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| The Gender Debate |
Continued from page: 1
For some it might come under the scope of employee welfare but in that case it becomes completely need based and no proactive action or planning goes into it. Also, tracking has come up as a very strong requirement if the initiative has to sustain. There is a difference between tracking numbers and putting down numbers. Putting numbers is when you are saying that we have to have so many women in such and such positions come what may. That is the kind of quota system that will be dangerous to the whole conversationand no ones talking about that.
| Women have emotional intelligenceconsidered the barometer of excellence on virtually any job |
What would you say are the main reasons for the gap in senior management?
I would say the main reason is attritionwomen dropping out of the workforce completely, at certain phases in their careers, rather than job hopping. I think there are two critical components to containing this attrition. One is what women themselves are motivated to do, to ensure that they dont have to give up working. The second is what the employer is motivated to do, to make it easy for women to be successful, like investing in their development and creating a level playing field where they can compete on the results they produce rather than the hours they spend in the office. I think the opportunities that the critical shortage of talent is creating will motivate both the employable and the employer to try harder to retain more women at work overall.
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Tracy Ann Curtis, Inclusion & Diversity Champion, Asia Pacific & Japan, Cisco |
Although the worlds population is almost 50:50 male:female, women still make only a small percentage of the professional workforce. We need to bridge this gap and develop this untapped talent by encouraging their participation in the workforce.
And how will the business benefit from a better mix?
Studies show that greater the diversity of a team in an organization, greater is the possibility for innovation and problem solving. Statistics also show that companies with women on their board are more successful than those without. Research indicates that a higher percentage of women have what is referred to by Daniel Goldman as Emotional Intelligencea set of competencies that distinguishes how people manage feelings, interact, and communicate. Analyses done by dozens of experts in 500 corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide conclude that emotional intelligence is the barometer of excellence on virtually any job. With increasing diversity, the workforce has an array of leadership styles and can drive greater creativity and innovation.
With more education more women will enter the workforce, and the gap at senior management will be addressed. Or will it?
I am not sure how education co-relates to needing or not needing special attention. Today in many Indian colleges there is a high percentage of women graduating, but this does not mean they are receiving job offers. We must equip women.
In India, Ciscos Womens Action Network (WAN) has an initiative called Girls in Technology (GIT) The GIT program invites girls in engineering colleges to spend a day with us, to learn about our cutting edge technology, tour the labs and speak to our leaders. WAN helps inform policies and procedures that keep women engaged in the organization and meet their diverse needs throughout their careers.
Then we have the Compass Series which is designed to give Ciscos 300 female senior managers exposure to senior executives; it offers opportunity to network with cross-functional peers. The Perspective Series is focused on building executive-level leadership skills, and helps directors and above to form a community of women.
WAN organizes the role model series inviting senior leaders from across Cisco to share their professional journeys and offer advice on career progression. Mentor programs are also initiated. More informal ways of providing developmental opportunities are through online communitiesWAN wikis, blogs where women share and learn best practices. |
How tracking helps is to understand if enough women are coming into the organization, are there more women leaving with respect to men, if so why and so on, so the company can take measures to tackle it. In larger companies tracking is followed by measures, accountability, sustainability reports...but it can be done in a more relaxed manner provided you make sure that the meters ticking.
Smaller or mid-sized companies might feel they do not need or do not have the resources to implement certain programs that are done by large companies, but the difference is only of scale. Because the needs are the same, going by the career timelineinclusive environment and security; retention through offering flexible work hours, child care, mentoring and counseling; leadership programswhere it will differ is when the total number of women employees do not justify setting up a creche, or getting a counselor or having career focused programs.
| Growth has to happen on merit. We offer women employees the exposure to empower them to make the right choices |
What is Wipros gender agenda, and how strictly do you run it?
Well, to tell you the truth, I dont think the best way to approach this is to work towards a target number of women employees. Sure, its good to have the meters ticking, but as soon as you put numbers the spirit may be lost.
Some time back, we undertook a survey covering the women in Wipro, women whove left Wipro, and women in other companies. Something interesting came out of it. The needs of women as they progress in their lives and careers become very different. So we studied these needs in three different groups, based on their years of experience.
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Sunita R Cherian, GM, Talent Engagement and Development, Wipro Technologies |
The first group, the ones at the early stages of their career was full of and ambition and energy and a motivated lot. What they really needed was exposure.Multifaceted exposure and the opportunity to interact with other successful women is very important here, and helps change the level of aspiration. Our theme for this group is: exposure, kindle their aspiration, identify aspirers and give them the required support and opportunity.
