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&#xa0; A recent survey conducted by ProEves revealed that <keyword id="46431" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="India-Inc">India Inc</keyword> has less than 20% participation of women in workforce and this has remained the same for the past three years. This highlighted the fact that even in this age, gender diversity agenda for many multi-national and Indian companies in the country is still not increasing. 
 Similar studies were conducted by Catalyst in 2015 and Community Business in 2014, and all of them showed similar results. In fact, the percentage has been the same for the past five years. The survey was conducted among 47 leading companies like <keyword id="73803" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reckitt-Benckiser">Reckitt Benckiser</keyword>, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Nestle+India&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Nestle India</a>, Colgate-Palmolive (India), Sanofi, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Britannia+Industries&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Britannia Industries</a>, Whirlpool, Flipkart, Convergys, InMobi, Novartis, Mars International, Honeywell India, Mondelez India Foods, Marico, Castrol India, among others. 
 
At top managerial level the percentage is as low as 12-13%. However, at junior levels, 21% companies have representation of above 35%. This puts some light on the leaking pipeline from the middle to senior positions. Compared to the US, India is at half the women participation across all employee groups. 
 "There is a big discrepancy in policies and implementation. Companies could really do a lot more in softer aspects of inclusion and that can happen when leaders begin walking the talk," <keyword id="247599" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Saundarya-Rajesh">Saundarya Rajesh</keyword>, founder-president of AVTAR Career Creators and <keyword id="780114" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="FLEXI-Careers-India">FLEXI Careers India</keyword> told ET. 
 
The survey also shows that goals on diversity are stated by about 61% of the companies but only one-third of them have reached their number target and have no target association on inclusion for leaders, a reflection that many companies have the intent but are shying away from real numbers. 
 “Another reason for the gap is that lot of things employees think are important are not what women think, a childcare and parental support organization that works with individuals and companies to provide verified childcare support and drive. ProEves also runs a <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword> community of women called ‘Happy Moms raise Happy Kids’ which acts as a support group” <keyword id="3703996" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ketika-kapoor">Ketika Kapoor</keyword>, coFounder of ProEves told ET. 
 
According to a survey conducted by ProEves, lack of flexibility proved to be the second biggest reason for leaving the cooperate world by moms. "This is really a paradox and companies have to concentrate on their culture to achieve real flexibility," said Rajesh. 
 
Thw percentage of women working in white collar jobs has dropeed down from 25.5% in 2002-03 to 22-23% at present. Whereas the gender diversity ratio is around 15% now. 
 
There is definitely a positive intent and genuine recognition of the benefits of genuine diversity . However, there exists larger issues to be looked at like child care support system, commuting, infrastructure that are to be looked into. 
 
(image: pinterest)

India Inc has hardly made any progress in filling the gender gap. These are the statistics 

Citi, err new moms never sleep. Just to give the new mothers a respite, <keyword id="6404166" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Citi-Bank">Citi Bank</keyword> is offering its women employees in India a childcare allowance over and above their salaries worth up to Rs 1.32 lakh a year for spending on daycare services of their choice, in what is seen as an unprecedented employee benefit across <keyword id="46431" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Inc">India Inc</keyword> and is aimed at making it easier for new mothers to pursue their careers uninterrupted. 
In a news report by The Economic Times, Citi will, starting this financial year, pay its women employees in India a fixed quarterly childcare allowance of Rs 33,000 for up to four years after their return from maternity leave, which they can use for financing daycare services of their choice. Employees can avail this facility for two children. 
 
 This isn’t a typical benefit provided by other companies. While firms such as <keyword id="6361649" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Goldman-Sachs">Goldman Sachs</keyword>, HSBC and <keyword id="6365619" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hindustan-UniLever">Hindustan Unilever</keyword> run their own creches or have tie-ups with creche providers, Citi's move will be especially helpful for women employees in non-metro cities where firms typically don't run creche services or have subsidised corporate tie-ups . 
 "As we work towards nurturing young women leaders at Citi, we realise three factors impact their professional career growth in some manner - marriage, mobility and motherhood," Sarab PreSingh, head (recruitment, learning and talent) at <keyword id="134205" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Citi-India">Citi India</keyword> told the ET. 
 
 
"What's happening across the corporate world and with us as well is that women at the entry level account for around 40% (of workforce), but as one goes up the experience curve the percentage of women employees reduces," added Singh. 
HR experts believe this would be leading light in the industry. 
 "Organisations are waking up to the fact that the age group of 27-35 is the critical age group where women are dropping out and they need to be protected. They don't have many women reaching the levels of AVPs and VPs and that explains such policies," Saundarya Rajesh, founder and <keyword id="2540" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="President">president</keyword> of <keyword id="247598" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Avtar-Career-Creators">Avtar Career Creators</keyword> and <keyword id="2884296" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flexi-Careers">Flexi Careers</keyword>, who works on diversity and inclusion issues told the ET. 
 
The financial daily said, in the past few years, Citi has made largescale changes to its maternity benefits and flexible working arrangements for women employees. It has introduced a flexible maternity policy, which allowed women employees to avail their maternity leave of 180 days in three different options. Women officers could either avail of leave for a continuous period of six months or exercise flexibility in the leave duration by opting for leave in tranches. 
 
