From Awareness to Empowerment: Teleperformance's Commitment to Gender Equality
"A gender-equal society would be one where the word 'gender' does not exist: where everyone can be themselves." – Gloria Steinem (feminist writer and activist)
Teleperformance: A Gender Smart Workplace
A sans-gender-bias society may seem like a concept from a distant, ideal world. However, at Teleperformance, we are striving to achieve the next best thing - inspiring change for a better future and advocating gender equality in all aspects, starting with the workplace. It’s ironic that while India is producing up to 43% women graduates in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics), far more than its developed peers (UK – 38%, US – 34% and Canada – 31%), participation of these highly skilled women in the workforce remains inadequate.
At TP India, we are driven with a strong desire to change this status quo by helping more women find their rightful place in their corporate journey. The fact that we are able to onboard about 38% women successfully every month and have an average diversity ratio of nearly 40% women in the India workforce further fuels our passion to design unique programs and initiatives that pave the way for a truly ‘gender-smart’ workplace.
TP Women India Program – Building the Scaffold to Support their Dreams
The TP Women program is our exclusive initiative that looks specifically at the challenges faced by women in the workplace and helps them overcome these by ACE:
- Awareness: driving thought-provoking dialogues around women’s issues
- Celebration: recognizing women’s achievements and giving them a voice
- Empowerment: enabling women to grow with the right resources and opportunities
The program is designed to support the development and advancement of women across all levels in the organization and to create a more gender-balanced workforce.
Backed by the creative opus of 10 experienced women leaders from various domains as TP Women India Board Members and 28 enthusiastic women on the sub-divisional boards instituted across 20+ sites under the TP Women Ambassadorship Program, TP Women has been in motion in India since 2019 and has grown manifold since. This has helped us effectively increase the accessibility and approachability of the forum throughout the country, so that more women can be reached and benefit through its multifaceted approach.
Recognizing that change begins with an open conversation, we host regular Thought Camps by opinion makers and industry leaders to identify and address the concerns of our women employees. These “stimulating discussions” as the attendees often describe them, are aimed at encouraging the unheard voices and thoughts. Making this innovative idea-generation exercise more inclusive is a dedicated TP Women portal segment on our All Ideas Matter (AIM) platform that allows people (women and men) to share their suggestions and solutions to address some of the more prominent issues.
Nurturing and Enabling them throughout their Growth Journey
We extend our deeply engrained ethos of utmost employee care to all women employees through various virtual or physical wellness sessions conducted by health coaches or healthcare professionals. One great example of this is the frequent social awareness and wellbeing workshops organized for our women support staff. Themed around their physical and mental wellness and acquainting them with practical tips on self-love and self-care, these sessions have proven to make a strong impact for women security guards and housekeeping staff.
Unfortunately, many talented and dynamic young women leave the workforce after marriage, and even more after becoming mothers, due to their new family care or childcare responsibilities. In the TP Women Survey, this was also identified as the top reason women hesitate to apply for managerial roles. We want to make every effort to change that. Our initiatives, such as the TP Women Maternity Program and the Homecoming, not only support new and expecting mothers with benefits such as flexible working hours, ergonomic working environment including seating arrangement and rest areas earmarked for them to put their feet up and relax, mentorship programs, and mental health counselling, but also engage women who have taken a career break, to bring them back into the workforce.
Along with creating an inclusive work culture that allows equal opportunities for women, it is important that they take advantage of these opportunities. Therefore, with the aim of grooming and encouraging women at the mid-level management to take on more advanced leadership roles, TP Women Mentorship Program was introduced in 2020. Now in its third wave, the program recently enrolled 31 capable women for leadership training, coaching, workshops, and networking events, such as Women In Network (WIN) sessions, an exclusive forum for women to express themselves.
The TP Women program has helped create a more balanced representation of women in the organization, while also helping them integrate work and personal life responsibilities. These efforts have also been widely recognized and accredited at local and global forums including:
- ‘India’s Best Workplaces for Women’ by Great Place to Work (2022) – 3 TIMES IN A ROW!
- ‘100 Best Companies for Women in India’ by Avatar and Seramount (2022) – 3 TIMES IN A ROW!
- ‘Best Organization for Women’ award by Economic Times (2022)
- ‘Best Woman Advancement’ award by Business World People (2022)
- ‘Organization Supporting Women Leadership’ at the Future Woman Leaders Awards (2022)
- ‘D&I Awareness Campaign of the Year’ award at the 5th D&I Vision and Innovation Summit (2022)
We believe that our journey towards becoming ‘people-smart’ and providing winning solutions for our clients and exceptional experiences for customers, has only been possible because of our "gender-smart" roots. By building a culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) throughout the organization, our aim is to leverage the true power of the unison of our diverse talents, skills, and abilities – whether they are women, men, or other brilliant minds.
Our gaze is fixed towards a future of work where, regardless of our differences, a shared sense of equality, respect, and trust leads to collective growth and success for all.