Ladies, if you want to feel ‘sharp’ — the answer may be a glass walk. And if you have any doubts, ask the 7,000-odd other women who have signed their names up for it. Organised to be held within corporate office spaces through the month of March, as a means of empowerment around Women’s Day (March 8), several companies like HP, Hyundai Motors, Daimler and Larsen & Toubro have large batches of women employees on board. Oddly enough, those who have tried it tell us that the walk, which only lasts for a few minutes on a bed of broken glass, feels more like ‘acupuncture’ than a painful experience!
Hafiz Khan of Ezone India, a training company which is conducting the walks says, “So far we have 21 organisations participating, some with over 500 women from a single company attempting this for the first time.”
Having conducted glass walks all over the country for more than a decade, and among different age groups, Hafiz describes, “It’s a very high energy experience and by the end of it, most people feel like they can do anything. In the past, we’ve seen women in bad marriages, with estranged parents or even an uncomfortable relationship with a colleague, all feel revved up to tackle the challenge head on, when they find a confidence they didn’t think they had.”
HR professionals like Devi Swapna also confirm that the walk has shown a marked difference in managers and their performance at the workplace. “I’ve seen people handling their teams better and even showing better productivity after exercises like these,” she says. As for fighting the fear factor, she tells us from observations in the past that only one in 10 people say no to the glass walk. “We had a batch of 20, out of which two people were just not convinced. But by the end of the activity, with a bit of encouragement from their teammates, everyone had done it,” she smiles.
What’s more interesting than actually walking on glass, is the way people respond when you tell them about it, according to Gayatri S, who tried the walk for the first time last year. “They want to know whether you were scared, did you bleed, was it really broken glass or fake... It’s a crazy boost of confidence. First you do something you never thought you could do, and then suddenly everybody’s a fan!”
To organise a glass walk for the women in your office, contact 9940142349