March 8 Women's Day
Gender Diversity In India - Helping Women
Lean Into The Workplace
by Ms. Charu Thapar, JLL India.
Across the globe, there is growing global awareness of
the need to increase gender diversity in the workforce. Corporate India is no
exception, and there are some very noteworthy instances of women in leadership
roles, but Grant Thornton’s ‘International Business Report’ in March 2014
actually stated that the proportion of women in senior positions in the Indian
workforce reduced from 19% in 2013 to 14% in 2014.
Indian organizations
have been rather slow to accept this new mantra.
· Why Do We Need Gender
Diversity?
According to a study conducted by the Pittsburgh-based
human resources consulting firm DDI, the companies that perform best
financially have the greatest numbers of women in leadership roles.
In 2012, a Harvard study found that “at every level,
more women were rated by their peers, their bosses, their direct reports, and
their other associates as better overall leaders than their male counterparts —
and the higher the level, the wider that gap grows.”
And if this is not sufficient reason to want more
women in leadership roles in organizations, we must also recognize that women
leaders can foster a better environment and introduce a strong team orientation
into organizational culture. There have also been studies to show that women
leaders are more loyal to the organization. They bring in greater stability,
and are less prone to attrition.
Studies around the world have shown that companies
that have a greater number of women on their senior management are able to tap
into a fuller spectrum of creativity and innovation.
Never mind nurturing and sensitivity. The fact is that
women are now essential to the bottom line. That alone is why Indian
organizations need to be proactive in employing more women and promoting - or
holding on to - the ones they already have to positions of leadership.
· Where Does India Stand
On Gender Diversity?
The good news is that, since the 1980s (when just 10%
of students in engineering colleges were women) that number has jumped to 40%
today. Indian women are entering formerly ‘male-dominated’ professions in
ever-increasing numbers – and are making visible marks.
Like with their global counterparts, the roles that
Indian women play at work are changing too. From being typically stuck in
administrative, data entry and clerical jobs, and having their professional
lives interrupted or cut short by marriage and motherhood, more women are
taking on managerial roles holding profit and loss responsibilities in
post-liberalization India.
· So Where Are India’s
Women Leaders?
Women already head at least nine banks, five FMCG
companies and at least eight IT/ITeS companies in India. There are at least 7%
of women as board members in listed companies in India - but at least 50% of
them are family members of the owners, according to data from AVTAR Career
Creators.
A meagre 1.5% of women leaders - from a population of
500 million women - are on company boards on merit, while, according to WILL
Forum, almost 90% of working women in India are stuck in mid-level jobs.
With so few women making it from junior to middle
levels, the pool of women able to move to senior level positions is that much
smaller, and therefore the problem of the leaking pipeline is actually more
severe.
India also has the lowest national female labour force, and the largest
leak in the pipeline takes place early on in a woman’s career - from junior to
middle level positions. Women’s careers are in direct conflict with motherhood,
and often women give up for the latter. This results in their dwindling numbers
reducing even further.
· Increasing Women’s Representation
On Company Boards
In 2013, a new company law was passed that mandated a
specified class of companies to have at least one woman on the board. Since
this became law in August, dozens of companies have been looking to rope in
woman directors on their boards.
Some might argue that we need more aggressive
reservations, like the ones in place in European countries like Norway, Italy,
the Netherlands and most recently Germany, where the biggest companies have
been ordered to ensure that 30% of supervisory board positions are held by
women from 2016. But given the resistance to even the Women’s Reservation Bill
in the Indian Parliament, I am doubtful this will happen anytime soon.
Moreover, if senior management comprises only 5-7%
women, how will reservation help anyway? I actually believe that the Indian
woman cannot wait for affirmative action to claim her rightful place on the
board. She must be proactive about leaning in and taking charge of her own
career trajectory and if it wants to enjoy the benefits of her loyalty, the
organization must learn to support her.
· Meet The New Indian
Woman
Today, at the beginning of 2016, the Indian women I
see around me are no longer the submissive, nurturing, obedient and emotional.
Today’s working women are just as aggressive and ambitious as men. They
recognize their talents and understand their rights. They are ready and willing
to play a larger managerial role and ‘lean in’ to their careers more than their
mothers ever did. Along with the changing values and attitudes of a woman’s
role in Indian society has come an increase in the Indian woman’s earning
power.
Today, many Indian women are earning as much (if not more) than their
spouses. They are more confident of their abilities and have greater career aspirations.
· Case Study: Gender
Diversity at JLL India
At JLL India, the country’s largest and leading
International Real Estate Consultancy, the diversity focus is
underpinned by what is collectively termed as 3Gs – Gender, Generation
and Geography. Inclusion is at the core of the 3Gs as the Firm
addresses its business objectives of attracting talent, developing and
retaining this talent and driving client-centric innovation and performance.
Here, the work environment is conducive to sharing of ideas in an open and
respectful manner, thereby catalysing the flow of creative solutions to the
Firm’s clients.
Work groups such as ‘Mavens’ have been formed to help women
employees share their challenges and find solutions to ensure that the female
workforce stays motivated, enabled and encouraged to strive on. Additionally,
JLL India’s gender diversity initiatives include a gradual return to work
policy, flexi hours, mentorship and in-office ‘babyterias’.
· What More Can Indian
Corporates Do?
It is time for the Indian corporate to step up the
benefits they offer to women - from equal pay for the same work, to better
childcare options. Organizations must also learn to recognize the unique
aspirations of millennial women, and their desire for flexible work timings and
a better work/life balance.
These are the basic support systems that women require
to function in their daily lives that will help them stay on without having to
sacrifice their domestic responsibilities. However, the provisions made by the
system have to go far beyond these basics. High-potential women employees need
to be mentored and challenged to take on bigger roles to help them realize
their potential.
 |
| Charu Thapar, JLL India |
In the workplace, men have always benefited greatly through
mentorship from their seniors. Women have traditionally been at a disadvantage
when it comes to mentoring, because there are not enough female mentors to
teach them the ropes. Indian women must become more open to being mentored by
both men and women, from within and outside the organization, if they want to
achieve their full potential.
Organizations can also support women by sponsoring
exclusive leadership trainings that are tailored to their needs and deal with
the unique challenges they face in their careers. We need to recognize the
deep-rooted bias in performance assessments and career progression decisions,
and to sensitize both men and women in the workplace, to ensure that this bias
is minimized. We also need to handle issues such as sexual harassment with
sensitivity and speed, to ensure that a woman’s career is not adversely
affected by such instances.
The real changes, however, will come about when Indian
men learn to lean in to the family, sharing the burden of parenting and
household chores equally, and not leave it up to their wives to handle the
‘second shift’. This will promote true equality of the sexes in Indian society,
and ensure that women can contribute more to the organization without the
‘double burden’ of work and domestic responsibilities.
Also, Indian mothers
must see it as their responsibility to raise boys who are equal partners of tomorrow’s working
women. As communities, we must encourage and step in for the young working
women in our families and ensure that they are free of any burden our guilt
when their careers and motherhood collide.
I look forward to the day when corporate India will no
longer need to use qualifiers like ‘woman leader’. This will only happen when
we see more companies evolve into truly gender-neutral organizations that
recognize and respect the true potential of women.
About the author..
Ms. Charu Thapar, Managing Director - Property & Asset Management, JLL India.
+91 22 6620 7575
For media contact
Arun
Chitnis
Head –
Corporate Communications & Media Relations
JLL
India
Level
6, Amar Avinash Corporate Plaza
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Garden Road,
Pune
411001.
Tel:
(020) 30930441 Fax: (020) 40196101
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