This year, Tata Power, India’s leading integrated power company, set up India’s first ‘all-women’ Customer Relations Centre (CRC) for power utility customers, for which, it inaugurated its first CRC centre in Andheri (West), Mumbai. The aim, according to their press release, is to continue providing their talented and highly-skilled women employees with new opportunities for growth and development. The company has now inaugurated its second all-women CRC in Borivali (East), Mumbai.
The new centre is expected to be completely managed by a team of 10 women personnel. Every function at the CRC, which includes security, will be managed by women. Minesh Dave, president, transmission and distribution, Tata Power, said, “We are really glad to inaugurate our second all-women CRC which will be run entirely by 10 well-trained women. We hope to make these centres a rich training ground for women employees in building new skills, capabilities and expertise. We look forward to proactively strengthen women’s participation in other departments in the power utility sector, apart from a customer-facing role.”
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Meanwhile, Tata Consultancy Services has also made it to the top 10 in 2018 Working Mother & AVTAR Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI). The AVTAR group has been working for a decade in discerning organizations in making their workplaces more welcoming for women and has become the most comprehensive gender analytics exercise for Corporate India.
The study, which was first started in 2016, has counted in its top ten line up the likes of Accenture, ADP, Barclays India, Deloitte India, EY, IBM India, Shell India Markets, TCS, Tech Mahindra, and Verizon Data Services.
While one might wonder whether India still requires monitoring of its corporate policies and environment for women to feel welcome in pursuing their careers, its significance lies in bringing down the rate of women dropping out from their careers as they often feel overwhelmed by family responsibilities and societal pressure. Consequently, fewer women make it to the C-suite in corporate.
Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder and President of AVTAR Group says that although it is reassuring to see that many companies are presenting new policies to retain valuable women talent, the trend still has a long way to go in traditional services industry. She says industries like manufacturing and infrastructure still need to leverage the opportunity of raising employable women talent.
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“Corporate India’s focus on recruiting and expanding their women employee base is laudable. Going by the data (a 5% increase in women’s representation in one year), the Best Companies for Women in India may get to their goal of gender balance in another 5-6 years’ time. In the years to come, BCWI will further strengthen the ecosystem for women professionals in India Inc., raising the bar each year and catalyzing its journey to gender balance,” she says.
Subha V. Barry, Vice President and General Manager of Working Mother Media said, “We are delighted that BCWI has set a benchmark among companies to initiate more women inclusive polices. The impact that BCWI has created in the Indian market, where companies have recognized the need for having women in the workforce and have diligently worked towards introducing best practices is truly remarkable. We have noticed that this is not just at an entry level but across all levels, which is very encouraging for women employees in the company. I congratulate all the winning companies and hope to see a continued expansion of inclusive and women-friendly policies.”
