Women in the workforce need special benefits. Or do they? The argument for and against it will continue for a long time to come. However, some corporates have already put ?women friendly? work plans and are happy to be seen as ?caring employers?.
What do women want at the workplace? Well, to be able to climb up the corporate ladder, but not have her family life disrupted while doing so. Flexi hours for the new mother and a cr?che, where children can be taken care of. Most mothers want a maternity leave period that goes beyond the mandatory three months.
DSP Merril Lynch has recently put into practice some programmes that benefit women… The company believes that its senior women employees must interact with young professionals, especially women, some of who are diffident. To do that, it takes the professionals to the campuses. ?When young girls are looking towards a career in the financial services sector, they need to be told of the road ahead. Our experienced senior women professionals can talk of life beyond a classroom,? said Vijayalakshmi Srinivasan, head, HR at the company.
A woman professional is most often looking for programmes that will enhance her skills. Most times this may not be found in an academic or technical course. ?We find that there are many young women who want to talk with senior professionals, across sections in the organisation,? said Srinivasan. ?We facilitate such interactions so that seniors can provide encouragement that will help the young in their careers and give advice on career decisions.?
Women want a host of comfort factors. Like flexi-working, telecommuting, extended child care holidays, project management roles. ?We have enmeshed all of them for our women employees,? said Arun Rao, VP-HR, AppLabs. ?We aim to make working with the company a good experience for everyone. The company has women employees providing leadership to two of six service line organisations, which are essential building blocks to our organisation structure.?
VLCC Health Care Ltd, the slimming, beauty and health brand, employs about 65% women. At every level, women are encouraged to go up the career ladder, said Subhasish Das Gupta, head, HR, VLCC Health Care Ltd. ?We encourage dieticians to become centre managers, area managers and vice presidents, if they deserve it. For those who are less literate but are skilled personnel, we provide them opportunities so that they can become therapists.?
A maternity leave of three months is considered too little a time by most working mothers to bond with their child and leave it at home to join office. ?We allow mothers to work flexible hours, but all these depend on case to case basis,? said Srinivasan, DSP Merril Lynch. Not just women, but men can avail of paternity leave for a week at the company, she added.
Most women want to extend their maternity leave to six months and it is a facility we offer those who want it, said Rajen Kalia, Max New York Life. This comes at a price though. Women get paid only for the mandatory three months leave. ?But the good thing is that they need not worry that their job is at stake if they extend it,? said Kalia.
Safety and security is a major concern for women at the workplace and outside of it. The fear of going home alone late at night is worrisome for most. Rajee Sundaran, a professional working for an MNC, said, ?most days I spend considerable time looking for a taxi that will take me home safe. Finding one in the late hours is a problem and then driving home in one is a fear that refuses to die in spite of living in a city for years.?
Max New York Life, for instance, rates security and safety for women at the workplace and outside of it as its core values. ?We don’t differentiate on gender where our employees are concerned,? said Kalia. ?However, we ensure that we help women employees get cabs, when they work late hours. If women employees are on a late night shift, then a security man drops them home in a cab.?
Kate Rattan, 22, recently joined a firm where she was part of the technical team. Her job was challenging, she said, but it was the unwanted personal attention from a senior male member of the team, that made her very uncomfortable. ?I was new to the organisation, did not want to risk my job, and was scared to confide in anyone.? After she mustered up the courage to go and talk to a senior woman employee, her problem was addressed.
An anti-sexual harassment cell is set up in some offices and it allows for anonymity, which helps the complainant. The anti-sexual harassment committee looks into complaints of harassment of women by fellow employees. When eClerx, India?s first listed KPO, decided to set up one, it ensured assertive action on complaints of sexual harassment by women employees ? sometimes even leading to the termination of the services of the employee found guilty. ?Women employees have to know and be assured that action will be taken, provided there is sufficient proof,? said Kishore Poduri ? HR Head, eClerx Services Ltd. In a rare case, an employee was dismissed, he said.
?During internal job rotations across shifts, women have the freedom to express their discomfort with a certain shift and apply within the organisation (without having to quit) for another,? Poduri said. Poonam Omulkar, head, anti sexual harassment cell, eClerx, said, ?not all women are comfortable with the open culture that has now crept into the workplace. When a woman employee is harassed at the workplace, be it subtle or obvious, and it makes her uncomfortable, we allow for anonymity of a mail at a fixed email id reserved for such complaints. After cross checking, verifying with other employees in the department, we issue a warning to the person concerned.?
It is not all grim and grey for women at the workplace anymore. There is time for fun too. ?Since women are quite interested in festivals, we leave it to them to decorate the offices if they so wish to,? said Kalia, Max New York Life. Even the menu in the cafeteria is decided on these days by women employees! Some firms have movie clubs. Like AppLabs. It has a movie club dedicated to film enthusiasts, who watch films as a serious art form. eClerx has a ?Women?s Only Club? which champions various women?s initiatives.
Do such women-friendly policies cut down attrition? ?It is still too early to say that,? said most of the HR heads this paper spoke with. However they all felt, ?women are more loyal than men at the workplace.?