Women with a few years of experience behind them need some flexibility. This is the time when they typically start a family of their own, and they are faced with a new work-life equation. So weve taken care to provide them the support they need to perform to their potential extended maternity leave, flexi work, provide childcare at convenient places....
That brings us to women in the third group-women with over ten years of experience, These are empowered professionals, who have found the balance and now want to soar. The theme here is to empower. We support them with relevant leadership building programs, they participate in internal and external forums where they share learnings and learn, even as they prepare themselves to become business leaders.
And theres a core team that drives the initiative?
We do have a core committee with representatives from different parts of Wipro. Theyre a bunch of motivated people who have come together and done a wonderful job. They anchor our goals for the wider organization, and help the movement spread.Its a ripple effect. One person from onegroup says, safety, and immediately every group is having a safety workshop. In the April-May timeframe we had a kids workshop in the campus - it was a wonderful experience and also a bond that the kids had with the organization. Then we have internal blogsa great way to get the pulse of the people. Were seeing all this translate into a growing numbers of women executives. And were happy its growing as a result of merit and positive energy more than anything else.
About the WoW! women of Wipro...
Yes, that has been quite a success. Wipros approach to gender inclusivity and equality reflects a holistic appreciation to the myriad facets of differences and their impact at the workplace, along with dedicated commitment at all rungs of the organization to facilitate a nurturing, learning environment for all. At the same time, our employees have not only appreciated but enthusiastically participated in all WoW initiatives, which reflects that we are moving in the desired direction with enthusiasm
Are the men feeling alienated?
To the extent that they want a MoWbut no, seriously, I see a lot of enthusiasm coming from them, and we have men in our core team. Theres no favoritism because you are a woman. One would hold her head high that if shes been successful in Wipro its because of what she is and how she has performed, and not because of any advantage offered due to gender. |
Here associations like Nasscom and CII are doing a lot of work. They are bringing companies together to attain the critical mass required for these programs. This way cost can be shared and women employees can network with successful senior women from other companies. It is proven that hearing successful role models talk about their experiences and how they coped is a motivator like no other.
Some other thoughts that might come in are that there are senior women who have made it without any help from the company so why the need for this special focus now, or that the woman has the right to make her own decisions, how can the company take those decisions for her?
| Education and social sensitizing is more critical for women coming in to work rather than corporate planning |
Gender diversity is considered a business imperative today. Your views?
Diversity was never an issue in Indiawhether cast, creed or gender.. It was more of a focus in the USlinked to the Afro-Americans and Americans, and then it spread to gender as well. Its just the big corporates who are doing it because people come from the US and say, show us diversity. There is no internal requirement. If you are asking me if you need to treat women differently, of course we need to treat them differently based on what their requirements are, but thats basic courtesy.
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R Vardarajan,
executive VP and chief HR officer, Quatrro BPO |
But will sheer courtesy drive the numbers?
We are a 35:65 in terms of women employees, and about 22% in senior management, which is healthy by any means. When we started as a technical solutions group, women never came to us. But I have an understanding with my team that in two years time we will be a 50:50 men:women company. A good mix, especially when you work with young people like we do, it is always a good culture to have.
What I am saying is that a gender discussion is not related to women, it is related to the culture of the organization. We understand that based on physiological differences the needs will be different, which are met with courtesy.
So gender inclusion and growth will be considered part of employee welfare?
Its worked for us. I have so many women in leadership positionswe had in Spectramind too. We are a BPO, and women have to work nights, what we do is provide security. We provide pick-up and drop for both men and women. But we dont do it because of any legislation but simply because public transport in India is bad, for security reasons; and to make sure employees reach on time.
In Spectramind we created some benchmarks, for eg, no woman was dropped last or picked up first, guards were rotated to avoid collusion between the guard and the driver, theres a call-back from the desk here to the woman employee as soon as she reaches home...these were some basic concepts, we didnt need any agenda to do it.
And the gap in senior management, dont corporates have to worry about that?
If women have to reach the top they have to balance their lives, and Ive seen them do that much better than men. Whether women stay on is because of the choices they make rather than what the organization is doing or not doing for them. Their priorities change and some women want to take a break for some timethree, four, five years. We take them back, based on past performancewe take back men too. Look at the talent situation today, corporates will always take a good performer back, and they understand that the break will cost them.
I know people whove had problems at home, learned to balance it and grow to the top. And I know women who have grown to the top and decided to quit. It has to be left to them as individuals how they want to manage.
Education and social sensitizing is more critical for women coming in to work and women moving up rather than corporate planning. Wherever literacy is high, equality is not an issuelook at the south. So you have to focus on education of both men and women right from young ageand not alienate them with special focus. |
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