Standard Chartered Bank launches ‘SheReturns’ programme for women on career break

The objective is to focus on diversity and inclusion, and also provide women the opportunity to excel 

Today more organisations have become gender sensitive and are focussed on bringing women back to work after a career break. Diversity and inclusion have become significant factors for business success.

Standard Chartered’s Global Business Service Centre in Bangalore has launched the ‘SheReturns’ programme to bring back talented women, who are willing to return to work, after a career break. The bank will provide job opportunities to these women in areas of information technology and operations.

The programme is scheduled to begin on September 16 in Bangalore. The women will be given roles in digital technology, such as UX design and front-end development and banking operations for its offices.

Commenting on the programme, Rajesh Balaji, head of human resources-global business services-India, at Standard Chartered Bank said, “Standard Chartered views diversity and inclusion as a critical lever for business success in the long term. It enables teams to unlock innovation, make better decisions and manage risk. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment that is free from bias and where everyone can realise their full potential, and in so doing, make a positive contribution to our organisation.”

The bank will train the selected women in particular skills before they do the actual work. The Bank’s recruitment officers, who are trained in hiring, mentoring and supporting women returning to the workforce, will provide support to this programme. Also, it has partnered with the AVTAR Group — a specialist agency in workplace diversity and inclusion.

Commenting on this initiative, Dr Saundarya Rajesh, founder and president, AVTAR Group, and diversity advocate, said: “Women’s workforce participation and advancement is a global concern. We are all working towards creating a gender-balanced workplace in India and one of the foundations for this is to bring back women on professional break into the workforce.”

The programme will also implement various career-growth activities for women, such as reskilling, up-skilling and career counselling, so as to help them pursue sustainable career paths within the bank.

The bank actively promotes diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It has family-friendly policies to help the parents balance their work and family responsibilities. The mother gets a minimum of 20 weeks paid parental leave, while the father gets a two-week paid parental break. These durations of these leaves are above the International Labour Organisation minimum standard.

Also, the bank has focussed on increasing the number of women employees at the senior levels and ensured that the women get the opportunity to excel and progress, just as their counterparts.