Breaking Barriers: Evonith Steel’s Journey towards Gender Equity and Empowerment

MyVoice

“For girls who want to take their first flight towards a versatile career, Evonith Steel is the place to spread wings.”

Anuradha Bhave, who joined the organization in 2012 as a legal officer, shares how Evonith Steel is creating change. Interestingly, she talks of ‘positive discrimination’ for creating an equitable workplace where everyone can grow.

Evonith Steel is about sensitivity. And this is evident in the sea of change I am witnessing. To start with something as minuscule as parking, it has been extended to a larger area to accommodate two-wheelers
and four-wheelers for women. And it is visible that the company has considered the future that more women will join us. This is sensitivity. What’s heartening is the proactive conscious thinking.

There is an aim to hire and empower women. There is empathy. People are accepting of the value women bring to the workforce with heart, and not as a matter of compliance. Women’s issues are not only heard, but I see that there is action.

 

Women are joining Evonith Steel in various capabilities including the shopfloor. The HODs oversee their integration with a singular focus of growth and further honing their skills.

My finer observation would be that when people question why women need to be focused on when it comes to providing opportunities and facilities, there is a need to create balance.

Our constitution speaks of ‘positive discrimination’. It applies not only to women, but to all weaker sections. This is to rectify an existing imbalance. Once, there is balance, questions are bound to disappear. But while the balance is being built, it needs support, not questioning.

And that is what I see Evonith Steel working and making efforts towards.

In due course, the natural shaping of mindsets that consider women to be on par with men needs to propagate. This is because leaders or managers should not think twice about whether a girl or a boy can do a job or not. In ways, the bias needs to break, and caliber should be supreme.

Every opportunity to break the glass ceiling must be made. For example, a woman mechanical engineer should work on big machines on the shopfloor, rather than being relegated to an office role. In defence sector too, change is happening. Women are being put in combat roles. So, this is about not only having women on shopfloor, but about letting them do things, not restricting them to certain or fixed jobs. An attitude of trial and error has to be encouraged.

Our environment must give them exposure and chart out the growth path, so they stay with us for a long. Being an employee, all are equal.

And like I said, I am seeing the above put in motion.

To sign off, Evonith Steel is the place for women freshers who want to build a long-term career for a versatile experience. Their first flight starts here.