Despite strong judicial intervention and increasingly diversifying workforce in corporate world, sexual harassment at work place remains one of the most common problems that torment Indian women. Though it is believed to be widespread, women prefer to maintain silence over indecent behaviour at work place, fearing stigma and exclusion. 

"In many cases, we have found sexual harassment to be the chief reason for women leaving their jobs or showing low performance," says Nirmala Menon, founder and CEO of Interweave, a start up HR consultancy firm specialising in workforce diversity and establishing legal compliance against sexual harassment at work place. Recently, the company has come out with an e-learning tool called `No Excuse' on sexual harassment that helps educate all employees on how to handle the issue.

A management graduate specialising in Human Resources, Nirmala learnt and researched a great deal about work force diversity and the tangible benefits it accrued to companies during her stints with MNCs and IT companies. Though diversity in the Western context is primarily gender, sexuality or race-based, she says the term had several dimensions in India.

"During my sessions with corporate employees, we generally ask them if they are from Bangalore and I would find lots of hands go up — in India, diversity is even based on language and regionalism," she noted.

A consequence of diversity, Nirmala realised, is discrimination and harassment and many organisations needed help to fix legal compliance issues. In India, the Supreme Court has laid clear and unambiguous regulations that held employers accountable for incidents of sexual harassment at work place (also called the Vishaka guidelines).
Though companies generally complied with the guidelines by putting up information educating all employees about the ill-effects and legal implications of harassment or discriminatory behaviour, the issue is seldom discussed openly as it is sensitive. "There is ignorance among women employees at various degrees," Nirmala points out.

No knowledge

"Some of them didn't know about the issue completely, while others didn't know how to handle it or failed to understand what exactly constitutes sexual harassment (which the Supreme Court guidelines clearly state). So, I decided to come up with an e-learning tool which would offer clarity on how the issue can be approached."

After deeper research, Nirmala came up with the content for the tool and took the help of Bangalore-based Tarang Software, a leading e-learning solutions provider in the k-12 segment, to develop the courseware (learning content in the form of a software).

She says the courseware, which is a multi-media and interactive tool, is based on case studies relevant for Indian corporate environment.  "The tool has been made to work in any LMS (Learning Management System) platform and contains lessons and a quiz in the end," Nirmala explains. "Much of the lessons are audio narrations, done more like a documentary, for the employee to relate with it. Through the LMS platform, the manager can also see how many employees have either signed-up to the course or completed it."

She says response for the e-learning tool from the corporate has been encouraging. Since many top level managers find it difficult to talk openly about the issue, they seem to view the tool as the most personal and effective way of addressing the issue. Nirmala is also quick to reject notions that things will be better with the tool's installation.

"The tool is primarily for the employees, and we complement it by conducting training programmes for managers. In fact, we don't approach it as an advocacy issue, but a business one," Nirmala says. "Having a diverse work force makes a company score over others in terms of innovation and is the best way to tackle the dearth in skilled employees. If they don't convince women that their's is the safest organisation to work, they may miss out on capturing the best talent."

Vulnerable

While `No Excuses' will be initially targeted at IT and ITES firms, Nirmala reveals it would be certainly extended to other industries. She is particularly aware of discrimination and harassment cases in banking and finance, healthcare and garment manufacturing industries, where women are still considered more vulnerable.

"We are a start-up firm and need more time to increase the pace," Nirmala admitted. "We have created an excellent tool with the help of Tarang and hopefully, we should be able to translate and provide it in languages like Kannada and Hindi in the next few years."

Interweave sees the e-learning tool as part of a broader objective to be a 'one-stop-shop' for supporting organisations in sexual harassment issues. Besides conducting training programmes, Nirmala has also been acting as a neutral member (upon invitation) of the complaints committees in companies that hear sexual harassment or discrimination cases (as mandated by the Vishaka guidelines).