The bank also made sure that new mothers kept their performance ratings during their maternity leave period. The bank's performance management system rates women employees only for the actual period of work and in line with prior two years' performance records. "This increases our budget outlay, but we believe returning mothers will find value in the new policy," Singh said. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Citibank provides a smashing new
childcare policy that all mothers will be super happy about

To keep more women employees across all levels, <keyword id="436047" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ecommerce">eCommerce</keyword> company <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> has rolled out an unprecedented <keyword id="2928409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="maternity-benefits-package">maternity benefits package</keyword> to attract females, reported the Economic Times. 

	Flipkart, which is about to hire more women candidates, particularly in leadership roles, has announced that it will offer six-month paid leave along with four months of flexible working option with salary to mothers. 
 

	Moreover, the eCommerce firm will also offer an extended maternity leave up to one year of career break without pay, after which female employees can return to avail their jobs. 
 As per the new package, women will get a transport reimbursement benefit of Rs 600 per day during the last two months of <keyword id="6357793" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="pregnancy">pregnancy</keyword>. They are also entitled to a reserved parking slot for 2 months before and after child delivery. 

	The online retailer is also working on a proposal to pay 50% of day care charges at high-standard facilities for children up to 4 years of age. 
 Such a maternity leave package is not common in <keyword id="46431" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="India-Inc">India Inc</keyword>, where most employers offer three months of paid statutory maternity leave. 

	"Flipkart needs to be able to attract more women talent," Deepali Tamhane, senior director, product management, Flipkart, told ET in an exclusive interaction. 
 

	"Big growth is happening in e-commerce in women's segment. In India we are at the cusp of that. The sooner the company gets prepared for that we will have a very strong position in keeping our leadership slot," she said. 
 

	Meanwhile, there are no women yet on the Flipkart board of directors, but the company is looking to add a significant percentage of women representatives on the board, a Flipkart official said. 
 According to a report released by <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword>, with Forrester Consulting, eCommerce market in India is likely to have a 100-million customer base, of which women will be the major contributors. 

	Few companies in India, mostly in the banking sector, offer such benefits. No company has put this all together into such an extensive maternity benefits package. 
 "An Indian company making sure that women talent are given the support they deserve during the most vulnerable period of childbirth and childcare is really one of its kind," said <keyword id="247599" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Saundarya-Rajesh">Saundarya Rajesh</keyword>, founder and president at <keyword id="2836889" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Avtar-Career-Creators-FLEXI">Avtar Career Creators &amp; FLEXI</keyword> Careers India, who works in the area of re-engaging second career women. About 48% women executives under 30 years of age drop out of the workplace due to <keyword id="18248" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Motherhood">motherhood</keyword> and related reasons, says Rajesh. The cost of replacing these women is higher compared to what can be achieved if they were retained. 
	 
	(Image: Indiatimes)

Flipkart is trying its best to retain women employees. Here’s how!

The information technology services and consulting <keyword id="6556311" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Major">major</keyword> <keyword id="6370971" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Accenture">Accenture</keyword> India has set an example for other IT conglomerates. In first-of-its-kind initiative, it has extended maternity leave benefits to five months of paid leave from 12 weeks. 
 Not only this, <keyword id="624" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Women">women</keyword> employees will also be entitled to an additional maternity leave of four weeks paid leave if there is an illness directly related to mother’s pregnancy. The policy will be in effect from May 1. 
 In an exclusive interview to Economic Times, Managing Director, Human Resources for Accenture in India, <keyword id="2836888" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parag-Pande">Parag Pande</keyword> said the benefits are for both, full-time and part-time employees. 
"We are focused on hiring, retaining and advancing women at every level. Extending maternity leave will help women in our workforce continue to pursue their career goals while raising a family," Pande told the financial daily. 
 
Moreover, if employees want additional time beyond the maternity leave but do not have enough accrued vacation leave can apply for unpaid leave of absence for a further 12 weeks, taking the total permissible leave period to nine months. 
 
Under its new recruiting goal, Accenture further plans to have women comprise at least 40% of their new global hires by the end of fiscal 2017. Presently, 1,15,000 women comprise 36% of their global workforce in 30 countries. 
 
The company also offers a slew of programmes like career guidance for new parents, parents at work programme to assist women employees during maternity to remain in the workforce, etc. 
"The many programmes we offer will enable women in our company to make a smoother transition back to the workforce after having a child. These initiatives will go a long way in helping us continue to recruiting and retaining the best talent," Pande told ET. 
 Maternity is a key period where a sizeable amount of women, majority in the age group of 28 and 35 years, choose to stop working, which leads to draining pipeline of high potential women professionals at <keyword id="1009187" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-middle">the middle</keyword> of the pyramid. 
 Presently, only few organisations, mostly in the global banking and <keyword id="6354241" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Financial-Services">financial services</keyword> space in India offer such benefits and most of the other major companies in the IT space in India like Infosys, Capgemini, Microsoft, <keyword id="30331" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="HCL-Technologies">HCL Technologies</keyword>, among others, offer three months of paid statutory maternity leave. 
 Also as mandated, in most companies, women employees are entitled to take an additional one month of paid extended maternity leave in case of any complications. Almost 48% women under the age group of 30 drop out of the workplace citing, says Saundarya Rajesh, founder and <keyword id="2540" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="President">president</keyword> of <keyword id="2836889" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Avtar-Career-Creators-FLEXI">Avtar Career Creators &amp; FLEXI</keyword> Careers India, who works in the area of re-engaging second career women. 
 
