Mapping The 'New Normal' On Gender Diversity

International Women’s day 2020 swung in and out with the habitual debates and events, commemorating women workforce, their agony and ecstasy in partaking a slice of the corporate world. But, it was the buzz around gender equality and inclusivity which came across as the potent tool for upholding women empowerment and workforce diversity. Neha Bagaria - Founder & CEO, JobsForHer portal and Saritha Vijayanagar Head Operations and Delivery, MeritTrac Services, shared their thoughts on new perceptions that are being acknowledged and the steps taken for diversity within companies. MeritTrac, under the aegis of Manipal Global Education Services, is one of India’s largest private testing and assessment company and is a full member of the U.S. Association of Test Publishers. JobsForHer’s portal seeks to enable women to start out in their careers, restart or enhance their careers either through reskilling, mentorship, advanced job searches or networking with other women professionals and hone senior returnees to the work fold

"It is important for women to have a role model in life. We all work but the aspirational streak comes when we have someone to look up to “I want to be like her”, is a feeling that needs to be exchanged. It also makes it easier if women can connect with their previous employers and keep in touch during the break-period."

- Saritha Vijayanagar

How do you kind of actually systematically develop an inclusive environment? Is a struggle. However, times have changed and have transformed drastically, and Indian companies are looking for more diversity in the workforce”, said Saritha Vijayanagar, Head-Operations and Delivery, MeritTrac Services. Sarita spoke from her previous work experiences working with NIIT, Manipal Hospitals, which is largely women-oriented and in her current role at Meritrac.

Neha Bagaria, Founder – CEO, JobsForher reiterated that “There has been an overhaul in many sectors to accommodate and inculcate a diverse workforce. Over the years, corporates have realised that a diverse and inclusive environment paves the way for healthier employee engagement, resulting in improved business results.”

Corporate Citizen attempts to bust a few myths on gender inclusivity and diversity in a tête-àtête with Sarita and Neha. An excerpt.

Corporate Life and More

"Although many companies offer flexible work arrangements, more than half (54%) of women professionals believe they will be penalised if they choose that option. This means that they worry they won’t be considered for upper management and leadership positions because they will be seen as favouring family over work.”

- Neha Bagaria

What does inclusivity mean for the corporate world in the new decade?

Neha: India could boost its economy by bringing about gender parity in the workplace. The conversation around inclusion in the workplace and its importance has been a constant buzz over the last decade and the next decade will be pivotal to its success.

Saritha: Inclusivity is dependent on the work sector, especially, in the healthcare or teaching sectors where the population could be more skewed towards women. Inclusivity in a hospital, especially, sees a lot more concentration of women workforce. Nursing comprises of 90% of women workforce in comparison to any other departments in a hospital scenario. In such an environment, women-friendly policies are more existent. In the case of doctors, there exists an equal number of male to female ratio, barring departments OBG (Obstetrics and Gynaecology), where you would find more lady doctors. In MeriTrac, while the equal opportunity is a policy, whatever may be the role, it is never a ‘gender’ position filling that ever happens, and it is the requirement that gets filled based on the set criteria.

Are women gainfully and optimally represented in the corporate world?

Neha: Statistics show a huge drop-off that happens in India where 50% of all working women in India quit their careers within three years, leaving 20 million women in India who are then looking at restarting their careers. The scenario is such that while there exists 26% of women across engineering roles in India, women representation is less than 20% across corporate giants such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter.

Saritha: MeriTrac is an assessment company and we provide recruitment criteria for large organisations. In such an environment while I wouldn’t say that it is only women who can fulfil the job specs such as attention to detail, end closure etc, but would welcome women employee as much as we would welcome male candidates.

What are the deterrents that companies need to overcome in sustaining a strong women workforce and is it sector sensitive?

Neha: The need is to ensure that female employees are retained and nurtured to their productive best. Women trying to balance work and family life should be encouraged to let go of personal biases and apply for leadership positions. Having a mentor helps immensely. Organisations must consider work-life balance an imperative to women employee retention, right from the hiring stage. For existing employees, hiring managers and reporting managers across the organisation must be educated about the pervasiveness of unconscious bias. Organisational policies should help eliminate that bias at all stages. All employees, regardless of the gender, should be encouraged to take up flexible work or any other policy offered by the organisation that promotes mental and physical health, and gives them time for family or creative pursuits.

