By Wasana Nadeeshani Sellahewa
(Commonwealth) _ Globally, technology companies have made efforts to strengthen their recruiting and diversity practices, with 2021 showing the largest number of women in senior management posts (31%). However, according to CMIE, women’s labor-force participation in India would fall by 9.4% by 2022, with more than 60% of graduates remaining unemployed. Despite pressure from the board, staff, and external authorities to enhance D&I, women continue to be underrepresented in leadership and C-level jobs. India’s female labor participation percentage remains the lowest in the world, and over 44% of those who reach the top depart owing to a lack of recognition, progress, and chances.
Several organizations throughout the world are working to improve employment diversity and inclusion. In 2022, however, just 42% of IT businesses report having a defined D&I plan. To ascend to the top, women must have the correct jobs, opportunity, flexibility, remuneration, and organizational climate.
Leading companies such as Cognizant, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank, ITC, KPMG, Axis Bank, Schneider Electric, Cipla, and Procter & Gamble are increasing their efforts to improve gender diversity in the workplace. Among the initiatives undertaken include giving diverse job preparations, increasing the consumption of women at trainee and campus levels, providing access to mentorship and worker beneficial resource teams, recruiting more women at management levels, and launching programs to attract second-career women.
ITC provides more flexibility in work arrangements for expecting and young mothers, including extended maternity and childcare leave and travel assistance for babies and carers during business travel by female employees. Axis Bank employs several job codecs to carry in a variety of skills. According to Rajkamal Vempati, head of HR at Axis Bank, a trial for the bank’s Gig-A-Opportunities program saw 44% women hired, with some younger mums virtually returning to work.
The current gender ratio at HDFC Bank is 23.3%, having grown over the previous quarters as the financial organization solidified its organized diversity plan. According to Vinay Razdan, CHRO, HDFC Bank, as part of its inclusion ambition, it has built a three-tier governance structure to achieve its goals and conducted a number of internal diversity programs. Young females who have yet to begin their professional careers or those in entry-level positions observe the women in leadership positions. It’s a simple message: if they can accomplish it, you can too. Recognizing and promoting women to lead, mentor, and motivate a team may appear to be a little improvement, but modest changes pile up over time.
Second-career women are a pool that employers are aggressively pursuing, as is the college hiring approach. For example, HDFC Bank has the Bank Again Programme for Women, which allows high-calibre female professionals to rejoin the workforce in two ways: returning to work after a career hiatus and rehiring individuals who left in the past. If a female employee wishes to relocate to a different city, L&T will make every effort to accommodate her.
The agenda is being aggressively driven by senior management. According to Shameka Young, Cognizant’s global head of diversity and inclusion, government management compensation in 2022 would include a measure focused on gender diversity internationally as well as generating and keeping talent. Since 2020, each chief at the director and above level has set a target for hiring and keeping women at the senior supervisor and above level in their enterprise sector.
Efforts differ between levels, from entry to management. Schneider Electric’s aim over the next three years is for women to make up 50% of new employees, 40% of frontline managers, and 30% of senior management, according to Rachna Mukherjee, CHRO India and South Asia. P&G, a consumer goods company, is heavily invested in STEM and is working to develop women’s digital skills within its external network. Women make up about 35% of the management at its production plants.
