Greave's recently opened manufacturing plant in Ranipet, Tamil Nadu, women make up the majority of the working population, accounting for 70% of the workforce.

Women are the epitome of strength, and Greaves' electric mobility is doing everything possible to bring out the best in them. At their recently opened manufacturing plant in Ranipet, Tamil Nadu, women make up the majority of the working population, accounting for 70% of the workforce. The factory's operations began in November 2021 and women have been the backbone of Greaves Electric Mobility, serving as changemakers and true heroes of the country's EV revolution. 

These women are the pride of Ranipet, and Greaves is fulfilling their dreams and financially supporting their families without letting them leave their hometown. On this backdrop, Shefali Suri, CHRO,  Greaves Cotton is here to spill the beans on have they managed to make Greaves Cotton a real-change maker for women in the automobile industry’.

How would you define Greaves Cotton's culture, and how has it evolved over the last few years amidst the pandemic? 

Greaves Cotton is reinforced by the virtues of trust and courage. Our strategy for dealing with this changing ecosystem while maintaining our beliefs and core competencies is straightforward: constant communication and respect that leads to transparency and reduced uncertainty. At Greaves Cotton, we place a lot of emphasis on diversity, inclusivity, and a sense of belonging. Each individual at Greaves is valued, listened to, respected, empowered, and given a genuine sense of belonging. Actual celebration and elevation of each individual in the room goes beyond compliance. To guarantee that it appeals to a broad audience, we want to improve the company's employee value proposition. The leadership team is actively working to increase diversity and ensure gender flexibility in the workplace. We work diligently to maintain our objectives for inclusive growth, the advancement of society, and the preservation of the environment. People's trust in us is a result of our success as well as a strong commitment to doing what is right by society and with the best intentions.

· What is the rationale behind having 70% workforce at the Ranipet facility? 

Our primary goal has always been to cultivate an inclusive outlook and atmosphere among our employees, as well as to endorse women by providing similar opportunities to succeed in their areas of expertise. Operating large gear on manufacturing floors has always required people to be physically strong. But as companies become increasingly mechanized, the heavy lifting is done by robots, hoists, and lifts. Shop floor workers now operate and use machines, which necessitates dexterity rather than strength and this enables employers to engage a more varied workforce irrespective of their gender. It is time for organizations all around the world to acknowledge the potential talent and abilities of the female workforce, who play a crucial role in a variety of business fields. We firmly believe that women can lead the nation's EV revolution and serve as great heroes. We recently rolled out the 50,000th vehicle from our Ranipet plant ahead of schedule reinforcing the soundness of our decision to cultivate a high percentage of women workforce.

· When did the company realize the need for onboarding women at the manufacturing plant? 

For a long time, the manufacturing sector's untapped talent pool has been women and we believed that it was a great opportunity to leverage and enforce women workforce at our ranipet facility. Working in a modern plant like ours requires dexterity over physical strength. At the outset, it was a straightforward decision for us with multiple benefits ranging from business to local community development.

· How did Greaves Cotton manage to have such a high percentage of female workforce at a manufacturing unit? Moreover, how long did it take? 

We hoped to increase employment prospects for surrounding communities, particularly women, with the opening of the new Ranipet factory. In order to position the company for growth, we hired fresh talent while effectively retaining the majority of the previous workers. We placed a lot of emphasis on diversity, and we are still proud of this accomplishment. Our strong footprint across Tamil Nadu, Ampere’s first manufacturing plant was located in Coimbatore, and our commitment to bringing a world-class facility to Ranipet earned us great goodwill among the local communities and the engineering talent in the surrounding region. The goodwill along with a robust training schedule allowed us to scale our women employee numbers significantly in a very short span of time.

· Why do you think upskilling benefits your workforce? 

