Tech firms turn mother hen to retain young moms

Tech organisations such as SAP Labs, Intel and Accenture are going all out to retain expectant moms in their workforce.

SAP Labs India claims that the company can handle every problem faced by expectant mothers on its workforce. And the company has statistics to back its claim.

Its ‘Run Mummier’ programme and mobile app for expectant mothers has brought maternity attrition down from 40 per cent in 2010 to 6 per cent today.

With 35 per cent women in its 5,000-strong workforce, the company is confident of enhancing the presence of women in management positions to 25 per cent by 2017, from 21 per cent now and 13 per cent in 2012.

“We offer 20 weeks of paid maternity leave and an additional 16 weeks of unpaid leave. We take care of women from the beginning of their pregnancy till they return to work along with their infants who are in the care of SAPlings, a crèche-cum-Montessori school for 6-month to six-year-olds” Bhuvaneswar Naik, Vice-President, Human Resources, SAP Labs India, told BusinessLine . The company, which has tied up with maternity specialist hospital Cloudnine, offers two months of pickup/drop facility during pregnancy, raised maternity insurance, reserved seat in office shuttle, work from home options and constant support with the Run Mummier App.

“Designed to be a friend and guide to women entering motherhood, the app provides information on specific policies/benefits that are applicable during pregnancy as well as post childbirth. It also acts as a reminder by providing checklists for women to complete during pregnancy and while on maternity leave as well,” said Naik.

The company won the award for Excellence in Gender Inclusion at the Nasscom Diversity and Inclusion Summit this January.

Effective May 1, Accenture increased maternity leave benefits for its full-time and part-time women employees in India to 22 weeks of paid leave. Women are allowed another 12 weeks of unpaid leave and an additional four weeks of paid leave if there is an illness directly related to the mother’s pregnancy. “We want to help our people balance life and career choices, supporting them through the joys and challenges of parenting, as they continue to focus on their careers,” said Parag Pande, Human Resource Lead for Accenture India. Additionally, the company offers 8 weeks of paid adoption leave for primary caregivers of an adopted child and one week of paid paternal leave for fathers.

In Intel India, where women comprise 22 per cent of the 5,000-strong workforce, women are encouraged to return to work after a career break with an initiative called ‘Home to Office.’ Kumud Srinivasan, President, Intel India, said while 30 per cent of Intel’s fresh graduate hiring is women, many of them from 25-30 years of age quit fast due to the trailing-spouse phenomenon, first child and second child life stages.

“We cannot afford to lose this talent and offer part-time employment to promote flexibility in the workplace,” she said. Intel has also introduced a women protégé sponsorship programme aimed to double the number of senior technical women by the end of 2016.

With the rising cost of talent, which is always in short supply, organisations are more concerned about retaining the best talent, be it, men or women, said Kangan Shekhar Venkataramani, Benefits Practice Leader, Mercer Consulting India.

“Extended maternity leave is one way of retaining women where companies offer up to 125 extra days of leave and allow women to club their unused annual leave with maternity leave; 54 per cent of Indian organisations offer telecommuting and flexi-timings and 23 per cent offer childcare facilities such as crèche on premise or tie up with a day-care centre near office,” she said.