She adds among the highest percentage of women who seek re-entry at the mid-career level are those who have already worked in IT industry, which hires among the largest numbers of women in the Indian workplace, probably second only to the BFSI sector. 
But IT-ITeSBPO also loses approximately 18% women each year to short or medium-term breaks in career. 
 
The cost of replacing these women, who quit workplace primarily citing "personal reasons" seek to return to the workforce about 18-20 months after their break. 
Due to this, the cost of replacing these women as well as retraining them is higher compared to what can be achieved if they were retained. 
 
"Companies would save thousands of rupees if they are able to create a support structure to retain these women. A robust maternity benefit policy can play a crucial role not only for diversity and inclusion but for organisations to be sustainable," Saundarya told ET.

​Accenture has planned a Mother’s Day gift for all its female employees. Know what

<ul><li><keyword id="2551143" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fidelity-Information-Services" source="Orion">Fidelity Information Services</keyword> (<keyword id="4776620" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fis" source="Orion">FIS</keyword>) is looking to hire over 10,000 individuals in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> over the next 12-months.</li><li>The successful applicants, it said, will be staffed across FIS offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Indore, Mohali, <keyword id="11900977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gurugram" source="Orion">Gurugram</keyword>.</li><li>FIS employs over 55,000 people in over 50 countries today. </li></ul>Florida-based fintech firm Fidelity Information Services (FIS), which provides technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally, is looking to hire over 10,000 individuals in India over the next 12-months to fill positions across various roles at all levels to fuel its future growth. The recruitment drive, it said, will focus on hiring people through campus placements at leading educational institutes in India. The successful applicants, it said, will be staffed across FIS offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Indore, Mohali, Gurugram. “India is a strategic centre of employment for FIS with nearly one-third of FIS colleagues living and working within the country’s borders,” the Fortune 500 company said in a press release on Thursday. Founded in 1968 as Systematics, FIS employs over 55,000 people in over 50 countries today. It offers more than 450 solutions and claims to process over $75 billion of transactions across the globe. Over the past 18 months, FIS has been encouraging a hybrid working model/flexi hours, which the company said, has helped it improve the work-life balance for its employees and made its workforce more productive. The company also said it promotes an inclusive work culture for people from all types of social backgrounds including the differently abled and queer communities. “FIS has had a presence in India for more than two decades, and this recruitment drive underscores our continued commitment to providing rewarding career opportunities for India’s top talent. We are creating new opportunities across the country which will help FIS continue to advance the way the world pays, banks and invests,” said <keyword id="10574609" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amol-gupta" source="Orion">Amol Gupta</keyword>, chief human resources officer for India and Philippines at FIS. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/meesho-raises-more-than-half-a-billion-dollars-in-the-fourth-biggest-funding-round-this-year/articleshow/86636161.cms">Meesho raises more than half a billion dollars in the fourth biggest funding round this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/vedantu-the-last-and-biggest-rival-of-byjus-has-finally-entered-the-unicorn-club/articleshow/86614637.cms">Vedantu, the last and biggest rival of Byju’s, has finally entered the unicorn club</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-powers-stock-gains-on-transformation-towards-renewable-energy/articleshow/86640268.cms">Tata Power wants to break up with coal and investors love it</a>

American fintech firm FIS will hire over 10,000 people in India

Let’s face it- all of us have wondered at some point in our lives how wonderful it would be to work at a company that makes <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=chocolate&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">chocolate</a>. I mean, think about it, all you’d be doing is working towards giving the world and its inhabitants more chocolate and hopefully in the process, munch on some yourself too. 
 
But, enough with the wondering- On the occasion of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=world+chocolate+day&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">World Chocolate Day</a> (yes, it’s today) Business Insider decided to find out for once and all how it actually is to work at a chocolate company. 
 
Figuring out which chocolate company to seek answers from wasn’t difficult either. We just thought of our favourite chocolates and memories associated with them while growing up and we just knew which company we were looking for. 
 
Whether it’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=cadbury+diary+milk&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Cadbury Dairy Milk</a> that is reminiscent of your childhood memories with its Kuchh Khaas Hai, Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye campaigns or the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=cadbury&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Cadbury</a> Celebrations pack which continues to brighten your festive occasions or the indulgent dark chocolate, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=bournville&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Cadbury Bournville</a> or 5-star, the small pack of goodness, the company behind them all- <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=mondelez+india&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Mondelez India</a> has been spreading delicious moments of joy in our lives for more than six decades. 
 As I take a bite of my <keyword id="6399124" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cadbury">Cadbury</keyword> Bournville, I shudder to think what our lives would have been had Mondelez not existed; which is why we decided to find out how it would have been to be an employee at <keyword id="2200852" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mondelez-India">Mondelez India</keyword>. 
 
And as I soon find out, Mondelez India is committed to make the lives of their employees as sweet as their products. 
 