Saritha: The IT industry is much more evolved when it comes to workforce management. Every young girl wants to take up projects abroad and it is not a discussion anymore. However, while the women who are on par with men are given equal opportunity, we need to break some cycles where certain decisions with respect to project offer and planning are taken by seniors or supervisors on behalf of the lady and most common parameters being womanhood itself – motherhood, home and family. It would be a completely different revelation if terms of the project were to be discussed with the woman candidate and the decision taken with an appropriate understanding of how she is likely to fulfil her personal criteria and balance it with the project prospect at hand. The need is for continuity and discussion for moving ahead.

What about work-life balance extended by companies?

Neha: Although many companies offer flexible work arrangements, more than half (54%) of women professionals believe they will be penalised if they choose that option. This means that they worry they won’t be considered for upper management and leadership positions because they will be seen as favouring family overwork.

Saritha: MeriTrac has a relatively smaller cluster of women currently, about 20% of the total workforce. Our support plays an important role as far as motherhood is concerned, the maternity leave, and then the possibility of an extended maternity leave which are worked out on a case-to-case basis. Because these are not really large numbers, we do have examples where we have extended such leaves. In Meritrac, I can definitely allow someone in the finance function, to work from home by posting of bills or do the cheques. Depending on the roles, we can accommodate what is feasible and possible as an organisation. While we are people friendly and our policies are also designed that way, however, not everything can be policy-driven, so, it is also worked on a case to case basis.

"Statistics show a huge drop-off that happens in India where 50% of all working women in India quit their careers within three years, leaving 20 million women in India who are then looking at restarting their careers. The scenario is such that while there exists 26% of women across engineering roles in India, women representation is less than 20% across corporate giants such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter”

- Neha Bagaria

What are the challenges in getting women back to the fold post a career break?

Neha: Second careers are not the same as your first and therefore the path to get there can be challenging. If a woman’s absence has been lengthy, chances are the office environment they once knew and loved has been transformed into an alien landscape. Matching their existing skillset with the specific needs of a company could be a daunting task, as many companies have undergone a tidal wave of change. So before re-starting, women must think about upgrading skills in their field of expertise.

Saritha: It is important for women to have a role model in life. We all work but the aspirational streak comes when we have someone to look up to – “I want to be like her”, is a feeling that needs to be exchanged. It also makes it easier if women can connect with their previous employers and keep in touch during the break period.

It makes it easier for companies too to welcome them in the future for suitable roles. However, it is also important that if you are a good worker, you will be always welcomed anywhere, you can do a bit of a bridging course or a bit of shadowing. Such orientation is normally given to a fresher which could be followed for a shorter interval for a person who is getting re-hired in the same organisation. We have been doing some of these programmes from inside and outside the organisations and it has been beneficial.

How can women motivate themselves to stay relevant during the break-period?

Neha: A sabbatical from work is the best time to upgrade your skills in your field of expertise. There are so many ways to do this - online and offline. We found that reskilling keeps the women motivated and prepares them to handle questions at interviews. Reskilling, will not only show how passionate you are about your field but will also boost the professional development section of your resume.

Saritha: Companies also need to build programmes for re-hiring of employees, train them, have bridge courses and encourage them to reach out to their previous company. I have umpteen examples of such occurrences wherein the large women force in hospitals are welcomed back after their break for any or both the reasons which is often culturally-rooted motherhood and eldercare.

How does one bring back passionate and experienced senior women back to the workforce?

Neha: Companies were also facing several challenges in recruiting experienced female talent and dealing with the ‘Leaky Talent Pipeline’ syndrome, owing to which industry averages had 30% women at the entry-level, 10% at the management level and only 1% at the CEO level. A platform like JobsForHer enables companies to widen their access to talent by opening their doors to women returnees and thereby meet their recruitment and diversity goals.

Saritha: Last year we ran an entire year-long programme on gender inclusivity wherein we invited a lot of women leaders, looked at their programmes that could support women employees. We also discussed motherhood, ‘welcome back’ avenues, building a buddy system and the like. We also conducted specific health-related initiatives specific to the health of women employees. Normally women tend to ignore their health so, we had Oncologists specifically to address issues on early detection of certain kinds of cancer. We also extended the programme to our male colleagues to enable the women in their family to be aware of these health issues too such that the male members support their cause too.

What is the scenario with respect to orienting experienced women returnees into the workforce?

Neha: More companies are open to the idea today than five years back on this because they realise that this is a talent pool of qualified, experienced, capable women who are recharged to prove themselves again and available to join a company immediately.

