New Children’s Activity Room Opens Opportunities for Parents at ETT

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A colourful new facility is improving the lives of working parents and their children at an office in Ulaanbaatar. The ‘Baby Lynx Room’ at Erdenes Tavan-Tolgoi’s (ETT) head office is a dedicated space for young people, named after the endangered Eurasian lynx which ETT helps to protect. Supervised by a full-time educator who provides stimulation for those in her care, plans include the provision of specialist lessons to help develop student’s English-speaking and writing abilities in future.

Khaliunaa Ts is a mother whose life has been transformed by the new room. “My son is in the second grade of secondary school,” she says, “and always on my mind. Asking people to take care of him after school has always been difficult, but we couldn't leave him alone. And I’ve found that because we’re not stressed or under pressure, we relate to each other in such a relaxed way. It’s really made a huge difference.”

The room developed because of a need to support working parents, who can add up to two hours commuting in the heavy local traffic. It's the first initiative of its kind to be offered by a large Mongolian company, and is provided free of charge and at no extra cost to ETT staff.

Empowering women in the workplace is part of the vision of CEO Mr Gankhuyag, who sees the children’s centre as an important part of an equality initiative in the workplace. “Employees must come first,” he says. “Our emphasis on inclusivity and human centred development at ETT means we must get the basics right, and address the immediate needs of our people. We’re proud that we’re moving in the right direction. It changes how I see us as a company, and what we can – and should – do for our people. It feels more like a family, to be honest.”

The Baby Lynx Room is fulfilling what ETT had hoped for, work doesn’t have to be done at the expense of home life, and parents have the added comfort that the room is primed for emergency situations when children need a safe space to go to.