Women's Day 2022: Women dive into mining head-on, says Hindustan Zinc

Women make up about 15 percent of the executive personnel at Hindustan Zinc. They hold critical roles at Hindustan Zinc in numerous departments such as marketing, CSR, supply chain and logistics, and communication, the company said in a press statement.

Women's employment and research opportunities have risen and broadened since the government lifted the ban on women entering mines, allowing women engineers and geologists to work in the underground mines.

Various initiatives were implemented to strengthen the number of women employees and to encourage more women, as a result of which accomplishments such as recruiting the first women mining engineers came to Hindustan Zinc. Sandhya Rasakatla, the Underground Mine Manager of Hindustan Zinc's Zawarmala Mine, and Yogeshwari Rane, the Head of Planning & Development at Hindustan Zinc's Kayad Mine, were both conferred the "First Class Mines Manager" certificate of competency in the "Unrestricted" category.

The company’s Diversity Mentoring Program is aimed at supporting women professionals. The objective has been to nurture a pool of talented women by promoting improved retention, developing a coping system for organisational change, and supporting women professionals in self-development. During the first phase of the program, 168 women professionals were acknowledged and mentored by 108 higher-ranking leaders in the company.

In FY 2011, women in the executive workforce were at 6 percent and by the end of FY 2021 the number stood at 15 percent,highlighting the growing women workforce in the company across levels and positions.

Hindustan Zinc has one of the highest return to work ratios of women professionals who return to work after maternity leave.

According to the latest study, 401 women employees are in executive and non-executive positions at Hindustan Zinc, accounting for 10.78 percent of full-time employees, with 9.46 percent representation in top management positions, 11.2 percent in Operations and Maintenance, and 33.7 percent in Enabling functions.

Women in mining who work in Asset Integrity, Mine O&M, and Mill O&M constitute 9.4 percent of the workforce, while women in smelting who work in operations such as Smelter Asset Integrity, Smelter Operation, Lab, etc constitute 14.5 percentof the workforce. At the same time, women constitute 35 percent of the active security workforce and women in the quality function which overlooks and ensures quality checks & systems in processes stands at 46 percent. These figures are anticipated to grow as the company initiates novel and innovative programs and initiatives to encourage and nurture women professionals.

Published on: Tuesday, March 08, 2022, 10:09 AM IST