A wishful list of things women want in a “Perfect Workplace”- from a grocery store and beauty salon to managers who can deal with high female achievers. 

Continuing from where I left last week?…I bring to you as promised “Ideas” to make offices more “female-friendly” from women working in different sectors and countries.

During my interaction with these women, I discovered few interesting facts and came across some interesting ideas these women had to improve workplace situation for female employees in India.

Countries like USA are more evolved in catering to the needs of their female employees than their counterparts in India. Similarly a few sectors like IT, Consulting and Healthcare industries are more women-oriented than other traditionally male-dominated sectors like Manufacturing, Banking and Finance to name a few.

Let’s hear from some of the working-women about their ideas of a “Perfect Workplace” :

Have Equal Pay Policies

Suruchi Srivastava, Executive HR at Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

“Many organizations tend to pay women lower than their male counterparts for the same kind of job. The gender disparity in compensation has been going on for ages in the corporate scenario not only in India but in many parts of the world, where women are paid less only because they are “women”. “Managers usually are of the opinion that men are easier to manage and extract work from than women. Men can work long hours, can travel more often and for a long period and are more focused than women as they do not need to worry about their house and family. Hence, men deserve higher compensation than the women counterparts.” is a very common reason that we hear.”

Change in attitude for women with kids

Swati Shah, Senior executive in L&D at Aditi Technologies Ltd.

“It has been found that mothers’ chances of getting hired are up to a 100 per cent lower than those of childless women. This means that they often don’t even get the chance to push their foot through the doorway. The few that do get in; have to pretend that their family doesn’t exist if they want to make their way up the corporate ladder. “At times, they have to do so at the expense of prioritizing work over family. Women CEOs, though, have been observed to be more open about their family lives – it is just the women on their way up who tend to keep mum about their family in a bid to be taken seriously.”

Improved Transport and Child-care Facilities

“Companies should provide pick-up and drop facilities for female employees who want to avail these services, at no additional costs to the company” says Shaily Pandit Marketing executive at ITC Hotels.

Mothers would find it a whole lot easier if there was a place to have their children around – besides the usual crèches for babies – so that they can do their work without undue worry.

Prachi Shah, a developer with E-infochips agrees: “One of the things we will need to have in Indian workplaces is crèches/ facilities for babies and pre-school going children. With reliable domestic help getting scarce and with the joint family practice receding from our society, this will become a huge necessity. When they are not stressed about their children, women can become more productive. Flexible working hours, too, would be a huge advantage to mothers, who would otherwise be forced to drop out of the workforce and sacrifice their careers.

Better Food and Cafeteria Options

“Cafeteria’s should offer more healthy and simple food options for females at work to help them manage their diet and health requirements. More fruits, juices and healthy snack options would be a welcome change from the routine calorie loaded lunch and snack options available in office canteens.” says Nikita Chothani, CA with KPMG. “Having restaurants or café’s that provide healthy, nutritious and varied take-away options within the work campus would be a big help for working women in single families, she adds.

Inclusive Bonding and Fun Activities

Aashka Shah, SAP Business Analyst working in Faurecia USA talks about the extra curricular and “fun” activities at workplaces – “When planning for employee bonding activities companies usually think of activities like Golf, Fishing, Drinking parties and similar recreation activities preferred more by men. Instead companies should arrange activities that where both men and women can equally enjoy like dinner parties with families, musical concerts, plays, movies, sporting events etc. Activities should be such that provide mental stimulation and results are based on intelligence and capability not on physical strength only.”

These suggestions are vital to making women feel more included in the workforce. With a lot of companies buying into the “women-friendly” concept, it is only a matter of time before others follow this suit.

So maybe our “dream workplace” will translate into reality sometime soon!