Pavithra Krishnaswamy: A Woman-Led Organisation Won’t Accept Discrimination Even In Jokes’

In the women led organisation where she works, Pavithra Krishnaswamy speaks of a new, evolved perception of work-life harmony, built on workplace safety and employee wellness.

This World Day for Safety and Health at Work, Pavithra Krishnaswamy, a marketing professional, and a part-time musician with a conscious way of living (think minimalism, veganism, and preference for pre-loved goods) shares her thoughts from an employee’s perpsective.

As a Partnerships & Product Marketing associate at Vue.ai, (a premium Artificial Intelligence firm that specializes in intelligent retail automation), which is also a woman-led organization, Pavithra represents a new, evolved perception of work-life harmony, which is built on the pillars of occupational safety and employee wellness.

When I reached out, asking if she would like to share her perspectives on safety and health at workplace, in these challenging times, she gladly obliged, in the form of the replies as seen here.

Q: With the onset of COVID and widespread switchover to Work-from-Home as a norm, how do you think your organization has adapted to this?

A: My workplace was rather proactive in this front. We went into Work-from-Home Mode at least a week before the official lockdown was imposed during March 2020. The founders and admin teams were quick to help with resources that would enable work, such as chairs, and food for employees who depended on the office prior to the lockdown, as well as structures that would help us get into a Work-from-Home routine in our teams.

A year in, we’ve been doing more than just coping, thanks to the collective decision to overcome the practical hurdles COVID brought about.

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Q: They say that one’s work team is often like a second family. How you relate to this? How relevant in your opinion this is to health and safety at work?

A: I totally relate to this. In the first few months of working from home, the 10 AM calls with my team were so important, like an anchor to the day. People found it hard to even get out of bed; our teams were what kept us going. We started checking on one another’s health (physical and mental), and being empathetic of situations that came up.

Even before lockdown and Work-from-Home happened, while we were still working out of office, this rapport played a huge role in workplace culture, and will always do so.

Q: I gather that the firm you work with follows a flat organizational structure. In your opinion, is an approachable organizational lead synonymous with better workplace health and safety?

A: Flat organizations and approachable heads translate to two main things:

• Empathetic leaders in times of crisis.
• Empowered employees when more hands are needed on deck.

Be it in terms of supporting those in need, or managing work load, transparency across the organization goes a long way.

Q: As an associate of an organization led by a woman, what in your opinion makes such organizations stand out?

A: I think there are two parts to this.

One, the more talked about point, is how everybody has a voice and a place to grow in their respective domains. There’s no discrimination; it’s not even acceptable in jokes.

The second is the invisible but more important effect it has on the work we produce as a company. When the workforce is inclusive and diverse, the work we put out is immensely better in terms of quality and applicability.

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