Smart Choice

Things to check out before you join a new workplace

The legislature has facilitated increased involvement of women at workplaces by amending applicable legislations and making them more conducive. Employers have also started to recognise the role played by women and are actively looking at engaging and including more women to make the workforce gender diverse. While there has been a marked change in the attitude of both the society and the economy, it is important that you assess whether the chosen workplace is conducive for your long term growth.

The culture and policies

A good place of work maintains strong human resources policies, has an employee-friendly environment, complies with law, and has zero tolerance towards gender bias. With the emergence of technology, it has become easier to research about the work culture in advance. Your prospective workplace should have mechanisms to ensure that the environment is safe, encouraging and conducive towards empowering female employees. Policies should provide for flexible working hours and work from home options as well.

Questions that should raise an alarm

The nature of questions asked during the interview is a good indicator of the ideology and ethos of the organisation. Several countries regulate the questions that can or cannot be asked by an employer during the interview. While there is no such regulation in India, several companies have internal policies setting out the questions which an interviewer cannot ask such as those related to marital status, family details, race and religion. It is important to assess whether the questions are focussed on your aptitude or are tainted by preferences of the interviewer.

Gender diversity at senior positions

While there have been instances of women leading global organisations, according to the Global Gender Gap Report released by the World Economic Forum in 2017, India ranks at a measly 108 (out of the total 144 countries) on the gender parity scale. This indicates that a lot of ground is yet to be covered at Indian workplaces. Before joining, you should be apprised of the gender diversity within the organisation, not only at lower positions or entry level positions, but at senior positions as well. In fact, an organisation with a greater number of women in senior positions would indicate a greater chance of future growth for any woman planning to join the organisation.

Mentorship initiatives

Look out for any mentorship initiatives that the prospective employer may have. Such initiatives have proven to be a driving force for women towards selfdevelopment, collaboration, imbibing leadership qualities, meeting their objectives and building competency for female employees under the career guidance of top management leaders.