Citi Group open to pitter-patter of new paternity policy

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Citibank recently announced that it was providing an annual childcare allowance of Rs 1.32 lakh to its female employees. While that was lauded by everyone, ETPanache asked the Citi Group CEO Pramit Jhaveri about the bank's take on paternity benefits.

"We have a flexible work policy, which applies to all employees of the bank. More and more, younger men want to spend time with their newborns and so may want to work from home during this period. We understood this need early and therefore flexible work hours is a part of our policy," says Jhaveri.

As of now, the bank doesn't have any specific policy on paternity leave. But Jhaveri says that it is open to changes in the future. "If a higher number of people come and tell us this is important (revision of paternity policy), then absolutely. It's a competitive market. And talent is our No 1 asset. You have to be constantly dynamic in terms of trying to do things which are friendly and which make you more competitive in the marketplace," he says.

For now though, Jhaveri is proud of the bank's initiatives to attract more talented women to the fold. In addition to the childcare policy, the company has also set a new performance management policy.

Jhaveri says, "We found managers to be conservative with the annual performance evaluations of women colleagues returning to work after maternity leave, and believed that this needed to be addressed. We introduced a new performance management policy that ensures that women are rated on their actual work during the period under consideration and their ratings are consistent with their previous two years at work."