Indian Women in Corporate World

Carrying a backpack of 17 Years of Professional Career in both manufacturing and IT Industry.
I have penned down some thoughts related to "Growth of Indian Women in Corporate World".
I have tried to put forward some questions to myself and while seeking answers to these , I penned down some thoughts posting to this blog.
These are purely my personal thoughts and are not intended for any specific purpose of any of its kind.

Some of the Influential Indian Women who greatly inspire me are Anu Aga , Chandra Kochhar ,Indra Nooyi and Madhu Khatri Of course there are many others.. also like Kiran Shaw
I consider myself very fortunate since I have got the opportunity to personally meet and talk to Anu Aga and Madhu Khatri in some forums. I am looking forward to meeting others.

Today IT Companies are boasting of increasing the "women" work-force at entry level and at mid-management level.
Well companies have been successfully been able to do so, but what percentage of these entry level women reach the top level management.
Today IT Companies are boasting of increasing the "women" work-force at entry level and at mid-management level. Well companies have been successfully been able to do so, but what percentage of these entry level women reachthe top level management.

What is being done significantly by Organizations to mentor women to
take up leadershiproles at higher management levels ?

Women are on par with men at entry level, but women workforce is getting diluted on the path towards high-level management. This gap has to be bridged by the Organizations. Organizations have to significantly contribute in nurturing their women workforce with a sincere agenda in mind, rather than using this attribute just to get into the Fortune list of Companies.
Corporate India needs to collectively move from a narrowly defined objective of increasing the number of women in key positions and short-term results – to a broader and long-term vision for setting the tone and a strong vision and sustained agenda for bringing more women into leadership positions in companies and in lateral segments of Indian business and society.

Is there a need for a strong business case for diversity ?

YES Its high time, there SHOULD be one. One of the key agenda on top minds of corporate world should be to create a diverse and inclusive work-place for the right talent. Considering todays hiring conditions , lack of good competent resources, high attrition rates, need of cutting edge management resources , attempts have to be made at all levels to understand the potentials of the gender diversity in the ecosystem of an organization.

What is the intensity of Gender Diversity in India ?

The intensity of Gender Diversity is very high. This is the beginning era for Indian Companies where they have just started evaluating women for the low level and middle management capabilities.
Organisations have still not felt seriously the urge to drive these women to senior management level. Organisations or Market Leaders are still not committed to this cause. IF Indian Organisations do not take steps in the near future this is surely going to impact the future top level management needs.

How are Indian organisations reacting to this strong business case of gender diversity and how are the global players reacting to it ?

Global Players have already recognized the need for it, and are translating this objective to short term and long term goals , whereas Indian Organisations are just still speculating over the capabilities of women in middle management and not able to come out of the so called traditional "mind-set".

What are the challenges women in corporate world have to face ?

There are several complex issues in this playgame where men and women are team mates playing the game. There are invisible barriers for women to move ahead in corporate roles, lack of mentoring and training opportunities, lack of global mind-set, ignorance to accepting the fact that women bring in a differential style of leadership style
The number of customers whom a women has to compete for performance is much more than her male counterpart.
eg.. she has to compete with the Customer called "Self" to prove inspire her mind and soul, that she is competent enough to move ahead in the corporate world.
Next Customers are her family members, next are the society members, then come professional male counterparts . then finally come the real Customers of the Organisations...
The chain of so called Customers for her is lenghty ..
They have their own innter battles which have to be fought and overcome for her to move on to the next step of leadership.

What are the responsibilities of HR Functionality ?

There could be a wide arena of HR practises like ethical leadership, innovation forums etc.. to be talked about. These are being discussed frequently in most of the opportunities, but none of them getting translated to
action items.

I also do feel that corporate HR is often the most significant “barrier” to enhancement of women in leadership
positions and creating the appropriate environment for their progress in the organization.
Of course I do not have sufficient data to substantiate this theory, but be it so.. time will tell

What does the Surveys Showcase ?

