Currently, the Company has 7000 employees, of which 11 per cent are women.
Tata Steel, the Indian multinational steel manufacturing company, is set out to make its organisation gender diverse.
The Company is looking at a target of 20 per cent women in its workforce in five years. The fraction of women, which was eight per cent two years ago, has risen to 11 per cent today. This is much higher than the national average for manufacturing companies.
To achieve the target, Tata Steel will concentrate on recruiting women— experienced ones as well as freshers from campuses—offering them various facilities including options to work remotely, flexible hours and training/leadership development programmes.
Last year, the Company had introduced a scholarship scheme—Women of Mettle—to entice more women, particularly in the technical areas. The scheme can be availed by girl students from IITs and NITs, and other engineering colleges. The best ten candidates are eligible for pre-placement offers.
Tata Steel wishes to tap all those women out there who are eager to work in areas traditionally known to be male bastions. Therefore, it offers incentives to hiring partners for every successful woman recruited. It has yearly targets for women recruitments so as to ensure that women are significantly represented across levels.
It is not an easy task to push gender diversity in traditional organisations in the industrial sector. There is an urgent need to work towards changing the mindset and concentrating on inclusion. This will ensure that more women enter the establishment and also stay on for a considerable length of time.
Unfortunately, there are only three to eight per cent women in India’s traditional industrial segment, as per the estimates by consultancy firm, Avtar Career Creators and Flexi Careers India.
Tata Steel’s leadership development programmes and speed-mentoring opportunities are aimed at women with potential, at various levels in the organisational hierarchy. These will help them progress to the next level and also develop into future leaders.
Absence of gender diversity can have an adverse effect on business. Diversity in the workforce gives rise to a variety of mindsets, which in turn, deal with various situations and challenges in different ways. This assortment and variation is a great asset when it comes to strategising.
Not long ago, Tata Steel had come up with the concept of menstrual leave, which permits its women staff to take 12 days off annually, from the sick leave that they are entitled to, without producing a medical certificate for the same.
The Company has also held forth a helping hand to those women who wish to make a comeback. Aptly called ‘Take Two’, this programme offers a second career option to interested women employees.