Upskilling is central to staying relevant both at individual level and at an organizational level. The professional environment has already undergone significant transformation and will continue to do so. Upskilling offers organizations such as ours a higher chance of executing business change rapidly and being more competitive in an industry that is undergoing major metamorphosis as we speak. Through enforcing several upskilling initiatives, the employees too have been able to take advantage of fast paced career progression at Greaves. Knowing that they are advancing their careers gives them a purpose and helps us in retaining talent. This trust and value generated for employees has also resulted in a positive working culture at Greaves.

· What are the upskilling initiatives and strategies taken up while onboarding women in the automobile sector?

From shop floors to leadership roles, from assembling EV parts to developing high-end technologies, women have displayed a tremendous performance in the automobile sector in the last few years. Women have not only proved that they are equally capable to their male counterparts but also contributed effectively to transforming the sector with their unique approach to work. Their analysis, observations and leadership styles have contributed to the success in the automobile sector. Therefore, we at Greaves Cotton, prioritize empowering our women workforce. Over the last few years, as we keep strengthening our women workforce, we have been developing several upskilling programs. These programs are not necessarily the same for all. They vary depending on the roles and departments. For women working in the

manufacturing center and for those working in the R&D center, the upskilling programs are completely different. Based on the requirements in each department, we have customized our internal upskilling programs related to technical and leadership competencies. ‘Thinking out of the Box’ is a competency we seek in people and suitable interventions are oriented towards the same.

· How is Greaves grooming the women workforce for facing several challenges in the male dominant industry?

The entire automotive industry, for a very long time, has been associated with the masculine workforce. However, the women who believe in breaking the glass ceilings have started transforming this sector for good. In order to make our women workforce self-reliant, we started empowering the women in leadership roles, whose immediate role was to support, strengthen and empower the remaining workforce. We put all our employees including women through rigorous training modules that allow them to understand their work, role in a larger chain of command and confidence to undertake cutting edge manufacturing and engineering work.

· What are the policies or measures in place for preserving women-led manufacturing units and promoting it to increase hiring in the region?

By empowering the women at the workplace, organizations allow them to take control of their careers. Corporate entities must ensure that their policies are effective enough in promoting equal growth opportunities for women. We have run several campaigns to hire women across Tamil Nadu. In order to preserve our women-led manufacturing unit in Ranipet, we have run several campaigns across Tamil Nadu.

· How can the sector work to inspire the next generation of workers by fostering a more welcoming workplace for women?

The automotive industry is labor intensive and requires a continuous stream of talent pool. Women have now begun to proliferate the sector and are proving to be worthy hires across functions. In order to build a more gender inclusive automobile sector, it is important that companies hire more women, offer comprehensive training and set them up to succeed. Companies need to enforce policies that prohibit discrimination and harassment based on gender, pregnancy, family and caregiving responsibilities. At Greaves we have implemented effective mentoring, providing professional upskilling and growth opportunities to our women colleagues across levels and functions. This is the only way to get more women to join the workforce and contribute to the nation’s growth.

· What, according to you, are the key components of having a gender-balanced automotive unit?

Although the automotive industry is fast moving, gender equality still remains a challenge. To attract the women workforce, companies can launch hiring campaigns offering equal

opportunities. There are many components that contribute to crafting a gender-balanced industry including the following:

● Constantly changing work culture: Companies need to ensure that their work culture changes and employee policies are effective in a timely manner.

● Effective ranking system: Building women workforce through a fair ranking system to ensure they are respected well by their subordinates and to ensure that the talent is felicitated well.

● Gender balance in leadership roles: Right leadership is crucial in framing the work culture of the company. Leaders inspire the workforce and therefore having a balance in leadership roles is also crucial in maintaining a balance that promote equal opportunities.

● Strict policies: Companies should eradicate the discrimination as well as harassment. Having strict policies implemented within the company is key.

● Equal pay: Lack of equal payments and role in upper management kept women away from the automotive industry for a very long time. Offering decent pay will attract more women in this sector thereby fast tracking the development.