No More The Weaker Vessel

Its a curious world, really. From being protected, pampered & revered to being sized up in the glance of an eye , all within a matter of hours, sometimes minutes, is the average woman's daily schedule. It's living with the latent fear of becoming just another statistic, because of your gender no matter what your accomplishments, personality & values. It's the quick & quiet mental check of 'Is It Safe?', before stepping into a cab, club or conference room. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.

And its draining.

But it doesn't have to be, at least all the time, if the workplace can help. At Shiprocket, as an employer of a significant % of women, we aim to provide comfort & confidence to our women employees & have taken the following measures to help women emphatically break out of the mould of being the 'weaker vessel' :

1. Appointment of a Women's Counselor : Our Vice President - Engineering, a valued lady leader and a new mother, has been appointed as our Woman Counselor in an advisory capacity. In this role, she will provide support and guidance to our women employees, drawing on her own experiences and understanding of the challenges our women team members may face at work, life and even motherhood.She is here to listen, advise, and help navigate any concerns women employees may have. We are confident that her empathy and insights will make a positive impact on our workplace.
2. Self-Defense Classes : To empower our women employees with the skills and confidence to live their lives confidently & unencumbered, we are introducing self-defense classes that will be held twice a week for the next 3 months. These classes are designed to teach practical techniques and strategies to ensure personal & others' safety. We encourage all women employees to participate.
3. Self-Defense Talk : & Q&A By an IPS ranking lady officer on personal safety measures to be taken by women employees while navigating office, home?& outside. The talk hopes to create awareness of little checks one can make to elevate personal security overall.
4. Transport, If Sitting Late : It is compulsory for the Reporting Managers to ensure that the women employees, if asked to work and stay till 8 PM, should be provided with a cab to be dropped at their homes during night hours and confirm their safe travel. This shall be reimbursed by the company after the bill is produced to the accounts department and post approval from the reporting manager.

While these steps are not all-encompassing, they will cover the basics & lead to the start of an unencumbered experience for our women employees. My father used to say when I was a teenager - While both are important, your safety matters more than your success. Bearing this in mind, I hope our initiatives will help our women employees not get sidetracked & focus on what's really important. Having 'main character' energy & becoming the supernova successes they have the potential to be.

#EmpowerWomen #HeartLedBusiness