Kalpana Margabandhu, director, Web Sphere Development in India and chairperson, India Womens Leadership Council (IWLC), IBM

We started with a diversity council, and then went on to make the Indian Women Leadership council or IWLC. The mandate was that well be looking at perceptions, real or imaginary; take it to the executives to be addressed; looking at how to grow the technical, managerial and personal development of women. We put in our objectives and said that this is going to be a working council. We run programs like projects, which are seen through right till the end. We brought in senior women leaders from all the business units.

The whole initiative was that senior leaders get visibility, they grow, they become role models and help others grow. So we started with an executive board, later on it became the India Leadership Team. IWLC reports its activities to this team; meets them twice a year to keep them updated; and check if our plans for the year are in sync with their business plans.

But we are talking sixteen people in an organization of 80,000 plus, so we branched off into sub-teams. Each business unit has its own diversity network groups, and each business unit is made of smaller business units who again follow the same pattern. And this is all over and above everybodys core jobs. Its like a projectyou are responsible, you have to show progress. If you cant you leave or youre asked to leave because if youre not able to perform you cant deliver on what you are committing.

So measuring the work done is important?
Absolutely. Without measures it is like any road would doyou have to have goals. You have to look at measures at all levels. Its not that we have decided it has to be 20% so come what may well have to get that number. Each business unit has to check why a level has not been considered for progression, whats stopping them, what the company has to doit has to be an ongoing task.

Then we organize focused programs to tackle that. We take our senior women and put them together with the leadership teamone person from there becomes the sponsor, responsible for the growth of one senior woman. That person identifies and works on the gaps. This is how to grow your pipeline in the senior position, and tracking of course is key.

...and mentoring, networking should be a continuous process?
We have networking sessions where junior women can discuss issues with the senior women leadership and learn from their experiences. They dont have to worry about performance and deliverables...talking to somebody about your problems itself is a huge help, and they come back with a very positive frame of mind. The business value is obvious, isnt it? A happy employee is not likely to look for a job. We have a wonderful program called Taking the Stageyou have to decide if you want to take the stage (read career); learn voice modulation (assertive) and convince people (get over your inhibitions); you learn from your peers...its a very interactive and successful program. Showcasing real life experiences of successful senior women also really helps.

Rekha Menon, executive VP, Accenture Geographic Services India

In India, IT/ITeS has had a far higher number of women than say, manufacturing. The reason is the business need. Because ITeS was growing dramatically and it had to get the best talent, and it had to be gender agnostic, so it went out and got more women. Second, it was always an easier industry to work in. But the industry is still learning, it got the women in first but the journey is going on. Organizations are on different places on the curve.

You, of course, are very high up on the curve...
We are a large scale multinational. The rest of Accenture had already evolved in the path, so in India we started early and built it into each of our systems. We have a lot of programs, we put them into three bucketsattract, retain, and grow. And like any other business activity it is tracked otherwise you wouldnt know where you are going wrong, what youre doing. We maintain a score cardnot just across India, but by gender mix, by levels, by business entity, by function. We track recruitment, attrition; we keep track of whether a higher percentage of women are leaving, of promotions, engagement, everything.

How does a company your size drive it?
It is a business driven by business leaders. Its not like it is somebodys pet project or dumped on HR. It is driven in each geography by business leaders. In each geography there is an overall diversity lead who comes from the geographic leadership. Thats why its part of the DNA. We have a large percentage of women at the leadership level, globally. That cascades downwe have a lot of enabling policies and programs, and a lot of constant research goes into this.

How important is critical mass to drive gender programs?
If it is going to make a difference to your business you will do it right, even if you are small? You can put in enabling mechanisms, it does not matter what size you are. If you are talking about costs, calculate the cost of growing the woman employee against having someone you value leaving the company. Cost of recruiting is yet another cost. It should not be an emotion or size driven agendajust keep an eye on RoI. Even in Accenture we could have said forget all this and just focus on growth. But somebody had to present a business case: one there is the RoI and two there is the cost of not doing it. Compare the cost of recruiting

Srimathi Shivashankar, principle diversity officer and director sustainability council, Infosys Technologies

And showing RoI?
The basic ability to attract and retain itself shows the business benefits. For a company like Infosys the fact that attracting good workforce has never been a problem itself shows the RoI.

Wont a strong brand and an inclusive environment, sustain the numbers?
No. Keeping a track in a very transparent manner is very important. And you have to build accountability at senior management level. Our chief mentor, Mr Narayana Murthy himself is completely involved with the diversity program. The Infosys Women Inclusivity Network (IWIN) was set up by him in 2003. The head of HR is also heading diversity, this shows the kind of importance that gender diversity is given by the company. A top down approach is very important. The second level is the managers. And then each employeeeverybody has to be committed to the program.

Diversity has to be the DNA of the company. And unless there is employee volunteerism, its very difficult to make that happen. We leverage the informal peer networks...and then there has to be good governance.

About the Infosys Women Inclusivity Network or IWIN?
Our vision for gender diversity is centered around IWIN. IWIN recognizes the unique aspirations and needs of women and promotes a gender sensitive work environment. It helps women in their career path through support groups and policies to groom them for managerial positions. There are policies for new mothers, from telecommuting to child care to a satellite office. Of course there are parenting workshops, counseling, mentoring networks...

Some believe that women take their careers very differently. They are looking more for a wholesome role rather than reaching the top?
I dont agree at all. I think what matters is the organizations culture and the leadership mission of the company. Though I agree that women have to multi-task more and a lot of demands are made on the women, both biologically and physically, so she may prefer to look at alternate careers. But once in the job structure she very much wants to reach the top, as much as any man.

The onus is on the woman though, she has to do her bit to change herself and her ecosystem?
Yes, while the organization has a whole lot of coaching and mentoring its up to the women employees to actually leverage these. The woman has to take informed decisions. She has to understand that though the company will provide flexibility in terms of working part time, taking a year offbut then she would lose seniority as compared to her past peers and most probably will not have the same prospects. Of course, its up to her to get quickly back to strength and compete as an equal.