Employees Are Kings: 
 
To start with, the company is of the belief that the career paths of an employee should be in his hands and not the company’s. Keeping that in mind, they’ve started a unique platform called Growing @ Mondelez that runs every 6 months and exposes employees to experience sets where they can feed in their target roles and see the multiple routes (roles, rotations or projects) that have to be undertaken to achieve that desired role. 
 
Hence, just like custom made snacks, Mondelez employees can custom make and shape their own careers based on their passions. 
Additionally, the company’s talent mobility program has helped the company learn about their employees’ exposure in varied markets and role better. As a result of this, today there are innumerable examples of Mondelez India colleagues who are now placed in Global and Regional roles. 
 
 
 One such instance is <keyword id="1337106" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Nikhil-Rao">Nikhil Rao</keyword>, who is currently the Global Brand Equity Director, Cadbury Diary Milk. Rao had joined Mondelez India in 1999 and held various roles in Sales &amp; Marketing. He also has had significant achievements including the launch of <keyword id="570619" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cadbury-Dairy-Milk">Cadbury Dairy Milk</keyword> Silk, Cadbury Bournville and leading campaigns such as Cadbury Dairy Milk – Shubh Aarambh and Cadbury 5 Star – Ramesh &amp; Suresh. 
 
“I look back at my stint in India, as a great training ground- experiences that have shaped my learnings and enabled my growth into the global role I handle today ,” said Rao when we asked him about Mondelez India’s work-culture. 
 
Cool Office: 
 
 
 
It also helps that Mondelez India also has a pretty cool office. The energy of the brand is reverberated even from the office walls, which are covered with quirky branding of its products. 
 
Diversity Matters: 
 Then there’s the fact that the company has ensured that diversity is at the heart of its business. All it policies ensure a level playing field for both men and women. Infact, Mondelez India is one of the first <keyword id="22917" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Companies">companies</keyword> to have voluntarily adopted a gender diversity policy six decades back. 
 
This is evident from their new parent’s policy which entitles women employees to take up to 6 month maternity leave with 15 months of flexi-work timings and male colleagues to avail 10 days paternity leave with 12 months of flexi-work timings. The best part is that this policy also formally covers even alternative forms of parenthood like adoption, surrogacy and provides 6 months paid leave to single parents. 
 
Chocolate Taster: 
 
And, we haven’t even come to the best part of working for this company. As we found out, at Mondelez, it is not just regular corporate work; they have some unique designations like a chocolate taster. Eating chocolate for a living is probably the sweetest way to earn a paycheck, wouldn’t you agree? 
 
Opportunities galore: 
 
 
 
 
From the looks of it, the aim of Mondelez India is to create a future ready organisation while being strongly rooted in its legacy. The company believes in facilitating development opportunities that enable its employees to become global leaders of tomorrow. 
 Take for example, their iTaste program (includes various functions like HR, Manufacturing, Sales &amp; Marketing etc.) at the entry level creates a signature experience for recruits to help fast-track their careers. A number of people in its leadership team and extended leadership team are iTasters. One among them is <keyword id="3025811" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chella-Pandyan">Chella Pandyan</keyword> from the Country Leadership Team at Mondelez, who rose from the position of an iTaster to a role today where he heads the Biscuits category as Associate Director, Marketing, Biscuits India and Kids Fuel AP. 
 
Woah. This is one beautiful place to work at. We'd give up our jobs in a heartbeat for Mondelez India.

On World Chocolate Day, we find out how it is like
to work at Mondelez India

It’s a situation of double whammy. Women in India are almost at par with their western counterparts when it comes to joining the corporate workforce. It is said nearly 24% women in the corporate houses are between ages 25 and 35 and the number is expected to grow. 
 India boasts of one of the largest young working populations in the world. So when the statistics say India is right below <keyword id="6355311" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Japan">Japan</keyword> (23% <keyword id="6359149" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="working-women">working women</keyword>), it does indicate some progress. In fact, Turkey (26%) and Austria (29%) do better than India. Of course, the west leads as always with the US leading with 52% women workers, followed by Spain (48%) and Canada (46%). 
 
Come back to India, shall we? Women in the corporate sector, make a rather grand entry and fizzle out later. Of the 24% who make it to the boardrooms, only 5% reach the top. 
 
Experts say if women contribute to be equal workforce as men, India’s GDP can increased by 4%. But that isn’t easy because the corporate world somehow creates roadblocks for women and reduces their participation. 
 In a report titled ‘<keyword id="2357704" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="On-Ramps-and-Up-Ramps-India">On Ramps and Up Ramps India</keyword>’ by Hewlett, it has been derived that women don’t follow a vertical career path as men. Reasons for this could range from biological, cultural, social and individual ones. 
 
What’s important to note though, is that 36% women take a career break due to various reasons. This data seems to be the same, more or less, world over. Women in Germany and the US, too, come close to the same percentage. 
 
However, the difference lies in the fact that the Indian women stay away from work only on an average of 11 months as against close to three years in other countries. So the experience and manpower lost when they begin to work again is a disappointing figure. 
 
When Women return to work, the psychological aspects play a major role. They assume they cannot leverage the experience they had built and have to start from scratch. The dynamic technology platforms don’t make it easy either. Though companies offer flexi-work options, women tend to withdraw again and move into a shell. 
 
