As we near the annual ritual of observing yet another International Women's Day on March 8, the global position of professional women still leaves a lot to be desired. Despite loads of lip service to the need to tap and retain female talent in businesses, there is still a yawning gender gap globally.
To bridge this gap, Catalyst, a global non-profit human resource organisation, which has been working in many countries with the motto “what is good for women is good for business and society,” has now turned to India. Its global top team was here recently to meet Indian business leaders.
“The good thing in India is that many corporates have begun to recognise the importance of utilising its female talent pool and are undertaking initiatives and policies to make professional lives easier for women,” Ms Deepali Bagati, Senior Advisor, Catalyst, told
More work needs to be done
However, Cataylst, with 500 global companies as members, feels that lot more needs to be done in India. “Despite having made rapid strides as an emerging economic power, India still compares poorly with the rest of the world when it comes to gender equality. That's why, using our research support, we are trying to sensitise companies to the need for tapping and nurturing the female talent pool,” she said.
Citing the example of Infosys, Ms Bagati said, “They have created the role of global counsellors (female project managers and above), who ensure women and men are effectively supported in their careers and personal lives and sensitise and educate them on gender-related matters, including topics such as managing work and personal situations. The results have been impressive.”
Ms Ilene H. Lang, President and Chief Executive Officer, Catalyst, and Ms Deborah M. Soon, Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Marketing, were upbeat over the positive response in India.
“We met over 30 business leaders in Delhi and Chennai and the fact that they met us and discussed gender-related issues shows a growing interest in the issue,” said Ms Lang, but refused to divulge the names owing to company policy.
Ms Lang said many Indian companies admitted that they did not want to lose women employees, especially after childbirth or marriage. But, it is often women who themselves decide on taking a break owing to social and family pressures. “It is to solve such problems that we hold counselling sessions with companies,” she said.
However, Ms Lang rued that there were still many companies and individuals who felt that precious time should not be wasted on training women employees who are likely to go on maternity leave.
“This is true everywhere in the world where we have been working these 50 years,” said Ms Lang, and added that a big positive in India's favour was the role of the extended family.
“So, we try to arrange family interactions so that they can see for themselves what their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law or wives do at work and meet other employees and their families as well,” she said.
Cataylst, which does benchmarking studies for companies across sectors, feels the journey has begun, and the ride will not be easy.
“The very fact that our 50–year-old organisation is still working hard to expand opportunities for women in business speaks of the gender gap that still exists,” concludes Ms Bagati.