Ensuring a safe work environment for our employees continues to be an area of focus. We have launched many interventions such as audits, training, rewards, recognitions and process/design improvements.

The company has a set of employee-friendly people policies and benefits which we review every year to ensure the policies are contemporary, and aligned to our values. All employees are covered under Group Personal Accident Insurance/Workmen Compensation Insurance.

A Group Gratuity Scheme has been initiated for contract workmen at Mithapur. We also have a Suraksha Scheme for contract workmen to cover financial assistance towards death/disablement. Special care is provided for women employees with regard to amenities, travel, child care, flexi hours, etc.

We monitor workforce health through annual health check-ups. Medical facilities and medical officers are available at all plant site locations to quickly respond to any eventuality.

In India, Tata Chemicals equips the workforce with current and future competency requirements arising from business plans and changes in external environment by assessing competency gaps as well as redesigning and customising training programmes. An induction programme, branded ‘Induction Course for Enabling Positive Traction’ (InCEPT), has been enhanced to include three phases of induction in case of lateral recruits.

Several learning initiatives are made available to the employees across the organisation to build or enhance role-critical competencies through functional, behavioural and leadership training in these areas. These include Jagruti for the front-line field force in Agri business, technical capability programmes at manufacturing sites, on-the-job projects by the Management Development Programme (MDP), and extensive focus on safety awareness initiatives. The MDP has been redesigned to incorporate relevant inputs to enable people to handle future challenges. Employees can continuously upgrade their competencies/skills at their own pace from any location through various e-learning platforms such as Skill Soft.

We have a Katalyst Program to develop and deploy internal faculty for programmes like AMT, Safety, Sustainability, MBE, LSS, technical training, etc. Besides saving costs on external facilitators, this initiative acts as a great motivator for internal talent.

To ensure a supportive and encouraging work environment, Tata Chemicals has focused its efforts towards employee engagement and regular monitoring of employee engagement levels.

While Tata Chemicals uses a number of formal and informal mechanisms to assess the engagement levels of its workforce, the annual global Employee Engagement Survey (Xpress), which guarantees anonymity to the respondent, gives a true picture of the employee engagement levels.

The other mechanisms to gauge employee engagement are through FGDs, skill level meetings, town halls and exit surveys for various workforce. These inputs have ushered in policy-related changes, for example, work flexi timings at office locations, paternity leave, health and wellness, etc.

Goal and strategy alignment, performance linked scheme, communication channels, township benefits and allowance, rewards and recognition, are some of the examples of how engagement levels are sustained. The leadership team interacts with the new candidates in every quarter through the ‘Let’s Chat’ forum. Other informal engagement measures include participation in organisational initiatives like cross-functional teams (CFTs), theatres, cultural events, family days, CSR events, etc.

Tata Chemicals is an Equal Opportunity Employer and also follows the diversity agenda of the Tata Group with a focus on gender diversity and affirmative actions. A Diversity Council has been set up in India with members from various businesses to drive the agenda. The focused effort has led to a 1% increase in women employees in India this year.