Interweave in the news!

.........The idea for Interweave came directly from Nirmala’s experience with IBM where she was part of the global management development team that focussed specifically on Diversity and multi-cultural inclusion. Having worked with IBM for five years in several countries around the world on this initiative, she was the Diversity and Employee Relations Lead for IBM in India when she quit in 2005. In 2006, she had the idea of pioneering work in this space on a larger scale in India. Ironically, IBM was her first client and Interweave has gone on to work with several other Fortune 500 companies over the last few years.

Interweave began as a proprietorship – a one-woman army actively crusading for a culture change well before D&I was a subject of conversation at business meetings in India. “Challenging work and the thrill of creating niche offerings and the excitement of being pioneers in the space were what kept us going for a good part of the initial three years. We registered as a Private Ltd. company in late 2007 with two employees and have since grown to be a team of 10 across Bangalore, Gurgaon, and Mumbai,” says Nirmala......

Prashant, Kalpana, Nimmi (L to R)

Read more about our coverage in yourstory.in by clicking on: http://yourstory.in/2012/06/interweave-provides-diversity-management-and-inclusion-solutions-for-your-workplace/

Whose concern is it?

The article “Let Us Continue Work in Bar, Say 3 Women” in the July 8^th issue of The Times of India talks about how these 3 women have petitioned to let them continue working as bar stewards. Now, safety of employees, according to the law, is the responsibility of their employer. So how does the government, being the upholder of the law, have the right to suddenly decide that women can work at five- star hotels but not bars? Especially when the women themselves say that accommodation and safe transportation have, in fact, been given to them by their employer.

On one hand, the government claims to have the safety of these women in mind while on the other hand, it has unfairly pushed them out of this space of employment while they want to continue working in it.

Should there be a line that the government should not cross, between ‘protective’ and ‘stifling’? Or should the women be grateful that someone finally has their welfare in mind?

It's discreet, but is it adequate?

Do the Dominique Strauss-Kahn kind of incidents come to light in the Indian hospitality sector? A leading Indian magazine delicately probed the issue, in a recent article, to show how cases of sexual harassments by guests are becoming a greater concern for the industry. It also showed how often such cases are handled with ‘discretion’ to ensure there’s no harm to the hotel’s, staff’s, or individual guest’s reputation.

Let’s move away from the hospitality sector and broaden our canvas to include all organisations across sectors. While many organisations treat cases of sexual harassment with discretion, what is often missing is an official mechanism to see the process through.

The Supreme Court of India has set out guidelines for all organisations to follow when dealing with cases of sexual harassment. This includes having a complaints committee to prevent and look into such matters. Here are some of our recommendations, based on the Supreme Court guidelines, for the Internal Complaints Committee.

Ø  The Internal Complaints Committee should consist of 5 to 7 members.

Ø  The Committee should be headed by a woman employee, who shall be its Chairperson.

Ø  There should be at least one person selected from an external group, like an NGO that works towards interests of women.

In our experience, we have observed that...

·      Most employees are unsure about what sexual harassment is and how it can be addressed.

·      Often employers themselves are ignorant and do not have established policies to deal with the matter.

·      Stigmas, fear of tarnishing the company’s or one’s personal reputation, and lack of a suitable support system prevent people from voicing out.

However, sensitisation programmes and educative attempts are helping to highlight the damage caused by such issues. Employers are becoming more sensitive to the matter and employees are becoming more conscious how to contribute to creating a respectful workplace. We see an enormous interest from organisations asking us to conduct workshops and help them define the necessary sexual harassment policies. And it’s even better when an organisation that has already taken the first steps, decides to go a step further by conducting more sessions for further batches of their employees. Clearly, they have seen merit in educating their employees and  creating a wholesome work atmosphere.

What steps has your organisation taken in this direction? Write in and tell us. 

"Recognising & Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work" - NASSCOM & Interweave's Workshop - 20th May, Gurgaon

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E-learning on Preventing & Recognising Sexual Harassment at Work

Here is a preview of our e-learning module on preventing and recognising sexual harassment at work. Its a great tool to reach out and educate individual contributors in your organisation.
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Making Workplaces Work for Women!

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Share your thoughts on how to make workplaces work for women.

A Case Of A Conversation: handling sexual harassment

A boss or a colleague doesn’t have to touch you to sexually harass you. Many women can attest to feeling uncomfortable with little or no physical contact. A proposition need not always be outright: it can be as insidious as remark or a joke. All this and more were discussed in the recent conversations Interweave conducted at a professional financial services firm in Bangalore last week.

Take an example of two colleagues travelling in a car. The male makes a reference to a recently released movie that explores the relationship between an older man and younger woman, attempting to gauge his female colleague’s reaction to a similar proposition. The woman feels uncomfortable and agitated and lodges a complaint with the HR.

Verbal sexual harassments of such kind are common, and can affect the work atmosphere. If ignored, it can lead to repeated situations of harassment, the consequences of which may become difficult for the company to bear. This kind of behaviour, therefore, must be nipped in the bud.

The case is a lesson for teams at large that colleagues and employees should not indulge in conversations which can be perceived wrongly. The concern is how the context is perceived, not what is implied.

Once it has been perceived wrongly, not only does it mean malicious spreading of rumours that tarnish the company and employee’s reputation, but it also spreads ill will and makes it progressively difficult to work in the environment – eventually leading to attrition. Before the harasser takes such a situation forward, the so-called victim should nip it in the bud.

The best method is to understand what your rights are, what is inappropriate work behaviour. With this knowledge, you can be more confident of the decisions you make concerning the situation. In the above mentioned scenario, it would be ideal for the woman to have said such conversations make her uneasy or that she wants to keep her comments to herself, while making other polite conversations.

More and more companies are trying to address such unwanted situations at work by equipping employees with techniques to prevent and handle possible harassment. Not only does this gear your workforce for higher productivity but it also protects the firm from any resulting legal tangles. Sessions like these can certainly help employees understand that it’s not always necessary to escalate issues or make complaints: sometimes the employees themselves can handle such inter-personal cases appropriately and douse a spark that could later have flared into something bigger.

What are your views? Mail us on the cases you may have come across.