Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

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

<keyword id="783131" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="DD-Bharati">DD Bharati</keyword>, the government channel dedicated to art and culture, has launched some new series in a bid to re-invent itself. 
	 

	There will be a theatre series, which will cover history of Bengali theatre and how it fared with the association of stage performers. It would be called Theatre through the Ages, and will be telecast on Wednesdays at 11 PM on DD Bharati. The series will be repeated on Thursdays at 7 AM and 3 PM. The channel is also running a series of programmes that would cover journeys of trendsetters and trailblazers of various fields like classical music and dance, theatre, art and advertising. Journeys of pioneers like <keyword id="827897" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kumudini-Lakhia">Kumudini Lakhia</keyword>, <keyword id="156138" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kiran-Seth">Kiran Seth</keyword>, <keyword id="8476" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rajeev-Sethi">Rajeev Sethi</keyword>, <keyword id="2551003" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Gulam-Mohd-Sheikh">Gulam Mohd. Sheikh</keyword>, <keyword id="29916" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Shyam-Benegal">Shyam Benegal</keyword> and <keyword id="2095" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Alyque-Padamsee">Alyque Padamsee</keyword> will be telecast every Sunday at 10 PM and would be repeated at 6 AM and 2 PM on Mondays. 
	 

	Next in line is the telecast of award-winning feature films in regional languages. The time slot would be 6:30 PM on Saturdays and would be repeated on Sundays at 2:30 AM and 10:30 AM. With so much happening in the television space in India and shows from across the borders being telecast and liked, this seems to be a smart move to pull audience to the good old <keyword id="6408304" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="doordarshan">Doordarshan</keyword>.

DD Bharati To Re-invent Itself

New Delhi, Apr 14 () Donation platform GiveIndia on Tuesday said it has launched the 'India COVID Response Fund' (ICRF) with initial donations worth Rs 75 crore to support the on-ground COVID relief efforts being carried out by its network of verified non-profits.Some of the early donors to the fund include the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, Google.org, HSBC India, Omidyar Network India, UBS Optimus Foundation, Marico, Uber India (through Uber Care driver fund), Binny Bansal and A.T.E. Chandra Foundation.The fund will use a data-backed approach to identify the most critical areas of intervention and scale the relief efforts pan India, a statement said.The donation platform is aiming at creation of a larger corpus that can support up to 10 million people nationally, it added."Since we started fundraising for COVID relief work on March 22, we have received donations from more than 2 lakh people globally, raised Rs 75 crores, partnered with over 40 organisations, onboarded more than 100 non-profits, and these initial efforts will impact one million people," GiveIndia Director and ICRF Advisor Govind Iyer said.However, the on-ground requirement is much larger and the fund is an open platform for all to come together and support the most critical need of the hour, he added.Other partners in the collective are CSIP (Centre for Social Impact and Philanthropy) from Ashoka University, Bridgespan, Indiaspora, Sattva, Dasra and IIFL Wealth, the statement said.An expert advisory group has been set up to guide fundraise and allocations, including Dr Devi Shetty, (Chairman, Narayana Health), Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Chairman, Biocon), Sanjiv Mehta (Chairman, HUL), Surendra Rosha (CEO, HSBC India), Binny Bansal (Co-founder, Flipkart), Manoj Kohli (Country Head, Softbank) and Amitabh Chaudhry (CEO, Axis Bank).Shilpa Kumar (Investment Partner, Omidyar Network India), Ingrid Srinath (Director, CSIP, Ashoka University), Arun Seth (former Chairman-BT), Amita Chauhan (Chairperson, SVP Mumbai), Shailesh Haribhakti (CA), Haigreve Khaitan (Managing Partner, Khaitan &amp; Co), V Vaidyanathan (MD &amp; CEO, IDFC First Bank), Neeraj Aggarwal (Head APAC, BCG) and Karan Bhagat (MD &amp; CEO, IIFL Wealth) are also part of the effort."ICRF will focus on preventing the spread of the coronavirus, providing humanitarian aid, supporting our health workers and enabling the COVID-hit families to rebuild their livelihoods. GiveIndia will be working with and supporting non-profits across health, disaster relief, rural livelihoods, etc including Akshaya Patra, Goonj, HelpAge India, ActionAid, Oxfam, CRY, Srijan and many others through this fund," the statement said. SR RSN RUJ

You Searched For "Kiran Seth" and got 3 results

Winning by promoting gender diversity at workplace

Guest Author

DD Bharati To Re-invent Itself

Nandini Sharma

GiveIndia starts India COVID Response Fund with Rs 75 cr in initial donations

PTI

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides