~ Award recognizes its exemplary contribution towards women empowerment through women employment
Pune, March 29, 2017: Godrej Appliances, one of India’s leading players in the Home Appliances industry, today announced that its Shirwal plant has bagged the inaugural ‘Sandvik India Diversity Award 2017’ for its exemplary contribution in women empowerment through women employment. Ms. Thrupti Govekar, Asst Manager- HR division of Godrej Appliances, represented and participated in this competition and was awarded by Shrimati Anu Aga, Director Akanksha Foundation and Ex Chair Person Thermax. Sandvik India Diversity Award recognizes individuals and corporate who demonstrate exemplary leadership in promoting diversity and inclusion.
Mr Hussain Shariyarr, Sr. Vice President – Operations, Godrej Appliances, said, “We are both delighted and humbled to have received this recognition. Driven by our core value of inclusiveness, we are one of the very few manufacturing units in the country to have introduced women on the shop-floor. Around 100 women work at both our factories in Shirwal and Mohali respectively. They are recruited from surrounding areas and not only perform all operations on the shop floor but also take active part in kaizens and other cultural and sport activities. We also encourage them to participate in external competitions and they have also won several accolades.”
Ms. Thrupti Govekar works on creating a women friendly work environment that encourage more women workforce to join the company. Currently, the entire Air-Conditioners manufacturing line in Shirwal plant is entirely managed by women.
Speaking on receiving the award, Ms. Thrupti Govekar, said, “It feels great to have received this acknowledgement for our work. We faced various challenges in changing the mind-set and encouraging women to work on male dominated shop floors. This initiative has had a positive impact on the culture of the shop floor and has contributed towards upgrading the social status of our woman workforce in the community.”
About the award:
There was a three layer scrutiny process. In the first layer, over 370 entries under 8 different categories including corporate, individual, NGO and Government were received out of which 180 applications were shortlisted on the basis of the projects executed, and work done under diversity, CSR & Social Change. The final stage saw 24 finalists in all eight categories who were asked to present their work in front of the esteemed jury. Godrej Appliances was awarded under the ‘Corporate’ category. The jury for the award included the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, UN Global Compact Network India along with a few renowned International organizations.