Havas Group India kickstarts ‘Women who Inspire’ initiative to foster gender diversity and women leadership

• Havas Group India has launched an initiative to bring about a cultural transformation and mindset shift that will help the network build a diverse and strong workforce that is futuristic and encourages many more women leaders in the group.
• A core group has been formed which consists of members in senior roles, across all its six agencies, who are in a position to influence, inspire, and mentor the next rung of leadership.
• This core team meets every alternate month to discuss key issues, opportunities, and changes relevant for the group as a whole and works towards recognizing and celebrating the great work that women leaders do across the group.

With an aim of looking at the challenges women employees face and to help clear their paths and allow for the talented and dynamic leaders to rise to the top, Havas India Group has kickstarted the 'Women who Inspire’ initiative to foster gender diversity and women leadership.

The objective is to bring about a cultural transformation and mindset shift that will help the network build a diverse and strong workforce that is futuristic and encourages many more women leaders in the group. A core group has been formed which consists of members in senior roles, across all its six agencies, who are in a position to influence, inspire, and mentor the next rung of leadership. This core team meets every alternate month to discuss key issues,
opportunities, and changes relevant for the group as a whole and works towards recognizing and celebrating the great work that women leaders do across the group.

There are four key objectives that the group will drive:

• Provide encouragement and mentorship to high-potential women leaders.
• Promote the exchange of ideas and provide networking opportunities.
• Help enhance the growth of our women staffers as leaders and decision-makers.
• Create the right environment that allows development and growth opportunities.

Speaking about the initiative, Rana Barua, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Group India, said, “Being diverse is all about enabling a culture that is conducive to freely express, share thoughts & perspectives. As we embark on this journey, we are excited about the potential cultural and mindset change that it can bring to the lives of women employees within Havas Group India. We see this as a step to bring about a huge transformation and one that will help us move in the direction of building a versatile workforce that is futuristic and aligned to the changing global world order and economy.”

Vandana Tilwani, CHRO, Havas Group who is leading this initiative adds, “As we gear up for our next phase of (post-covid) growth at Havas, we have to adapt to a different way of working which involves merging of work and life, remote working and adapting to agile and flexible team structures. Becoming a gender-diverse organization, breaking of many fixed rules and taboos and thus encouraging more women leaders is not only important in
creating a futuristic workplace, it is now a necessity in order to have a competitive advantage.”

Members of the core committee:

• Rana Barua, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Group India
• Vandana Tilwani, Chief HR Officer, Havas Group India
• Mohit Joshi, Chief Executive Officer, Havas Media Group India
• Susan Josi, Managing Partner, Havas Life Sorento
• Deepali Saini, Co-founder and Design Director, Think Design
• Priyanka Mehra, Director Marketing and Communications, Havas Group India
• Toral Shah, General Manager HR, Havas Group India
• Sanchita Roy, Head – West, Havas Media
• Geetika Thakur, Senior Vice President – Client Servicing, Havas Creative
• Dr. Rasika Bhat, Sr. Manager Scientific Communications, Havas Life Sorento
• Sreyashi Datta, Creative Director, Shobiz
• Pavithra Eshwar, Head HR, Langoor Havas