Positive measures

Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy talks to Suveen K Sinha about the steps Infosys has taken to guard against and deal with sexual harassment issues.

Q: What were the lessons you drew from the Phaneesh Murthy case?
I don’t want to talk about an event that is dead and gone. It is not fair to rake it up now. However, I can talk about what we have done so that instances of sexual harassment do not occur in the future.

What are those initiatives?
We have created an adjudicating body called the Grievance Redressal Board. Any individual can complain to this board if he or she has been harassed sexually. This board is headed by a highly-respected person from outside the company. We got an outsider as chairperson since we wanted to make sure that there was objectivity in our decision-making. This group looks at the relevant data, makes analysis, and comes to a conclusion while guarding the confidentiality of the harassed and the accused. If there is any truth in it, they will bring it to the attention of the CEO and the board of our company, and recommend suitable action. The CEO implements the recommended action. Punishment is given to the individual if he or she is guilty. We protect the identity of the person harassed and the innocent among the accused.

 

Secondly, we have created a platform for training every one of our managers in how to conduct themselves with people of other genders, what words they should not use, what gestures they should not make, and what actions they should desist from.

Thirdly, we have an initiative called IWIN — Infosys Women Inclusivity Network. I am the sponsor of this. It looks at various aspects of making the life of a working woman at Infosys better in the workplace. The objective of IWIN is to give our women employees confidence, to make the work environment more hospitable to them, to provide a better work-life balance to them, and to help them become confident and asserting managers.

Is this an issue that needs to be dealt with at the level of industry associations?
It is extremely important for industry associations to discuss and debate this issue because most member-companies are recruiting more and more women on to their workforce. This year, women constitute 34 per cent of the new recruits in our software workforce — 8,500 women among 25,000 software recruits. The figure was 33 per cent last year. Therefore, there is a need for discussion and debate at various levels in the country to ensure that this large percentage of women managers and engineers can operate as independent, confident, happy and productive managers.

Once a man gets accused, what is the defence mechanism available to him?
We have had cases where the Grievance Redressal Board came to the conclusion that the accusation was false. The board can call for any data, as long as the identities of the accuser and the accused are protected. They use data and facts to make an in-depth analysis before coming to any conclusion of guilt. It is important that not even one innocent person gets punished.

Once such cases break out, do they affect business?
We are a 114,000-people strong company. There is always a possibility of some violations, say one in 100,000. But, this does not affect the business as long as our employees and customers know that there is a robust, independent, objective and fair process to punish the guilty, and protect the identity of the victim and the innocent among the accused. Victims should not keep quiet worrying about their career prospects or business prospects for the company. Managers should take appropriate actions without worrying about false complaints. What we should worry about is whether we are fair to both parties, whether there is confidence among our employees in our redressal system, and whether we are creating an environment where the victim has the courage to complain.