In a time when work-related stress is taking a toll on the lives of all employees, it is always refreshing to see companies taking the initiative to go out of their way, to make their employees love the work they do and also ensure they have a great work-life balance.

One of the biggest indicators of a great place to work, is the ability to attract and retain talented employees. It also happens to be one of the biggest challenges. High performance organizations, are now going out of their way to implement innovative programs to improve motivation and productivity of employees at work.

When it comes to companies that have a culture of celebrating work-life balance and diversity, Visa tops the list. With a vision and passion that believes that an employee’s diverse backgrounds, skills and experiences are at the heart of their success, the company is strongly committed to equal employment opportunity so that they can empower employees to achieve their true potential.

In the year 2017, Visa India, tied up with KLAY Prep Schools and Daycare, to further augment their employee friendly initiatives and to ensure that when it comes to women coming back to work after their maternity break, there are no stones left unturned. In fact, the company even went a step ahead and opened up this benefit to all it’s male employees as well. According to Varghese Abraham, Head of Human Resources, India, “This employee benefit of child care is available to both male and female employees as we believe, that to build a culture of inclusion, the benefits of our policies need to be universal.”

Visa’s tie up with KLAY Prep Schools and Daycare has been greatly welcomed by its employees and helps build a culture that breathes inclusion. An initiative like KLAY enables all Visa employees to seamlessly manage their professional and personal lives thereby making them one of the best places to work.

However, the employee friendly initiatives of the company just don’t end there. When it comes to talent attraction and retention, the company’s initiatives are wide and innovative. From varying start and finish times and job sharing to carer’s leave to the Visa Women’s Network (VWN), that facilitates the professional growth of female employees across the world by offering networking and career development opportunities, the company goes all out to harness the best talent possible by creating an environment where individual differences, experiences and capabilities are valued and acknowledged as contributors to success.

At Visa, the wide range of women specific initiatives that they take, just goes to show that they recognise that mothers transitioning back into the workforce after maternity leave or career breaks need to be wellequipped to do their jobs and at the same time managetheir personal responsibilities.

The company also ensures that employees returning from long leave or career breaks are provided with the necessary tools and techniques required to position themselves as assets to their managers, teams and stakeholders by focusing on their unique strengths, leveraging their networks, cultivating active listening and building their confidence.

People are the foundation of Visa’s success and as a company, they work very hard to attract the best talent, those who represent their values of integrity, innovation and collaboration.

Here’s to companies that always strive to nurture talent at all levels and across all geographies!