Reasons are mostly matrimonial, domestic and aspects involving child and elderly care. This kind of a fluid situation can leave women nowhere even after they return to work. 
 
Psychologically, women are assumed to be difficult, emotional and fly-off-the-handle easily to lose composure. A team leader has to be hands-on. This is a popular belief that keeps women down from aiming for the top. 
 
So, is the glass ceiling self-assumed or created by external forces? It’s a bit of both. Popular notions of leadership are mostly masculine and do not define the feminine aspects of it. And when women feel they cannot fulfil those demands, even by a small percentage, they don’t set out to carve the path for themselves. 
 
What stalks them is the fear of being questioned, and judged on the basis of their personal responsibilities and time commitment. Since most women don the masculine aspect of their personality as they move up the ladder of corporate responsibilities, their feminism remains a mere token. 
 
Threat looms large around the time when the women at lower rung have to negotiate on policy matters. The usual hesitation of being rejected stays on top of the mind. Hence, the policies don’t change, as do the notions of leadership. India still lags behind in accommodating women in workspace since it is at crossroads with changing social equations between men and women. 
 
Increase in crimes is another problem. India needs to wage a war against its negative forces, both within and outside the psyche of power houses. It’s a tough fight. The road ahead is miles longer than the road behind.

The Glass Ceiling:
Hubris, Hubbub or Reality

Kotak Flexicap Fund: Too big to be flexible?

In a male dominated sector, Vedanta is leading by example by employing women in key areas that too at leadership levels. 
 
Vendanta’ Odisha unit has an all-women team who are in-charge of metals and mining projects. 
 
Many women in Vendanta have gotten into revenue generating functions and have contributed immensely to the company’s growth story. 
 
Vendanta’s Anil Agarwal said he was proud to have, arguably, the highest number of women in senior management as benchmarked against its peers. 
 
Saundarya Rajesh, founder president of AVTAR Career Creators &amp; FLEXI Careers India, told ET, "The business case for gender inclusion has long been proven...the sheer fact that a leader like Vedanta is saying that this is possible will itself send out a strong signal." 
 
A slew of research reports, including one from UNDP, show a direct correlation between greater gender diversity and higher GDP. 
 
Reportedly, women make up 5% of Vedanta's top management, 9% of senior management and about 10% at other levels. 
 
It is said that Vendanta will increase this number to 15% over next two years. 
 
"When hiring for leadership roles, our mandate to search firms is to focus on giving us a balanced slate of talent, which includes a good number of women candidates," Madhu Srivastava, head of talent acquisition at Vedanta, told ET.

Vedanta is realising women power! To increase women headcount in key roles by 15%

Two books that I read recently gave me insights into the experiences of two powerful women who have carved their place in male dominated workplaces. One of them was Justice (retd) <keyword id="138835" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Leila-Seth">Leila Seth</keyword>’s autobiography, On Balance and the other one was Lean In, the book on the experiences of Facebook chief operating officer,<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/How-Sheryl-Sandbergs-grandmother-taught-her-it-was-okay-to-lean-on-other-women-for-support/articleshow/52909071.cms"> Sheryl Sandberg</a>. 
 
In her book On Balance, Justice Seth recounts her initial days at after being elevated as judge in the Delhi High Court. She says that people used to address her as the “new lady judge” and she had to frequently correct them, “I am not the new lady judge, but the new judge.” In her own words, she had to be “equal-plus” in order to be taken seriously. On a similar note, <keyword id="611995" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sheryl-Sandberg">Sheryl Sandberg</keyword>, in her book describes the gender stereotypes that have existed since her childhood and were even visible in her workplace environment. These books give a glimpse of the conscious and inadvertent biases that exist around us. They also bring out the physiological impact of <keyword id="3590826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="gender-disparity-in-employment">gender disparity in employment</keyword> and what women go through in such situations. As most of the top level positions are held by men, it is assumed to be natural that women cannot break the glass ceiling. Unfortunately, many educated and working women have also started believing in this theory. Being a woman in a corporate set-up, I could relate to their accounts. 
 Amidst a raging debate around <keyword id="499855" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gender-diversity">gender diversity</keyword>, a recent ASSOCHAM-Thought Arbitrage Research report indicates that there was a spurt in the number of working women in India during 2000-2005. It jumped from 34 percent to 37 percent. However, the female labor force participation rate has reduced continuously thereafter and reached 27 percent in 2014. 
 
It is ironical that this downward trend was more pronounced during the period when economy was experiencing unprecedented growth and less and less women were contributing of this boom period. This was a loss for not just India Inc. but for the entire country. We lost on the prospects of nurturing women leaders’ bridge the gender gap. 
 
As the Assocham study shows women are usually seen leaving their jobs when they get married or plan their families. In fact, it is the single largest cause of females leaving their careers mid-way. They are expected to handle domestic responsibilities around children and elders. 
Then there are issues such as gender biases, extreme work conditions and the lack of learning and development opportunities – all these make women quit their jobs. It glaring that despite having good academic qualifications, there are very few women who actually attain leadership roles. We can think of role models like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Kiran-Mazumdar-Shaw-says-Government-should-make-consistent-policies/articleshow/51124909.cms">Kiran Majumdar Shaw</a>, <keyword id="68907" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indira-Nooyi">Indira Nooyi</keyword>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/SBI-Chairman-blames-stalled-projects-for-Indian-banking-sector-stress/articleshow/53080413.cms">Arundhati Bhattacharya</a> and <keyword id="225262" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chanda-Kochchar">Chanda Kochchar</keyword>. They have been the epitome of success through hard work and persistence. But we need to create more such role models for young girls to believe in themselves and repeat the success. 
 
