Vijay Laxmi, Executive Housekeeper, Angsana Oasis Spa & Resort, Bangalore

How does your workplace embrace equality?

At Angsana, we strive to ensure that people are given equal opportunities, equal pay, and are respected for their differences. We do not practice gender bias and have the same onboarding process and KRA targets for everyone. We also recognize the importance of both maternity and paternity leaves and have a gender-neutral POSH policy. Work-life balance is always a priority for us.

As a woman, how do you make sure that you embrace equality? When you are the decision maker how do you make sure you are not gender biased?

The hospitality industry traditionally has been associated with a lot of physical labour. In the past, there was a gender stereotype that heavier manual labour tasks were only suitable for males, while females were only suited for more detail-oriented tasks or particular shifts. However, times have changed and my team has achieved a balanced and harmonious staff distribution and delegation of tasks. Before assigning tasks, there is a team discussion to ensure transparency and foster inclusive leadership skills. Training for machine operations or operational tasks such as mattress turning or setting up extra beds is always gender-neutral, so that everyone can learn and feel like they have contributed. We also have buddy systems in place to provide proper guidance and ensure gender inclusivity, while focusing on both men and women.

Do you believe that gender inclusive policies are justified with an increasing number of women in the industry while still not being a 50% strength or close?

Yes, I strongly believe that gender inclusive policies have significantly improved workplace culture and created much more welcoming and supportive environments for female employees. This can be seen through the increasing number of female employees in various organizations. However, we still have a long way to go before achieving true gender equality and cohesion in the workplace.

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