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In August this year, Accenture made an announcement – Rekha Menon, the managing director of human resources in the company, would be made Chairperson of Accenture India. A routine corporate announcement made all the time by companies when they make changes, one might say. But it made the corporate world in India – and those who follow it – sit up and take notice. A woman had been elevated to the topmost position! Yes, news like that still makes jaws drop and triggers animated water cooler discussions.
Women making it to the top in corporate circles in India has an implication that goes far beyond just their acceptance in leadership positions in what is still largely a patriarchal society – it implies that a woman stayed in the job long enough to be considered for a leading position. While women increasingly join the workforce (and get recognized for their abilities and merit), it has been the case all too often that they drop out in the middle of their career for ‘domestic reasons’ – marriage and motherhood. Survey after survey indicates that progression of women in middle management is often challenged by their life situation. While many women stick it out after marriage, the birth of the first child often spells the end of their career, maternity leave and extensions notwithstanding. Juggling multiple roles at home and work leaves women stressed out and exhausted, emotionally and physically, and more often than not, they are actively encouraged to drop out by the family as well as their partners.
Exodus of women – what does it entail?
The mid-career exodus of women has serious implications, not just for women, but for India Inc as a whole. Companies are losing talent and are generating huge costs in replacing it. As per a report titled India Inc: From Intention to Impact, released by the non-profit organisation, Catalyst, in September this year, the Indian workforce still stands at just 76:24 in terms of gender inclusivity. As one moves upwards in the hierarchy, the percentage of women employees starts decreasing. At the manager/director level, the share of women employees is only 21 per cent, followed by 19 per cent at the senior-management level. It drops to a mere 14 per cent in top-management roles.
Exhaustive research conducted by BizDivas also reveals that retention of women employees is an issue that cuts across all organizations. Fortunately, there is rising awareness among corporates for the imperative need to tap into the underleveraged skill-set of women, not just for promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace, but also for plumping up their bottomlines. While companies have a long way to go to achieve meaningful gender diversity in workplaces, India Inc is beginning to address the systemic, culturally ingrained issues that affect the career trajectories of women.
Closing the gender gap
Specific initiatives are being taken by larger conglomerates that could be – in fact, ought to be — emulated by smaller companies as well. For instance, Infosys, which was among India’s first companies to focus on gender diversity, has a multi-pronged approach to promote diversity and inclusivity within its ranks. In 2003, it set up Infosys Women’s Inclusivity Network (IWIN) to promote inclusion. IWIN trains women for managerial and leadership roles, and provides mentoring and training at various levels. It provides referrals about daycare services and schools, and also has discussion boards for women regarding child care. Besides, there is a one-year child care sabbatical, as well as a part-time work arrangement. Women can either work half a day or work for a few full days in a week. Innovative steps have ensured that a very high percentage of women return to work after maternity leave.
Wipro has also shown proactive commitment to gender equality, and has come out with practical steps to respond to women’s particular needs. A recipient of the 2014 Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Leadership Award, presented at the United Nations headquarters, Wipro launched the Women of Wipro (WoW) programme in 2008. This initiative revolves around exposure, flexibility and empowerment, with the aim being to nurture an equal opportunity culture and support the career ambitions of women executives. The focus has been on getting women to return after child-birth, for which the company provides flexi-timing, as well as work-from-home opportunities.
Arresting the leaking pipeline of mid-level women and nurturing them to reach the top is slowly becoming a focus area for various companies. At the Tata Group, the Group Executive Council aims to double the count of women to over 3,00,000 from the existing 1,15,000 in the 5,40,000-strong workforce. The group plans to develop 1,000 women leaders from this workforce, and to achieve that goal, it has the Tata Second Career Internship programme, which is a career transition management plan for women professionals. It targets women who have taken a break of six months, or more, and wish to re-start their career. It provides flexi-hour assignments with various Tata group companies, and works actively at eradicating biases.
Similarly, Vodafone India enables women in middle management to focus on their careers through its initiative, Pathways to Success. The company also has a Discover Graduate programme that focuses on 50 per cent women hires at the entry level.
Overall, re-integration programmes, an appropriate performance review methodology for post-leave women employees, and the inclusion of male employees in the entire process will go a long way in ensuring that women’s careers do not come to an abrupt halt. Providing women the right kind of an atmosphere, drafting innovative policies and putting in place the requisite infrastructure to enable them to return to work after sabbaticals is an imperative, and not an option. The workplace has to offer an ecosystem that treats the need for women to take a break from their work as a necessary interlude and not as a question mark.