Move the needle on gender diversity 
 
Irrespective of the sector, organisations need to make women centric agenda a company priority. Clear targets need to be defined to promote diversity at workplace and obstacles that stifle women talent and empowerment have to be removed. If marriage or maternity are the prime reasons for attrition of women employees, companies should have policies to offer continuity of career if they return, and even incentivise top talent to come back. Earlier this year, Telenor Group took a lead and declared a mandatory 6 month <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Maternity-Bill-passed-in-Rajya-Sabha-26-weeks-of-paid-leave-for-working-women/articleshow/53666268.cms">maternity leave policy</a>. More organisations have followed and even the Indian government is seeking an amendment in the Maternity Benefit Act to provide 26-week maternity leave to all working mothers. Initiatives such as giving flexi working hours or having a crèche or day care centres in the office premises has helped new mothers strike a good work-life balance. 
 
However, to build a pipeline of women leaders we also need create a career roadmap for them. Education, training and professional development modules have to be designed to bring them on a par with their male counterparts. Additionally, companies can focus on setting targets for women representation across all levels of the organization – including senior leadership and develop action plans to achieve these targets. Last year, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) came up with directions for listed firms to appoint at least one woman director on their boards with this objective and was stringent enough to get it implemented. Clearly apart from internal plans, a regulatory push always helps. 
 
But policies are not the only intervention required. The work culture and the mind set needs to change. Time and resources have to be invested towards women oriented initiatives. Taking cognizance of this important topic and to promote women leaders, Telenor Group has started an initiative known as Women Inspirational Network (WIN) across all its 13 business units. WIN will provide focused leadership development to women leaders at CXO-1 and CXO-2 levels – ensuring gender balance in the organization’s overall leadership planning. 
Companies need to consciously and cognitively take such steps for inclusive growth at workplace. Studies have shown that by meaningfully engaging with the women employees improves the overall functionality of the organization. The 18th Annual Global CEO Survey by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) had recently reported that 85% of CEOs whose companies have an inclusiveness strategy said it improved their bottom-line. 
 
Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Apple-says-it-pays-women-the-same-as-men/articleshow/53530954.cms">Apple says it pays women the same as men</a> 
 
With <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/What-India-Inc-leaders-love-to-do-when-out-of-their-Boardrooms/articleshow/52779268.cms">India Inc.</a> getting noticed keenly globally for their business acumen, the world will be keenly scrutinizing the diversity agenda being pursued by these companies. The new age companies and start-ups are throwing up innumerable opportunities for career oriented women to come forward with their own set-ups. The journey has begun, how long it will take for us to reach the destination only time will tell. 
 
About the author: Pooja Thakran is the Chief Communication Officer &amp; Head of Social Responsibility at Telenor India Communications 
 
<a href="http://stg.businessfirstmagazine.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Depositphotos_49517177_m.jpg">Image source</a>

