Wipro, the Indian IT major, has launched a new programme called ‘Begin Again’, which specially caters to women professionals re-entering their careers after a break of six months to a year or more. Wipro’s Inclusion and Diversity will be in charge of helping the women recruited under the programme to restart their careers post their sabbatical or career break.
The Company aims to reorient the women towards the present professional requirements of the industry. “The initiative enables talented women to explore career opportunities that will harness their potential and allow them to get back on track with the present demands of the industry,” the Company said in a statement.
In conversation with HRKatha, Aji George, head – organisation effectiveness: Inclusion & diversity, culture transformation, special initiatives, Wipro informed that the initiative enables Wipro to access a talent pool that wasn’t as accessible pre-pandemic, given the flexibility in working introduced by the work-from-home and hybrid work models.
“Begin Again is a second careers programme for women, essentially catering to those who had to take a career break due to any foreseeable reason. Since the pandemic has introduced a lot of changes in the way we work, this talent pool has become more accessible, and Begin Again is an enabler for women to jump back into their professions,” George enumerates.
The pilot will be launched at a smaller scale first, to gauge the response and the plan will be expanded accordingly in the future.
“Begin Again is a second careers programme for women, essentially catering to those who had to take a career break due to any foreseeable reason. We are aiming to provide an opportunity to such a talent pool that had to take a break and is willing to kickstart their careers again”
Aji George, head – organisation effectiveness: Inclusion & diversity, culture transformation, special initiatives, Wipro
George believes that one of the major roadblocks that they may face during hiring may be at the recruitment stage, particularly the interviews. To guide them through this, Wipro will offer a unique enablement programme to help shortlisted candidates after an initial screening and maintain an even keel during the interview process.
Another interesting aspect George highlights is that the Company will be adding these women in batches or cohorts in their workforce. This is beneficial as it will give the Company a focused approach in nurturing the talent along with giving the talent group an opportunity to connect with similar people across multiple functions in the organisation. The batch will collectively undergo a training of three months, where technical training relevant to the job description of a candidate will be imparted.
Along with this, behavioural training will also be imparted, encompassing a few relevant topics spaced out over a three-month time frame. “The first three months of the training will be crucial and the behavioural programme will act as a pit stop for us to gauge how the new hires are doing, and hence, enable us to provide a good employee experience to them,” George adds.
The Company will provide structured learning and enablement programmes along with an integrated framework for a smooth transition to their job roles. Further, there will be a buddy programme with which real-time assistance to the queries of the new hires will be given.
Under Begin Again, Wipro has announced multiple hirings across multiple functions pan-India and the details of the roles are specified on the official website: https://careers.wipro.com/begin-again. Further, job postings have also been made on multiple online boards. George says that the response they have received until now has been phenomenal. The first batch of Begin Again will begin in a couple of weeks from now, employing 50 -150 women re-entering their professions in the first quarter. George explains that the Company will be looking to broaden this number in the future, depending on the experience with the first batch.
Value our content... contribute towards our growth. Even a small contribution a month would be of great help for us.
Since eight years, we have been serving the industry through daily news and stories. Our content is free for all and we plan to keep it that way.
Support HRKatha. Pay Here (All it takes is a minute)
It’s a very good initiative…. But wipro Or any IT firm should also launch such programme where women who got married just after there education due to family pressure but had a very good academic n qualification to start there new life…. Provide them 3 months or 6 months training…. So that such women can also fly n show there skills n caliber….