Corporate India Evolved To Empower Women In The Workplace

Anju Munjal Feb 28, 2022

Corporate India is fast accepting that women not only make great team leaders but are also proving their mettle in ensuring that organisational goals across levels are being met with success. So, how have organisations actually evolved to support women to realise their fullest potential, making it a win-win situation for all?

From hiring to mentorship, pay-parity to equal opportunity, there are myriad ways in which organisations are today enabling women to succeed across all levels. For corporates who believe in an inclusive workplace and want to create a culture that furthers and nurtures female employees, and for employees aspiring to work with their chosen brands, here are a few pieces of the puzzle organisations have already put in place that tick all the right boxes:

Hiring Processes

Gone are the days when young women were covertly asked questions about whether the marriage was on the horizon or if married if babies were imminent. Today this is a taboo topic and can be construed as discrimination. The really good places to work in, realised very early on that they would do well to refrain from this as they would only end up losing some really smart young women who would be huge assets, maternity leave notwithstanding. In fact, maternity and, in many organisations, paternity leave is today ingrained in the DNA of organisations worth working in. This really did need some nipping in the bud, and am so glad for it, for the lessons motherhood teaches – patience, empathy, thinking on your toes, literally – are amazing when adapted to professional life.

Pay-parity

We have definitely come a long way on this one, with Gen Y and Gen Z totally blitzing away any remnants of discrimination here. The whole unequal pay, I think happened, only because organisations were conditioned to think that a man could do the same job better! Today there are many companies that ensure equitable pay, fair and equal policies, discouraging any and all forms of discrimination or disparity and ensuring diversity and encouraging inclusion.

Recognising diverse needs and putting the right support systems in place

Companies that regularly feature as great places to work and preferred employers typically have this one thing in common – they all recognise, embrace, and adopt gender-inclusive and family-friendly workplace policies and practices. These include flexible work arrangements that can disrupt gender stereotypes, change traditional narratives, and encourage a more balanced share of care and family responsibilities, and fair parental leave policies. In fact, if the pandemic has taught us one lesson it is that work can happen from anywhere and physical presence in the office isn’t really the benchmark for productivity. Managers are today earning undying loyalty from their teams as they play the empathetic leader, giving a little more flexibility to women as they juggle office work, homework and kids.

Enable & Empower

It is crucial to inculcate a culture where everyone has a voice and is equally heard and recognised. Corporates are today empowering women in the workplace by enabling a culture that allows them to raise concerns and express dissent, where women feel safe, valued, and therefore give it their all. Ensuring women are included in key decisions and influential positions serves as a great role model for the younger

generation of leaders-in-the-making to emulate. Ensuring representation of women at senior levels of the organisational hierarchy also encourages younger women to aspire high and follow suit.

Safety of female employees

Corporates are today going the extra mile to make the workplace a safe zone for women employees. This includes ensuring proper measures for their physical, mental, and psychological safety, having a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment or discrimination, creating a strong internal complaints committee, and more. Regular training sessions in POSCO have become mandatory and serve to remind everyone of the importance of the same and the severe repercussions of breaching any of these. Names of members of the POSCO committee along with their email ids and phone numbers are circulated with the commitment that complainant’s identities will be kept anonymous to protect them from any backlash.

Coaching, mentoring, and training programs

Organisations have realised that it’s a tough world out there to navigate and therefore have opened their doors to internal/external coaches, and mentors to further empower women to steer their way through personal and professional challenges. In India, women were typically conditioned to do all the heavy lifting at home and very often judged if they choose their careers over household chores – but this scenario has changed totally today. Today’s women are nothing short of amazing powerhouses of talent and determination. They have learned to demand what’s rightfully theirs, enjoy and grow in their jobs without any guilt, and this is also helping corporates to win big. Looking into better training and coaching, and flexible working ensures women become an integral, and loyal, part of the workforce.

Companies that have broken free of the shackles of yore are today future-ready in the true spirit. They recognise and reward women employees across levels who are driving progress and deserving of leadership positions. Once ingrained into the organisational culture, it becomes the foundation for a workplace where all women ‘want’ to work.

So, if your company ticks all these boxes, you know it’s a great place to work.

*The author is Anju Munjal, SVP, Usha International