Telenor said that its women employee base has increased more than 100% across functions like network operations, product development, sales and distribution and social media. The telco now has over 11% female employees, against industry average is pegged at less than 3%.
The company has also focused on hiring differently-abled people. Last year 59 such candidates were recruited. Of these 21 were women. Telenor is also promoting entrepreneurship among women. Over 3% of its 2050 retails outlets are now run by women.
Quazi Mohammad Shahed, Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO), Telenor India said, “Stimulating diversity at workplace and inclusive growth are the core values of Telenor. It is well established now that companies with increased representation of women employees perform better than those without an inclusive strategy. With this not only the reputation of the company increases but even the talent pool widens. At Telenor we are making conscious efforts to increase the number of female employees so that we can benefit from their positive contribution to the overall functionality of the organization.”
Telecom is viewed as one of the most challenging sector for women to work as it requires 24x7 commitment. As many women discontinue their jobs after marriage or maternity, Telenor has put special emphasis on providing the necessary infrastructure to retain them and gives them a career path post maternity. Telenor was the first telecom operator in India to introduce six months maternity leave and has extended the benefits by offering child care allowance to new mothers for 12 months post their comeback.
To overcome post maternity challenges and retain top talent, Telenor has introduced various other programmes for women like flexible working hours, work from home policy and gender sensitization at workplace. Telenor is also offering extended mobility benefits for women employees by promoting movement across circles.
As part of its commitment to empower women and bridge the gender gap within and outside the organisation, last year Telenor India inaugurated three contact centers at Jamshedpur in Jharkhand; Solan in Himachal Pradesh and Ethakota near Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.
These facilities are being are managed by Tata-BSS and aims at creating employment opportunities in the IT sector for not only urban women but also for ones who come from rural parts of these states, the company said. Telenor also operates an outbound call center from Patna called DIAL which is run by women.
