Idea Cellular's
unique way of empowering female employees
MUMBAI: When
telecommunications operator Idea CellularBSE 2.57 % looked at its employee
statistic earlier this year, it saw a need to change the gender mix of its
managers. That led the Aditya Birla Group company launch 'Pragya', an
initiative aimed at helping women "realise their leadership
potential". An integral part of the programme is the health and wellness
of employees.
Idea is encouraging
employees to participate in a virtual marathon called stepathlon, wherein they
are pitted against staff from other participating companies. Stepathlon
programmes offered to corporates like Idea encourage participants to walk at
least 10,000 steps a day to improve the fitness levels of employees who
otherwise may be leading a sedentary lifestyle.
These steps are
converted into kilometres, and participants can track their team's rank within
their company and other participating companies across the virtual world. This
year, the second such for Idea, the company and other participating companies
across the virtual world. This year, the second such for Idea, the company
nominated 200 employees for the race, and women constitute 92% of them, said
Chief Human Resources Officer Vinay Razdan.
"The plan is to
make women feel empowered." The programme was originally meant for senior
management, primarily for those over the age of 50. "Stepathlon has given
a spirit of team bonding across regions as we coordinate with each other
regarding our team's progress," said Tanuja Choudhury, Idea's national
enterprise business lead in Kolkata. The initiative rejuvenated the woman
staffers and helped them feel more connected with human resources and the
company per se.
"My 10,000 steps
a day compared to 4,000 earlier has made me feel brighter and swifter,"
said Suby Deousker, assistant general manager, networks, at Indore. Idea,
India's third-largest mobile telephone company, employs 748 women which forms
about 8% of its total headcount. Even though it hires about 30% women at
the trainee level, the ratio in the broader organisation tends to be much
smaller, Razdan said. Yet, of the women it employs, only a quarter have reached
the level of middle management and just 1% senior management.
"We would like for the mix to be a little higher," said Razdan, pointing out that finding talent for clientfacing and physically stressful jobs was tough. Idea's bigger rival Vodafone India has in fact embarked on such a move about three y ears ago. The company found talent from the banking and consumer goods industries, as it looked beyond women with telecom experience. Today, women account for about a third of Vodafone India's workforce and 10% of middle and senior management.
"We would like for the mix to be a little higher," said Razdan, pointing out that finding talent for clientfacing and physically stressful jobs was tough. Idea's bigger rival Vodafone India has in fact embarked on such a move about three y ears ago. The company found talent from the banking and consumer goods industries, as it looked beyond women with telecom experience. Today, women account for about a third of Vodafone India's workforce and 10% of middle and senior management.
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