Winning by promoting gender diversity at
workplace

<ul><li>While the ad industry has a lot of womentoday, many drop out by the time they reach mid-management levels, primarily due to the lack of flexible hours, or the flexibility to work from home.</li><li>The women leaders we spoke to believe organizations need to prioritize training more women, to prepare them for leadership roles, and this should be a part of the company’s culture.</li><li>There is also a need to relook at the way employee’s performances are evaluated, coming up with newer ways of assessing talent in a time where the way of doing business has seen a complete overhaul.</li></ul> In late 2019, a report by Credit Suisse stated that women’s representation in boardrooms in India increased only by 4.3% between 2014 and 2019. The report further stated that the current female representation on boards is only 15.2% which invariably led to dialogues around the conspicuous lack of women leaders in the upper rungs of the corporate world. Having said that, the world of advertising, marketing and media is one industry that has seen a lot of women in roles of leadership. While we are still far from an equal man-woman ratio in the industry, it is heartening to see more and more women take the top spots. Conversations with most women leaders from the industry led us to believe that this is an industry that welcomes women to be a part of the workforce. However, it is during their mid-career levels that a lot of women drop out of the workforce, leading to a dip in women who take up higher positions. We reached out to some of the most influential women in the industry currently, to gauge what are the reasons for these drop-outs, and what needs to be done, as an industry as well at individual organizational levels, to ensure that women are retained, and even if they drop-out, are encouraged to rejoin the workforce. We received an overwhelming response to our queries from across the sector from women who made some really compelling points. These women who feel passionately about the subject laid their hearts bare, telling us ways they think the industry can evolve, to become more inclusive. Here are some of the most prominent voices. Building a culture of inclusivity It is often noticed that while a lot of women are joining the workforce, many of them take the decision of quitting once they decide to get married or decide to have children. Many find it difficult to come back, due to the lack of flexible working hours at their workplaces, or even due to a certain amount of judgment where people look at them a little differently after they come back from a long break. Most of the women leaders we spoke to believe that the work culture needs to evolve a little, to make way for such women, giving them the flexibility that many of them need, once they start a family. <keyword id="4356726" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="srija-chatterjee">Srija Chatterjee</keyword>, Managing Director, Publicis Worldwide, India shared that while a few corporates have started giving some assistance to women, the ad industry hasn’t yet started doing that actively. “As an industry, we have woken up to women leaders and we are trying to make things happen for women, to make sure that they don't jump off from the workforce. However, there's still a long way to go. The biggest reason women stop working is when they get into that life stage of having children. A lot of corporates are today providing strong support, through office crèches or flexi-timing options. That has not yet happened in our industry. From a business perspective, the size of our agencies might not be that big, which makes implementing this a bit of a challenge. But the more and more we get into a group structure, and offices become more centralized, it will enable organizations to look at shared resources to help women pursue their passion. This is something that could be done, but has not been done yet.” A lot of times, there is also a lot of judgement involved when women come back to work after a long break. Delving deeper into the need for a change in attitude, Pallavi Chakravarti, Executive Creative Director, Taproot Dentsu said, “You’ve been out of the scene way too long - you can’t expect the salary that you do after the kind of leave you’ve taken - but won’t your attention be divided now?” These are just some of the things women hear when they are seeking to make their way back into the workforce, post a long gap. Of course, this is not a blanket statement - times are changing, mindsets are changing, as are corporate policies. But if companies truly want to be gender-neutral then statements and questions like the ones I’ve cited above would never be heard again. Additionally, flexible working hours, working from home, working on time-bound projects are all steps that more and more organisations can adopt to ensure equal opportunities. And when I say equal, I mean that these options should be made available to both men and women. Shedding some light on how OLX is working on retaining some of its women, Sapna Arora, Chief Marketing Officer, OLX India said, “Setting the right example of favourable work culture much suited to women, not just in terms of facilities and infrastructure, but also in terms of broadening our thinking within an organization across various levels, is the key to inspire women working population to join the workforce and perform better. OLX, as an organization, is working on taking baby steps in creating empowering workplace for women. A couple of years ago, we at OLX embarked on a journey to evaluate the gender diversity ratio and actively worked to encourage more women in roles such as data scientists, engineers, front line sales and more. This is a conscious choice we have made under our global diversity and inclusion programme which seeks to improve the gender ratio across STEM and leadership roles.” Talking about the need to prioritize diversity in leadership, Emrana Sheikh, Enterprise HR Head for India and South Asia – Johnson &amp; Johnson said, “Today, companies are increasingly equating their C-suite diversity to competitive advantage for their businesses – and rightly so, it leads to robust dialogue, richer decisions and the empathy to design good, and human-centered solutions. For organizations looking for a paradigm shift in their work cultures, C-suite diversity sets an example for the rest of the team. At the basic level, it can be a source of inspiration that resonates down to the front-line staff. This is only possible when diversity in the leadership is prioritized and its long-term implementation is ensured at all levels through intentionality and focused talent management. Internal platforms such as Diversity &amp; Inclusion Council and Employee Resource Groups further drive culture strategies from a variety of lenses, championing inclusivity as a collective goal across levels. An inclusive culture transcends barriers, bias and bureaucracy, and makes the employees truly feel that they belong. All around, women are a critical mass of consumers, influencers, stakeholders and communities. Hence, reflection of the same in organizations is a business imperative.” Sharing a similar sentiment, Neena Dasgupta, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions added, “Organizations need to ensure that women in the workplace are respected and recognized.For women to thrive in the workplace, organizations need to ensure an environment that is rooted in equal opportunity and a culture that is geared to assist women achieve their goals.” Sharing some tips on a few things that can be done at the organization level to help women continue to be a part of an organization, Ayesha Ghosh, General Manager, Taproot Dentsu added, “Younger women need to see older women in positions of influence. Flexible working hours and working from home might be a challenge in an industry that’s made a virtue of unreasonable working hours but we ought to be non-negotiable about starting early, cutting idle chatter, short lunch breaks and everything else that helps finish work early so that parents (and everyone else, really!) get to spend some time with their families. Ingraining fundamental values will go a much longer way than making token gestures. Enforcing paternity leave, for instance, so that the onus of child-rearing is not on the mother alone. When a parent, regardless of gender is expected to manage time such that they are responsible for their work as well as for their families, everyone will automatically