Edelweiss Tokio Life rolls out slew of D & I initiatives
08 Oct 2021
Edelweiss Tokio Life is upping the ante on its diversity and inclusion efforts, and is launching a slew of initiatives to bring about better representation in its workforce.
The insurance company has rolled out ‘WOW’, an inclusion programme for its female workforce. On the platform, women can interact with each other regarding gender-specific issues like imposter syndrome, equality of opportunities, need for mentoring, etc. and has since evolved so that men and women in leadership roles can engage with this cohort on a quarterly basis.
“This led us to conduct a few focused group discussions to understand the factors contributing to this trend, and one common factor that emerged was the need for an independent, unbiased platform which allows our female workforce to network, learn from each other and share their experiences without judgement,” he told ET.
The organisation has 3,300-odd employees, out of which 27% are women, a figure the firm is looking to increase to 35% over the next couple of years.
The firm is also running the initiative ‘Women’s Leadership Program’, under which it is now identifying potential leaders across designations and equipping them with the necessary ammunition for leadership roles in the future.
“The impact of WOW has been heartening to see. The overall female engagement rate has increased to 84% in 2020 from 67% in 2019,” said Bansal.
The company is also focusing on PWDs to improve their representation within the workforce. Under this, it is sensitising recruiters to bring about a more respectful hiring process. Recruiters are being trained on how to conduct interviews of people with various kinds of disabilities, do’s and don'ts, general etiquette, and the aim is to instill an empathetic approach towards their recruitment. After hiring, these new recruits will be mentored and linked with senior leaders for quicker assimilation into the organisation.
“This process will also help us identify their unique challenges, ranging from infrastructure to interpersonal interactions. The insights we gain from this process will help us chart out a tailor-made inclusion approach for this cohort,” said Bansal.
The company is also revisiting its parental leave policies – maternity, paternity, adoption, and phase-back programmes, in an effort to put in place better, and more inclusive, workplace practices.
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