Faiza Savul Head of Center of Expertise, Human Resources, K-Electric, Pakistan
How is K-Electric addressing the issues of working parents and pregnant employees?
We have a Pregnancy Wellness Program that incorporates counselling sessions for new mothers and their spouses, to help them deal with changes.
As part of the Wellness Program, we have developed a unique two-part e-learning module entitled "Managers and Mums’ Awareness (MAMA) Program” to help both managers and expecting employees. One part of the MAMA program is designed for expecting women, details what they can experience, and provides tips on how to manage some common emotional and physical issues associated with pregnancy. The other part is designed to help managers empathize with pregnant employees and discusses how they can best manage them.
KE also has a large vitality department with inhouse doctors and therapists. We assign therapists to help working mothers who may be struggling with depression and separation anxieties after coming back to work. These therapists will provide the counseling mentioned above. In addition, the company provides caregiver allowances to working mothers during the COVID-19 instead of providing inhouse childcare facilities.
What was the impetus for K-Electric's initiatives to improve support for working parents?
Much of our current work, including the MAMA program is a result of the focus group discussions we had with the working mothers in our workforce in 2019. Many issues came out. Some complained that male colleagues, and even managers, compared maternity leave to being on a holiday. Others talked about how the uncomfortable their seats were and how difficult it was to work in buildings without elevators or adequate numbers of restrooms. We wanted these working mothers to feel that they were valued by the company and wanted to institutionalize something to help managers be more empathetic.
Blog » Example: K-Electric, Pakistan
Example: K-Electric, Pakistan
Faiza Savul
Head of Center of Expertise, Human Resources, K-Electric, Pakistan
How is K-Electric addressing the issues of working parents and pregnant employees?
We have a Pregnancy Wellness Program that incorporates counselling sessions for new mothers and their spouses, to help them deal with changes.
As part of the Wellness Program, we have developed a unique two-part e-learning module entitled "Managers and Mums’ Awareness (MAMA) Program” to help both managers and expecting employees. One part of the MAMA program is designed for expecting women, details what they can experience, and provides tips on how to manage some common emotional and physical issues associated with pregnancy. The other part is designed to help managers empathize with pregnant employees and discusses how they can best manage them.
KE also has a large vitality department with inhouse doctors and therapists. We assign therapists to help working mothers who may be struggling with depression and separation anxieties after coming back to work. These therapists will provide the counseling mentioned above. In addition, the company provides caregiver allowances to working mothers during the COVID-19 instead of providing inhouse childcare facilities.
What was the impetus for K-Electric's initiatives to improve support for working parents?
Much of our current work, including the MAMA program is a result of the focus group discussions we had with the working mothers in our workforce in 2019. Many issues came out. Some complained that male colleagues, and even managers, compared maternity leave to being on a holiday. Others talked about how the uncomfortable their seats were and how difficult it was to work in buildings without elevators or adequate numbers of restrooms. We wanted these working mothers to feel that they were valued by the company and wanted to institutionalize something to help managers be more empathetic.
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