WOMEN CAREER SPECIAL...Women get hands dirty on shop floor

Women get hands dirty on shop floor

Opt For Production, Field Jobs Even If It Means Working In Remote Locations

Mumbai: A young woman taking temperature measurements of large furnaces is an unlikely sight at the shop floor of a cement manufacturing facility. But Mahashweta Banerjee, who is a production engineer at Ambuja Cements’ Chandrapur factory in Maharashtra, has had no qualms about working 5-6 hours every day on the shop floor since 2009. What can be especially stressful is the remote location of the factory — 50-odd km from the main city with the nearest post office being 7-8 km away. But Banerjee, who completed her chemical engineering from Raipur Institute of Technology in 2009, says her safety is ensured.
    “There are no multiplexes here. No malls. But I am content,” says the 25-year-old, who exercised her choice to work on the shop floor, when other female batch mates stuck to the conventional computer jobs. Banerjee is, however, comforted by the fact that more women are following in her footsteps. Six other women engineers are now working with Banerjee on the shop floor.
    This is one among a growing trend of stories at companies which had traditionally not witnessed women coming into such mainstream jobs in large droves. Besides, the number of women employees at Ambuja Cements has risen 40% since 2009. “Quite a few women engineers are now joining us. Although most of our plants are in remote areas, they are keen on working on the shop floor. We try to give them a factory which is closer to their homes,” says Meenakshi Narain, joint president (HR), Ambuja Cements.
    Most companies want to improve diversity at each level and across functional areas to usher in a healthy work atmosphere. Sunil Goel, director, Global-Hunt, an executive search firm, says today most of the tiresome jobs are equipped with high-end technologies which are convenient to handle. “Automobile, manufacturing, retail and logistics and supply chain industries are largely dominated by men, but it has been observed that companies are bringing up work place diversity aspect and women are getting equal opportunities with specific skills and functional training to handle a particular job,” says Goel.
    When Blue Dart Express first got to know that its service counters in Shillong had six territory sales representatives (TSR), all of whom happened to be ‘lady Blue Darters’, it decided to encourage recruiting women at its other counters as well. Lady Blue Darters contribute about 13% to the total workforce today. Women usually avoid tedious functions like sales which involve outdoor duties. But with Shillong setting an example, Blue Dart Express intends to induct women in sales and operations as well.
    For the first time, the company has hired women management trainees (MTs) in a structured manner. They constitute 20% of the total MTs recruited and have opted for sales and operations. “This is a welcome change considering that the logistics industry has always been perceived as a male domain. We hope that this will pave the way for more ladies to consider the logistics industry as a lucrative career option,” says Barttanu Das, senior vice president, HR, Blue Dart Express.
    Although companies would like women to take on roles in areas dominated by men, such a transition would require sufficient efforts. Similarly, Procter & Gamble India (P&G) is focusing on increasing the number of women in its factories, sales and supply chain. Sonali Roychowdhury, HR head, P&G India, says this has been made possible through enabling work systems and a culture that helps the company recruit, grow and retain women employees. A key enabler for driving gender diversity at P&G India has been internal women’s networks, where women leaders mentor younger managers. The network platforms are tailored for women working in challenging fields like sales and plant operations. Women constitute 26% of the total P&G sales force in India.
    Goel of GlobalHunt says most MNCs have a global mandate to reach 30-40% diversity at work. Women’s share of jobs in manufacturing and plant activities would only go up.
BREAKING NEW BARRIERS
Since the first woman engineer joined Ambuja Cements’ Chandrapur factory in 2009, six others have opted for shop floor jobs
Women engineers are joining Ambuja shop floor even in remote areas

Blue Dart Express’ Shillong counter is manned by women; it is encouraging other counters to follow the example
P&G India uses internal networks to help recruit women
Most MNCs have a target of 30-40% gender diversity

Namrata Singh TOI120605