Unites States has the largest percentage of Women in Corporate levels, and India has the least % of Women. I do not want to quote figures,since they could be deceptive. But overall based on the visits given to Clients, for the last 10 Years, I have found very few Indian females at Corporate Levels. During my various travels across countries , the ratio of women in senior management roles are found to be more than in India.
Statistical Surveys have shown women have begun to join the senior management ranks in some figures. But women at the top management positions are still a rare species.

Globally, they comprise only 10 percent of senior managers in Fortune 500 companies, less than 4% are in the uppermost ranks of CEO,
president, executive vice-president and COO and less than 3% of them are top corporate earners. India Figures are more dis-heartening.

Some thoughts on self created BARRIERS

Study has shown that there are various barriers a woman faces while climbing the corporate ladder.
There is a perceived notion that women think with their heart and not with their head, they give priority to their personal life than professional life. These were the reasons whey the species called "women" was not getting acceptance whole heartedly into the corporate arena.

But over time these perceptions and notions should be moving away , the credit of this going to the various forums, and initiatives being taken by women in power , the IT industry and other relevant industries.

There are some myths or perceptions attached to women in leadership roles.

-> they switch jobs more often.
-> they should not be working if they do not see an economic or financial need
-> they are not willing to travel extensively
-> and so on... these perceptions along with some societal stereotype thinking , are the barriers to women moving ahead
in corporate worlds.

" THE GLASS CEILING "

This term was originally coined by Carol Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt in the March 24, 1986 edition of the Wall Street Journal.

The concept of glass ceiling formulates the barriers which prevent women reaching top management positions in the corporate world.
It is a metamorphical term used where ceiling means that it is a limit which can be reached, it means a block for upward movement. glass denotes that it is transparent , it is not seen very obvious, and it is unwritten and unofficial.

Reference materials available at Amarnath, Nischinta; Ghosh, Debashish; (2005),
The Voyage to Excellence: The Ascent of 21 Women Leaders of India Inc., Pustak Mahal

Many studies are being done by Corporate Forums to Identify the mentoring needs to enable women to break this ceiling.But are we doing enough ?

ARE WE REWRITING THE RULES AND POLICIES WHICH HAVE BEEN LAID DOWN DECADES BEFORE SUITABLE ONLY FOR THE MALE PROFESSIONALS ?

ARE CORPORATIONS JUST MAKING SMALL AMENDMENTS TO THEIR POLICIES TO JUST SHOW OFF THAT THEY ARE REALLY ARE CARING FOR THEIR FEMALE PROFESSIONALS ?

DOES A GLASS CEILING REALLY EXIST ? HOW LONG WOULD IT PERSIST ? IS THE GLASS BECOMING MORE THICKER OR THINNER ?

WHAT DRIVING FORCES FROM THE SOCIETY AND CORPORATIONS ARE REQUIRED TO BREAK THIS GLASS CEILING ?

IS THE WOMEN WORK-FORCE ALONE WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BREAKING THE GLASS CEILING ?

WHAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN BY AN INDIVIDUAL,COMPANYAND THE SOCIETY TO MAKE THIS GLASS CEILING THINNER.. AND THINNER ..

after all these thoughts .. I strongly believe in one point "
Coporate Organisations are doing a better job than the Society in promoting
equality. At least Corporations have seen the need to change "

MA TUJHE SALAAM

MY DEBT WHICH CAN NEVER BE REPAID
MA TUJHE SALAAM

Today when I reflect back my golden days of childhood, what prominently stands out is my mother.
For a women in today male dominated society, today where I stand and the sucess what I achieved is merely because of the
silent support from the great person called SHANTA.

All Kodos.. to the great pillar behind my success is my mother.

As the name suggests

SHANTA, she is an idol of shantata.. which means SILENCE.

My maternal family belonging to low er middle class, with 3 children going to convent schools and just one earning head, making both ends meet was a great challenge. But never did I see her complaining about anything. SHe had no expectations from anyone.. she silently just kept doing her Karma ..
She never wished for great clothings, great jewellery or great honours.

My maternal grandparents from a well to do , my mother had a flourishing childhood from the experience which she kept relating to us. At the tender age of 17 she got married to a Govt Employee. She exhibited great courage in following her husband to a far away remote place traveling in train for about 2-3 days.
She had never seen a train before, first time she had to board a train alone with an unknown person and start her journey of life.. great was her courage ..