spend less time on idle chatter and work a lot more efficiently.” An organization's culture also needs to have empathy at its foundation, shared Oindrila Roy, Head of Strategy, India, Essence, to make a difference. "As with any type of workforce integration, empathy should be the edifice on which workplaces are designed to integrate and retain both women and men more seamlessly. For women, it starts with stepping into her shoes, evaluating challenges from her point of view and arriving at solutions which are conducive. For example, an online survey conducted by JobsForHer found that 38% of women do not return to the workforce after giving birth, due to the lack of good day care for children. If that is the challenge, companies need to think of solving this problem innovatively - can the organisation collaborate with a nanny service provider to avail reliable childcare options to its employees? Reassured and empowered parents are likely to stay in the workforce longer." Modifying existing performance benchmarks Rubeena Singh, CEO, iProspect India believes that there is a need to relook at the performance benchmarks on which employees are evaluated. “In the middle years, I often see that we are trying to evaluate people on certain benchmarks. The criteria for these performance indicators have been put in place years ago when it was a largely male-dominated workforce. Things like 8 hours of work, or work in office, or if you want a senior position, you should have worked in different geographies etc. But sometimes, for women, it becomes very difficult to be mobile and move to different parts of the country, especially once they get married. As an industry, we really need to re-evaluate the criteria. We should look for quality now, if people are curious, if they are team-players, how innovative and out-of-the-box can they think. If these changes are brought about, a lot of women will find it easier to catch up from where they left, even if they are coming back after a long break.” Treating both men and women as equals at the workplace A lot of women leaders feel that there is an immediate need to start looking at both men and women as equals in the workspace and not differentiate on the basis of gender. Lara Balsara Wajifdar, Executive Director at Madison World said, “We need to look at women leaders as leaders first and not as women leaders. Don’t differentiate us on the basis of our gender, but differentiate us on the basis of our work! Our industry is always hungry for good talent and if the talent is good, the agency will always accommodate personal requests as long as the work is not affected.” Many also feel the starting point is to start a conversation, where both the genders are treated as equal participants. “<keyword id="6372584" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gender-equality">Gender equality</keyword> is not just a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue – that extends to all realms, including the workplace. To encourage equality across all lines of command in the workplace and have more women leaders, we need more men to be equal participants in the conversation around gender equality. Having the male workforce as partners can bring empowerment and equal respect among all genders. Global change-making initiatives like the UN’s ‘He for She’ Movement, of which I am a strong advocate, have been setting strong examples for people of all genders to take bold steps in solidarity and are working towards a gender-equal world,” said <keyword id="235731" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nadia-Chauhan">Nadia Chauhan</keyword>, JMD &amp; CMO, Parle Agro. Pointing out to some things that need to be done at an organizational level, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO Eros Digital at Eros International said, “There needs to be a cultural shift and change at workplaces to eradicate gender inequality and retain women employees. It is about time that companies consider deserving women for higher level positions and evaluate their performance sans bias. If there are more women leaders out there at the top positions, it gives a sense of confidence to the global sisterhood with strong role models. It is essential that companies organize mentorship programs to break the stereotype of what a man and a woman can or should do. There are several ways to retain a woman employee at work, but we also need to encourage more women to join the workforce. Equal pay, ensuring all voices are heard and feeling valued, creating safe work environment, etc. are all the least we can do.” Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch put it rather succinctly in her three-point recommendation on how to retain women. She said, “Firstly, treat your entire talent base with gender blindness. Best person for the job. Without over-thinking their family, marital, ‘emotional’ status. Just get the right person for the job. Secondly, allow your talent to align personal and professional goals and build a support system for them to come back to the same position at work after a break (marriage| child birth) and lastly, stop saying a certain gender matters more, prove by example by showing gender balance across functions.” Training young employees to think of themselves as leaders There is also a need for seniors to build an environment of motivating young women while also making them aware of their potential as future managers, shared Sujata Dwibedy, Group Trading Director, Ampilifi India. She said, “This question is asked to mostly senior women but ideally, both senior men, women and the entire team should be equally responsible to motivate the young, efficient women. The entire organisation gains if they can train and then retain competent women leading up to a management role. It is critical to show them advancement opportunities and their growth path. Policies might have to be tweaked but if it benefits all, it should not matter. Building an inclusive workplace, an organisational environment that values diversity not just for the sake of appearances but for the competitive edge that comes with access to multiple perspectives would make a difference.” There are a lot of internal barriers that women have to cross and training them to believe in themselves could help in ensuring they make it to the top. <keyword id="346168" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lulu-Raghavan">Lulu Raghavan</keyword>, Managing Director, Landor Associates said, “Even before thinking of getting more women leaders, we have to think of how we can create a better working place holistically. Secondly, you have to ensure that women at the top, doing good work get the visibility. It starts with the leadership, company philosophy and culture. You’ve got to find them and put them on the top because deserving women do exist. You can’t give us an excuse that there aren’t any women relevant for the top positions. A lot of training has to be done with women themselves; there are a few external barriers such as company policies, work environment, how other people behave towards you, and there are internal factors, which we women have set up through the years. It is the lack of self-confidence, self-doubt and imposter syndrome. We women have to be trained to be leaders. It should be different from the overall management chain because it is decades of social conditioning that companies have to break when women join them. “ Anita Kotwani, Senior Vice President, New Business, Mindshare added, “The industry needs to first acknowledge that Woman leaders can deliver as well as their male counterparts for senior-level roles. The grooming required should be done for the role and not the gender. If that happens you will see the necessary shift with more woman leaders leading the mantle.” Sharing her optimism about the future where she envisions more and more women to be on the top, Kranti Gada, COO Shemaroo Entertainment said, “A few years ago, I participated in a program called ‘Tanmatra’ organized by IIM Bangalore, to help develop and groom fellow women counterparts for about 9 months and the stories I heard about the differences in opportunities shocked me a little. I was happy to be at Shemaroo, where we have seen women in key roles leading from the front and managing the core business with ease and expertise. While the ratio of women is a little skewed in the industry, the gender gap is narrowing, and we will see more women taking charge in future in every field.”

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