Vedanta Aluminium deploys progressive initiatives to support working parents within its teams

By A K Sahoo

Bhubaneswar, July 25: What if your dream job was located away from the nearest metro city? This may cause some to hesitate, given the several personal roles that a single employee also juggles as a father, mother, son, daughter, or spouse. For example, what is the quality of the residential facilities available? Are there good schools nearby? Will their loved ones get rapid access to quality healthcare?

Vedanta Aluminium, the largest aluminium producer in India, is confident that it ticks each of these boxes and a lot more. The company operates world-class plants that, due to logistical, infrastructural and material requirements, are located in semi-urban or rural areas within Jharsuguda and Kalahandi districts in Odisha, and Korba district in Chhattisgarh. Jharsuguda is home to one of the world’s largest single-location aluminium smelting operations, while Lanjigarh in Kalahandi is home to Vedanta’s Alumina Refinery, which has been instrumental in contributing to the development of the under-served district. BALCO, India’s iconic aluminium producer and a subsidiary of Vedanta Aluminium, is based at Korba.

Despite these relatively remote locations, each of Vedanta’s operational areas are endowed with excellent residential townships for employees, along with top-notch hospitals and schools that provide access to quality education. Beyond this, the company has also implemented a range of employee-friendly policies that not only promote a healthy work-life balance, but also encourage the active involvement of families in ensuring the wellbeing of their employees.

Through a consistently, employee-centric approach, the company is fostering a culture that supports not only employees who are parents but extends to supporting the needs of their families. It has rolled out unique initiatives such as the Spousal Hiring Policy which provides job opportunities to the spouses of employees hired at its plant, subject to similar hiring standards and criteria. These haveallowed it to attract top talent from within the industry to remotely-located plant locations, by ensuring they are thriving environments for employees to prosper professionally and personally.

For employees with children, the company’s townships also host daycare centres, creches, schools, playgrounds, libraries, and coaching centres, reassuring parents that their child’s holistic developmental needs are well met. The schools run by Vedanta Aluminium have met with remarkable success. The DAV-Vedanta International School setup in the vicinity of its operations in Lanjigarh, Odisha have produced outstanding results, with the school toppers in FY23 securing marks as high as 97% and 92.6% at the 10th and 12th standards respectively. Academic learning at the school is also supplemented by extra-curricular trainings in karate, archery and Saura art.  The company organises vibrant summer camps for both employees’ and community members’ children, with the latest edition drawing over 500 delighted young children. During the camps, they learn self-defence, cooking, craft-making, social and culinary etiquette and a host of other skills through engaging learning activities.

The hospitals established by Vedanta Aluminium in the vicinity of its areas of operations offer exceptional medical care in a variety of medical specialisations, providing employees with immediate access to health care for theirloved ones. Recently, Vedanta Jharsuguda has set up a Rehabilitation Centre within its township that provides care to both aged individuals and specially-abled children with motor or speech impairments. Its medical centres have also emerged as important hubs of community medical care and draw thousands of visitors each year. The Vedanta Hospital in Lanjigarh alone draws over 60000+ people every year, indicating the crucial role they play in ensuring community access to quality healthcare.

Consideringhuman capital to be its biggest asset, Vedanta Aluminium is actively fostering an ecosystem to support new parents. The company ensures that expecting mothers receivetheir stipulated 6 months of paid maternity leave. More importantly, Vedanta Aluminium facilitates their seamless return to work by holding special orientation sessions that fill them in on developments in their absence, while also reiterating key safety practices. New mothers are also provided access to flexible working hours for childcare, in addition to creche facilities that ensure professional care for their wards in their absence.

Highlighting the impact of these initiatives, Mr. Sunil Gupta, COO, Vedanta Limited – Aluminium Business says, “On the occasion of World Parents Day,we reiterate that parenthood is an important aspect of life and should be celebrated and supported even at the workplace. Therefore, we have cultivated a supportive ecosystem for working parents for work-life balance and fulfilling careers through diverse practices and infrastructure. We consistently strive to enhance our practices and support infrastructure to foster a nurturing environment that empowers our employees and their families.”Adding his views, Mr. Rajesh Kumar, CEO and Director, BALCO, said “We are committed to fostering an environment that enables the support of working parents, by promoting a flexible work culture, manageable workloads, and a keen focus on work-life balance that ensures parents can devote as much time to their families as they do to furthering organizational goals.”

Recently, on the International Day of Families celebrated worldwide on May 15, Vedanta Aluminium hosted hundreds of employees’ families under its ‘Proud Families’ initiative at its operations across Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The families could witness first-hand the process ofhigh-quality aluminium being produced at one of the world’s largest aluminium complexes in Jharsuguda, Odishaandalso experience the world-class facilities set up to care for their loved ones. Such efforts have contributed to the company being recognised as a ‘Great Place to Work®’, and a great place to live as well. Vedanta Jharsuguda has received the certification 6 times consecutively, while BALCO has received it 4 times in a row and Vedanta Lanjigarh receiving it 5 times so far. They indicate the close emphasis on overall employee well-being, moving the needle from just compensation based-motivation to 360-degree employee delight!