"In absolute numbers, there will be approximately 63.5 million new entrants to the working age group of 15-59 years between 2011 and 2016. Further, it is important to note that the bulk of this increase in the population is likely to take place in relatively younger age group of 20-35 years. Such a trend would make India as one of the youngest nations in the world. In 2020, the average Indian will be only 29 years old, compared to 37 in China and the US, 45 in West Europe and 48 in Japan. This trend is seen significant on the grounds that what matters is not the size of the population, but its age structure”
Source: Ministry of Labour and Employment (Annual report published in July 2010)
The first wave of the Millennial Generation—born between 1980 and 2001—is entering the workforce now. This generation may have been labelled reckless and impatient but are also known to be result and delivery oriented. Organisations are undergoing changes to accommodate the various needs and demands of this generation. Are they bending over too much too soon? Or does the Gen-Y hold enough promise to warrant these changes?
Do share your thoughts.
By:Neeti
Sep 23, 2010
Aug 26, 2010
Keep it safe!
High profile cases of sexual harassment in the press have certainly had an impact in the Indian workplace. An increasing number of Indian corporate firms have now stopped pushing issues under the carpet and instead, address them as important business issues. This, not only creates a ‘healthy’ work environment, but also safeguards against, reputational, operational and legal risks.
All this and more was discussed at our "No Excuses for Sexual Harassment" workshop, conducted in Delhi on the 25th of July this year. This was our fifth workshop on the subject and was well received by over 30 participants, representing 21 corporations. Mr Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM, opened the session and impressed upon the participants, the need for better awareness and understanding on the subject.
The workshop focussed on educating employers on their responsibilities on recognising and preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. The interactions with the participants, and the candid exchange of experiences during the training, were indeed eye-openers for many participants, some of who came forth with first-hand experiences. The session was followed by a sharing of best practices from organisations that had robust practices in place. A legal perspective was provided on all these cases, by a lawyer panel member.
We are glad to note that HR professionals present in the room were unanimous that although employees may cringe at the thought of having anything to do with sexual harassment, it is important to educate them on the occurances and types of sexual harassment. Most cases, unless voiced by the victim or another employee, go undetected and breed scared, unhappy employees, often leading to attrition. In other instances, the harassment matters get out of hand and attract unwanted media attention and legal wrangles.
Verbal and non-verbal advances, quid pro quo harassment, and harassment of male employees are no longer rare occurrences and are potential legal exposures in the office environment. Employers therefore are establishing policies to create respectful work places as part of their business mandate. This workshop was an important step towards this.
We, at Interweave, sure look forward to hearing the success stories emerging from there. Do keep us posted!
All this and more was discussed at our "No Excuses for Sexual Harassment" workshop, conducted in Delhi on the 25th of July this year. This was our fifth workshop on the subject and was well received by over 30 participants, representing 21 corporations. Mr Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM, opened the session and impressed upon the participants, the need for better awareness and understanding on the subject.
The workshop focussed on educating employers on their responsibilities on recognising and preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. The interactions with the participants, and the candid exchange of experiences during the training, were indeed eye-openers for many participants, some of who came forth with first-hand experiences. The session was followed by a sharing of best practices from organisations that had robust practices in place. A legal perspective was provided on all these cases, by a lawyer panel member.
We are glad to note that HR professionals present in the room were unanimous that although employees may cringe at the thought of having anything to do with sexual harassment, it is important to educate them on the occurances and types of sexual harassment. Most cases, unless voiced by the victim or another employee, go undetected and breed scared, unhappy employees, often leading to attrition. In other instances, the harassment matters get out of hand and attract unwanted media attention and legal wrangles.
Verbal and non-verbal advances, quid pro quo harassment, and harassment of male employees are no longer rare occurrences and are potential legal exposures in the office environment. Employers therefore are establishing policies to create respectful work places as part of their business mandate. This workshop was an important step towards this.
We, at Interweave, sure look forward to hearing the success stories emerging from there. Do keep us posted!
Yes we can: Identifying and pushing our comfort zones
Conducting our first-ever workshop for the public sector, we loved the interaction with this amazing group of high-performing women who are at ease with heavy machinery and equipment, be it in the boiler rooms or on the shopfloors. Their experiences in trying to overcome some of their socialised limitations, were inspiring, especially in the midst of the prevalent prejudices that exist in a male-dominated work environment. These committed individuals are high performers today, and are indeed, valued employees at the company
The ladies were glad to have all-woman participation in the workshop. The candid discussions we had amply reflected this, as each of them opened up to talk about their day-to-day challenges in their professional environment. Listening to their varied ways of dealing with the challenges was quite a learning for us and for the participants, who realised that all of them were battling similar situations and could use each other’s experiences to learn from.
Our workshop, “Yes we can!” focused on helping these women set realistic goals and put their priorities in perspective. They were eager to learn and willing to push their comfort zones. We encouraged them with our modules on assertiveness and developing the confidence to speak up, influence others and seek support when needed. The inputs were very well received.
At Interweave, this workshop has re-iterated our belief that talent and potential is out there in varied forms and sometimes all it needs is a push in the right direction. This particular enterprise has done a commendable job at leveraging the potential of women who are statistically an under-represented talent pool at workplaces. We believe, that this pioneering effort will cascade into discernable benefits for the organisation. After all, engaging employees to leverage their full potential is a critical business need in corporate India
Please feel free to share with us any of your thoughts on this or let us know of any such initiatives at your workplace.
