all you need to transform and grow," she concludes. "I wouldn’t have done all that without Schneider Electric."
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.