Organizations must be family friendly

Organizations must be family friendly

Employees today are asking for a workplace that helps them balance the demands of their work and family lives, rather than forcing them to choose one over the other. Organizations have also accepted that among the many other aspirations of employees, the most important is one that seeks to be able to ‘provide well’ for their families Amongst the many schemes that organizations have introduced for their employees, having special schemes for their children is the latest addition. While some are offering various schemes like scholarships, medical benefits, and training some young kids to accompany their mothers to work. Many organizations boast of instances where they have gone out of their way to extend special help to the child of a particular employee.

At NIIT, one would witness various examples of how these commitments have been actually put into practice. Little NIITian is a special name given to the kids of NIITians (read: employees), who are a special part of NIIT. The company’s ‘calendar’ is dotted with many fun activities which encourage active participation from these little ones. No matter what the occasion, if it touches and concerns a NIITians or his / her family, the company tries to be a part of it. Amongst the many schemes which the company offers towards employee welfare, the one which was found most special was the one wherein on the birth of a little NIITian, the company contributes a sum as investment in the name of the new born. NIIT also has schemes like ‘Little NIITian Care Leave (LNCL)’ under which, the NIITians can avail half time working hours on half pay, to take care of a child at home. The leave can be utilized for a maximum of six months period for half days till the child is one year old.

High expectation levels, increasing attrition rates and increasing demand for work life balance has forced organizations to look beyond run of the mill HR interventions. Objective is to create ‘Home away from Home’, an atmosphere where the basic needs of employees are met and they don’t have to be bothered about the daily routine tasks. Under the ‘Child Care Support’ scheme that the company offers, crèches, workplace nurseries, out-of-school care, holiday play schemes and after school clubs are included Similarly, Cellebrum proposes to have scholarship programs, wherein the child of a meritorious and tenured employee with good academic records will be given scholarship fees based on the company’s policy. “Cellebrum has already initiated tie ups with various schools / institutes to take care of the child’s admission at the time of relocation. There is also a ‘Career Counseling Cell’ which provides in-house career counseling options for children of employees.

Amongst the various schemes that 24/7 Customer has initiated for the families of its employees, some of the most prominent ones include ‘Family insurance Scheme’, ‘Employee Welfare Fund’,’ Family Oriented Reward Program’, ‘Reward & Recognition,’ ‘Parents Day’ and ‘Daycare Centre’. 24/7 Customer is the only BPO in India to provide extended insurance to the employee and their families (employee plus four dependents). Under the ‘Employee Welfare Fund’, employees in any kind of medical emergency or need can avail it as a loan. There are instances when one of the family members of an employee had to undergo a major surgery and the amount from this scheme proved to be very helpful. Every month, on Parents Day, the family members of employees are invited to spend a day with their children/spouse/sibling.