The Hindu Business Line : ‘Rock the boat’

“Rock the boat. Status quo will not get you anywhere,” Mr Pramod Bhasin, President and CEO, Genpact, told a packed hall of women IT professionals here.

Dismissing providing crèche and flexi hours as mere hygiene factors, he said companies were failing at the subtle stuff in helping women employees towards leadership roles. “There is definitely a glass ceiling existing here. Leadership focus and direction should be on removing this,” he said at a CEO discussion on Business Imperative of Gender Inclusivity. Men and women bring different talents to the table and this combination is powerful, he said.

A business imperative

The Nasscom President, Mr Som Mittal, said Indian companies no longer viewed gender inclusivity as a corporate social responsibility activity, but as a business imperative. Citing statistics, he said that in 2007-08, the IT industry had 28 per cent women in its workforce compared to 24 per cent in 2005-06. At the entry level, in 05-06, 38 per cent were women compared to 47 per cent in 07-08. “Two years ago, only four companies had formal defined policies for gender diversity and this year, the number has risen to 80,” said Mr Mittal.

At MindTree Consulting, having women in the workforce is not a convenience factor, nor is it to project itself as employee-friendly, but it’s one of the smart business decisions the company has made, according to Mr N Krishna Kumar, CEO, MindTree Ltd. – Our Bureau

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