Jun 22, 2010
Working from home and flexible working arrangements seems to be the need of the hour and more organisations are taking the initiative to provide their employees with the best. What do you feel? How effective are these options? What can companies do to bring out the best in their employees?Click on the image above to read Jun 8, 2010
The lady wields the sword
Ages before women’s empowerment became a catch-phrase, women in India have stood on level ground with their male counterparts – sometimes even wielding a sword to prove it. The ancient martial art of Kerala – Kalaripayattu – had legions of female warriors who trained shoulder-to-shoulder with men, taking on the same unforgiving physical regime. One such legendary warrior, Unniyarcha, is said to have saved the women of an entire village with her valour, bravery, and especially her adroit handling of urumi – a thin, long, flexible sword.
Kerala’s martial folklore is replete with ballads praising Unniyarcha, and several bio-pics have been made on her life. She is always portrayed as a highly skilled, accomplished warrior, respected and emulated by her colleagues – male and female – and by legions of students. Today, when the armed forces commit to providing equal opportunities for lady officers, Unniyarcha’s story provides immense inspiration.
By - Pramod Shankar
Ages before women’s empowerment became a catch-phrase, women in India have stood on level ground with their male counterparts – sometimes even wielding a sword to prove it. The ancient martial art of Kerala – Kalaripayattu – had legions of female warriors who trained shoulder-to-shoulder with men, taking on the same unforgiving physical regime. One such legendary warrior, Unniyarcha, is said to have saved the women of an entire village with her valour, bravery, and especially her adroit handling of urumi – a thin, long, flexible sword.
Kerala’s martial folklore is replete with ballads praising Unniyarcha, and several bio-pics have been made on her life. She is always portrayed as a highly skilled, accomplished warrior, respected and emulated by her colleagues – male and female – and by legions of students. Today, when the armed forces commit to providing equal opportunities for lady officers, Unniyarcha’s story provides immense inspiration.
By - Pramod Shankar
May 21, 2010
Look out for the women!
I came across an article called Hiring Tips, which really amused me at first and also got me to think if there was any truth in this at all!
Read on to know what I'm talking about; and yes, we are very keen on knowing what you think and feel about the same. So do add your comments!
Below is a part of the article I read.
To hire the right women -
1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they’re less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn’t be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.
2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It’s always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.
Hmmmm...
By Tasneem
Read on to know what I'm talking about; and yes, we are very keen on knowing what you think and feel about the same. So do add your comments!
Below is a part of the article I read.
To hire the right women -
1. Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they’re less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn’t be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.
2. When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It’s always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.
Hmmmm...
By Tasneem
Apr 28, 2010
Something that we hear way too much in recent times – Work-life balance!!!
Just as the name suggests, and very simply put, work-life balance is an achievement of a balanced work and general life routine. I won’t say equally balanced, because it never works so right practically, but something which is and should be more realistic and rewarding.
Some people might ask… “What’s life if you don’t have work?”, on the contrary, what’s work if you don’t have a life?
There is no ‘one size – fits all’ method. Each of us live and prioritize differently. The best approach to take is when you can ‘Achieve’ and ‘Enjoy’ everyday life - from the smallest to the biggest of things. Being creative while cooking, accepting a mistake and learning from it, reconnecting with a friend after a really long time, making a presentation at work, overcoming difficult situations through rationalizing or even writing this article for the blog is a sense of achievement and very enjoyable for me personally!
In a nutshell, the only trick is to be able to “balance work and life’s equations between positive and negative experiences...”
Would love to know your thoughts on work-life balance... so go ahead and drop a comment!
Some interesting quotes for you:
"It is balance; we need it. The sad part is
that some people pay more attention to their credit than
they do to their own balance in life!"
Catherine Pulsifer, from A Credit Check on Your Balance
"I've learned that you can't have everything
and do everything at the same time."
Oprah Winfrey
"Looking back at the times where I allowed my work to create stress and frustration in my life I now realize what I thought was important really was not. I am not saying you should not take your work seriously, what I am saying is that we need to realize that life is all about balance."
Catherine Pulsifer, from Briefcase with an Engine
- By Tasneem
Some people might ask… “What’s life if you don’t have work?”, on the contrary, what’s work if you don’t have a life?
There is no ‘one size – fits all’ method. Each of us live and prioritize differently. The best approach to take is when you can ‘Achieve’ and ‘Enjoy’ everyday life - from the smallest to the biggest of things. Being creative while cooking, accepting a mistake and learning from it, reconnecting with a friend after a really long time, making a presentation at work, overcoming difficult situations through rationalizing or even writing this article for the blog is a sense of achievement and very enjoyable for me personally!
In a nutshell, the only trick is to be able to “balance work and life’s equations between positive and negative experiences...”
Would love to know your thoughts on work-life balance... so go ahead and drop a comment!
Some interesting quotes for you:
"It is balance; we need it. The sad part is
that some people pay more attention to their credit than
they do to their own balance in life!"
Catherine Pulsifer, from A Credit Check on Your Balance
"I've learned that you can't have everything
and do everything at the same time."
Oprah Winfrey
"Looking back at the times where I allowed my work to create stress and frustration in my life I now realize what I thought was important really was not. I am not saying you should not take your work seriously, what I am saying is that we need to realize that life is all about balance."
Catherine Pulsifer, from Briefcase with an Engine
- By Tasneem
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