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Hybrid model helps work-life balance

An image depicting a smiling woman, Rumisha Motilal

RUMISHA MOTILAL The work from home model has helped women achieve a better work-life balance by affording them greater flexibility

12th August 2022

By: Sabrina Jardim

Creamer Media Online Writer

     

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Restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic made it difficult for women working in the mining industry to maintain a work-life balance. As a result, industrial and mine site automation solutions provider Gilbarco Veeder-Root introduced a permanent hybrid work model to enable its employees – men and women – to work from home.

“One of the bigger challenges we face is attracting and retaining women in this working environment because it can be difficult for women with children to adjust and maintain an appropriate work-life balance, which is why we have embraced the work- from-home model,” explains Gilbarco industrial and mining commercial director Rumisha Motilal.

She explains that this model has helped women to achieve a work-life balance by affording them greater flexibility in balancing their robust mining careers with their individual lifestyles outside the workplace.

Men working from home enables them to take on more household and childcare responsibilities, in addition to helping to foster a more equal division of household duties among men and women.

Gilbarco aims to obtain 33% female representation for its senior workforce by 2025 and aims to ensure that it has a pipeline of young female engineers being trained.

To address challenges of inclusivity, Gilbarco introduced its diversity and inclusion council, comprising various forums, in 2020.

The council includes members from regional and management levels and it enables people from different backgrounds to share their struggles and achievements.

Motilal says having senior management participation in the council shows Gilbarco’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, whereby men and women encourage one another.

“This is not a battle that women need to fight alone. It’s about taking real, detailed ownership and Gilbarco’s senior executive management own this as a strategic pillar, and that differentiates us from other mining and mining-related companies,” she adds.

Gilbarco also provides a general management development programme that prioritises women wanting to grow and enhance their skills in the mining industry.

Moreover, the company conducts an occupational talent assessment every quarter, whereby it identifies existing talent in the company and places women in the development programme accordingly.

This enables them to be coached and supported in-house by members at senior management level, which Motilal says has “yielded great results”.

The company also has formal training on an executive level to track the progression of its female talent acquisition.

“Having senior management, belief, participation and drive as strategic pillars for women representation, rather than merely ticking boxes, is what sets our actions apart from the rest,” adds Motilal.

Meanwhile, while there has been progress with regard to gender equality in mining, she notes that there are still improvements to be made, especially because diversity in the workforce can be economically beneficial for mining companies.

“We are seeing a lot more awareness being created and more women are embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution which enables them to conduct more remote drilling and automation. At Gilbarco, we are embracing the research around diverse workforces and on the improvements that come from having a diverse workforce,” concludes Motilal.

 

Edited by Nadine James
Features Deputy Editor

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