Saritha: While re-hire as a policy does not exist with us, but, whenever there is a requirement, mangers are supportive of those who have had previous work experience and have been working in the longest duration; as their first option for such recruits. Especially for those in their 40s or 50s, we have an unwritten policy of welcoming an ex-employee or someone who has quit for the obvious reasons known with prior employment history. Also, when an employee resigns, we also assure them of our willingness to re-employ if the person is open to keeping in contact for a suitable opportunity at a later date.

Twinning Family and Corporate Life

How can families (Indian scenario) be sensitised to a women’s need to work – and it’s not always for money?

Neha: When a woman makes that life-changing decision to step away from a successful career to look after the needs of her family and those who depend on her, she very often does not also make a comeback plan. And, even if she does, it often, eventually, falls by the wayside. This is because a plethora of factors contribute to that plan’s demise. The network of people in her circle often dissuades her when she starts to think about getting back to work. She can gainfully use this same network to restart. She needs the support of, her husband, her children, her parents and in-laws, her siblings, her ex-colleagues, her social network, her alumni network, basically everyone she knows.

Saritha: Family support is utmost especially when the woman takes the break for all the known cultural reasons and likewise, they can ensure that she is brought back to her area of interest on the professional front too. Planning the break is equally advisable and they can chalk out pre-determined steps post the maternity or any other long gap periods. It is equally important to be in touch with colleagues in office and managers and with people whom one can be connected to get a sense of what is happening. This could trigger indications on an appropriate strategy to get back to work after a certain point in time either with the same organisation or others. This enables clarity on the organisation’s expectations and in due course she might land up some work either on a contract or a project basis as the first ‘comeback’ step.

The 5th wave: Looking into The Future

"While the support system needs to respect the returnees’ need to get back with dignity, the person too needs to understand their ‘real’ worth including their absence and the pickup from where she left or reinvent herself in the same or a different career”

- Sarita Vijayanagar

How can policymakers attract younger generations viz gender equality and diversity at work?

Neha: Change the “bro” culture in organisations and realise “what an engineer can look like” and that includes women. Changing the rules of the game - being more flexible to the needs of women, expecting less 24 hours a day, 7 days of work kind of schedule; trading in hours of work for quality of work. Finally, creating strong skilling, mentorship and networking programmes for women-in-tech so that they have the tools, support and inspiration to grow in their careers.

Saritha: ‘Reality Check’ is foremost especially for re-hiring. When a person wishes to re-join, the discussion begins from where she had left, and if there has been no gainful learning or experience during the period of absence, then it is not always possible to bring them up to speed with their peers which would also be unfair to somebody who has been in the organisation to be placed at the same level for the recruit who took the break. While the support system needs to respect the returnees’ need to get back with dignity, the person too needs to understand their ‘real’ worth including their absence and the pickup from where she left or reinvent herself in the same or a different career

How are corporations working towards leveraging new trends and workforce dynamics in the context of women workforce?

Neha: Companies are partnering with JobsForHer in a multitude of ways. Over the last five years of our existence, we have managed to get over 6500 companies on our portal including Citibank, MakeMyTrip, Amazon, Mastercard, and EY to name a few, offering full-time, part-time, work-from-home as well as returnee internships. The opportunities are available, it is up to the women now to take the leap and jump back into the workforce.

Saritha: For our younger recruits, we work to understand the number of years that a candidate is likely to be with the company because in due course they do look for better prospects or take a study break. While this is cause for concern, organisations have also moved from looking at long term employment. Today, they understand that in the tech sector, employees are doing 5-6 years. For returners to work and senior joiners, their maturity and collaborative nature is the prime hold. Here, we ensure that while the employee fulfils the job criteria, we also ask whether the person would need another long break. From an HR point of view, it may not be a great idea but from an organisation’s perspective it can sort any future gaps in vacancy. For woman returners, while I would love to give them the opportunity, I would also like to understand the organisational requirement once she has joined.

Skilling in the era of AI

How are companies bracing up to the gaps that would accrue with respect to new technology (women-centric)?

Neha: There are reskilling and upskilling opportunities in every sector and most companies are open to enabling their employees in reinventing themselves. There are many programmes that are listed in the JobsForHer platform that women can make use of to get up to speed with the current trends.

Saritha: For the younger lot, we access on how best they can pick up new skills especially an area of interest being migrating to say from data science to cloud. These youngsters look for the hop skip environment so my interest would be in the current and the next 2-3 years on how we could get this person to contribute and also enable their growth and learning. For senior returners, the focus would be on upskilling for technology compliance especially that one might have missed out during the interim gap period.