WHY QUITTING SHOULD NEVER BE AN OPTION
While business leaders like Arundhati Bhattacharya, Kiran
Mazumdar Shaw and Suneeta Reddy see changes at the workplace, there is still a
long way to go to get women back into the workforce
It’s a known story. Women join the workforce in
numbers, but only a few make it to the top. Many disappear from the workplace —
giving up their careers after marriage, childbirth or simply inflexible work
environments.
At a recent event in Mumbai, three powerful women took
to the stage to talk about the importance of women in the workplace. And while
pay gap and lack of opportunities may be some of the issues modern women face,
the situation is far from bleak and companies are attempting to redefine the
roles of women in big organisations.
Men as multi-taskers
According to Arundhati Bhattacharya, times are
changing and improving. And in such times, we can also shower a little praise
on men. Why? Because like women, they too have become better at multitasking.
“In the recent generations, we are seeing men
becoming better multitaskers. When I look at my younger colleagues, quite often
I see that their spouses are more participative in the housework and looking
after children,” said the former SBI chairman, who was on a panel with Kiran
Mazumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon Ltd, and Suneeta Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals
Enterprise Ltd.
This wasn’t something that Bhattacharya saw in her
generation, as most women were brought up in households where men didn’t do any
housework. But despite the progress, Bhattacharya believes we still had a long
way to go. “In India, it is still a given that women are the primary
caregivers,” she explained.
Why women drop out
One of the key points on the panel was why women were
quitting their jobs. Women in the workforce dropping from 43 per cent to 31 per
across sections of society was a big area of concern for organisations.
Bhattacharya said that a survey her company conducted
threw some light on the matter. “There were three times when this [women
leaving the workforce] happened: The first is during the childbearing years and
when the children are very small. The second, and this is probably only true in
India and a few other Asian countries, is when children are between classes 9
and 12. During the coaching, it is supposed to be the mother’s duty to
chauffeur the kids around and be there with a cup of milk to wake them up. The
third was when the parents or in-laws were sick, as in India geriatric care is
very costly, so many people are taken care of at home.”
A call for continuity
According to Shaw, companies need to encourage women
to stay in the workforce by ensuring continuity of work. “You must have a set
of HR policies that really look at these issues. We should try to make sure
there is no loss of continuity. Today, more than ever, there is a strong focus
on leadership development among women. We, as a company, are spending a lot of
time grooming young women to come up the levels.”
Shaw branded the tokenism of having one woman in the
boardroom a “joke”, saying, “In five years, we want a fairly balanced team in
the leadership role. Today it is 20 per cent, but we are aiming at 30-50 per
cent. We have archaic laws that need to be done away with. Our policies are
gender biased. I would like new policies in context of the new economy. The new
economy allows us to come up with path-breaking policies for women.”
Embrace yourself
While we still need to fix the rungs so the climb up
the corporate ladder is smooth for women, Reddy thinks we should realise that
irrespective of gender, we are all the same, but not be shy about bringing our
uniqueness to the forefront.
“I think that all of us in today’s world are so
interconnected that we are able to choose careers that we are passionate about.
We have to recognise we all have the same brains that a man does, but our
perception is so unique and these create certain talents within us. And these
talents are expressed through our profession. Women should find their passion,”
she said.
Shaw also shared some words of wisdom for working
women. “Today, in any workplace, whether you’re a man or woman, your competence
and capabilities are respected. Women should be treated with respect and
accepted as equal contributors. They need to have self-confidence. I advise
young women to build this.”.
glynda.alves@timesgroup.com
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