Part 1

BRADLEY RAMCHARAN, director of Cable & Wireless Business/Flow Business, believes Caribbean business approaches and concepts of masculinity are evolving ­– with empathy and flexibility being at the heart of how men operate within personal and professional spaces.

He leads a team of about 60 at C&W Business which provides technical business solutions such as connectivity and Flow Business, which provides the same solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises.

There has been much conversation about the relationship between empathy and business transformation. Publications such as Forbes and Industry Week have explored the relationship and how new principles are helping business models evolve. C&W/Flow Business is on board.

Becoming a father has accelerated Ramcharan's conviction that the business world, generally perceived as a dog-eat-dog world, ought to move toward embedding empathy in its culture should it survive the changing tides of a new culture which emphasises empathy and emotional awareness within the centre of businesses.

This emerging culture affects how employees are treated, the benefits made available to them, and how companies communicate with their clientele.

The company recently updated their parental leave policy and now gives men two-months' leave.

[caption id="attachment_992203" align="alignnone" width="768"] Bradley Ramcharan, second from left, with members of his team. - Photo courtesy Bradley Ramcharan[/caption]

This allows men to spend time bonding with the new addition(s) to their families while understanding the possibility of finding a reasonable balance between parenting and a career.

"The day my daughter was born was the happiest day of my life. I have been in the company for just over 12 years, and I have seen so many of my peers, both men and women, become parents over time."

He said until last year, the policy on leave of absence upon the birth of an employee's baby for men was just a week. "We have updated our parental leave policy which has awarded men to have about two months off. Being able to see the benefits of that first-hand and talking to peers over the years, hearing the struggles they went through – I realised how great it is for me to have that option to be home with the family."

Ramcharan said he and his wife have no immediate family support system like his mother or in-laws nearby. "So, it was really good that my wife and I were able to partner to get through the first two to three months, which was difficult for us."

The effects of little sleep available to new parents was one he said he and his wife experienced. "Striking a balance between work and home was a struggle for me. I was newly appointed, just over a month or two, you feel like you have to always be on."

He said that mentality was not easy to turn off, so changing diapers and making supermarket runs did not always interrupt responding to e-mails. "I'd see work calls happening online