I being the eldest daughter to my parents when I reflect back on my childhood days..
Today I realise the sufferings which she has undergone, what I want to highlight is not the sufferings.. everyone in life has to face challenges and sufferings, but the vigour with which she faced them all is outstanding.

Along with her 3 childrens, she also has supported for relatives children who were staying in their house come , in search of jobs. I just remember her continously slogging or working , doing some household chore from sunrise to sunset. She also helped her husband financially by doing whatever little she could do within her scope of boundary. She was not selfish to think only about her children, but she also provided shelter and food to her relatives children which shows the breadth of her heart to accomodate everyone.

Even though coming from a very conservative family background, she took the opportunity of self-learning along with her children. She has given all the scope to her 2 daughters for their education. When all other ladies of her relative community
were getting their young girls married off at an early age, she stood tall in supporting her daughters to get educated and financially independent.

She is a blend of a modern MOM and old religious MA.

She can easily gel along with today modern girls and their idealogies, as well as become one with the old ladies in rural villages. There are 2 facets of this great lady where she can talk about technology, computers.. and also agriculture, and rural problems. We need those eyes to see those facets..

She has respected the decisions taken by her children because she had the trust in her children about their capabilities. It requires great courage and strong will power to accept and flow in the current trends. She faced all the societal or family pressures alone strong heartedly, and has successfully knit a love-web around the family.

She has been the invisible pillar for her childrens professional success.
At a time when her children were moving ahead successfully in corporate ladder, she is there waiting silently and encouraging them to move ahead with great confidence.
Even though she has not worked in a corporate world, she was always there for us to listen to our problems and our stress.
Even though she did not have direct solutions, but she made us see the path to solutions.

A small poem.. dedicated to her

MY DEBT WHICH CAN NEVER BE REPAID
Dear Mother
I loved you yesterday, I love you tomorrow and everyday, I would love you forever
You were there for me my first day of school, to hold my hand and give me courage to go.
You listened to me when I needed to talk, you talked to me when I needed to listen.
You let me grow and learn from my own mistakes.
You never left my side when I was feeling down, I knew you would be there to pick me up.
You were there , when i learnt to pick up my small babies, You were there to hold my babies
I wish there was a way I could repay all the things you have done for me,
but there's nothing great enough to repay the greatest mother of all.
But I know its a debt I can never repay

A Small Anecdote which I had read and can never forget...

After having reached at the peak of his career a man felt an urge to repay back to his mother for all that she had done for him.
So he asked her, "Mother, what can I give you? What can I do for you? I sincerely want to repay you for all the
sacrifices you have made for me and for all the love you have showered upon me."
Mother looked surprised and said, "Why do you think about it. It was my duty so I did it, you don't have to repay me.
Even if you want to, there is no way a man can ever repay his mother."

Despite her continuous refusal to ask for anything, he continued to persist.
To put an end to the discussion, she said, "All right. If you must, then tonight you sleep on my bed, with me,
just as you used to when you were a baby." He said, "That's a strange thing to ask for, but if it pleases you, I will."

As soon as he fell asleep, the mother got up and brought a bucket of water. She poured a mug full of water on his side.
Feeling disturbed by the wetness under him, in his sleep he moved away to the other side of the bed. As he settled down,
his mother poured another mug of water on the other side. In his slumber he tried to find space towards the foot post of the
bed. Sometime later he woke up feeling that this part of the bed too was damp. He got up and saw his mother, with the mug in
her hand. He asked angrily, "What are you doing mother? Why don't you let me sleep? How do you expect me to sleep on a wet bed?"

Mother said, "I slept with you, when you wetted the bed in the night. I changed your nappy
and moved you to the dry part of the bed, while I slept on the wet side. You wanted to repay me. Can you sleep here even
for one night with me on a damp bed? If you can, I'll take it that you have repaid me."

DEar ALL How true it is that of all the debts in the world, the one that can never be repaid is the one you owe to your mother. You can never repay the love, care and time your mother gave to bring you up. You are a part of her flesh and blood; don't forget this, because she never ever forgets it.