Gender Diversity will empower your organization and India’s growth story
A study conducted by the center for talent innovation and the BIG reveal of the wants that sets women apart from men in their expectations from a fulfilling job. So apart from earning well and to excel, they want the ability to flourish, reach for meaning and purpose, be empowered and empower others.
38 years have been added to World economic forum's global gender parity prediction ie. in 2014, the WEF predicted perfect gender parity would take place in 2095 and in 2015 the prediction is pushed back to take place in 2133. We can't afford this delay.
According to Catalyst, women when compared to their counterparts with the same potential advance more slowly in both areas of career progression and pay. This is even when both genders employ similar career management strategies. And as a key cog in the company wheel, if you choose to ignore this talent-management issue, you risk your company a great deal of talent and will certainly lag behind competitors in talent attraction, development and retention.
“The most important determinant of a country’s competitiveness is its human talent.” - World Economic Forum’s 2013 report.
I have even heard a few men say that they are heading home to "babysit" for their children. I have never heard a woman refer to taking care of her own children as "babysitting." A friend of mine ran a team-building exercise during a company retreat where people were asked to fill in their hobbies. Half of the men in the group listed "their children" as hobbies. A hobby? For most mothers, kids are not a hobby. Showering is a hobby.” ― Sheryl Sandberg
One of the top 5 of UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 is GENDER EQUALITY
As per research stats., India has a female population percentage of 48.17% and the Female labour force participation (FLFP) stands at 27% in 2014, a 10% downfall since a decade ago. Dearth of opportunities to work, lack of flexibility in working conditions are some of the primary reasons that add to the perils. We can fix this and considering you’re in a role which can make that change possible, my motivation with this article is to help you make that transition smoother. Creating flexible conditions isn’t an easy feat, what with the well-founded fears of being looked at as the weakling or someone who isn’t equally invested in the work at hand.
It is imperative for Leadership to become a gender diversity advocate and be fully committed around this agenda to keep the momentum going. A practical approach for Organizations would be to assign numerical targets for representation across levels and link incentives to diversity goals.
As a business leader and an organization, your focus should then be on performance rather than strict adherence to work timings. It will help immensely to ensure flexible working conditions is not just an accommodation being made for a few but a cultural norm with a focus on encouraging all employees to perform their best at work while managing their personal lives with an easy breath. This creates a motivating and progressive workplace where women can perform to the best of their abilities.
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 grants women working in the organized sector in India, a paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, up from 12 weeks, a decision which will benefit around 1.8 million women.The law is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more people.The bill also requires organizations with 50 or more employees to provide crèche facilities within a prescribed distance.
While this is a welcome move by the government, it is important to do away with the notion that the mother is the sole care taker and have both parents equally share household and child-rearing roles to promote equal opportunities for growth for women at work.
Gender pay parity- Pay parity is one the key issues in drive for gender diversity. According to Monster Salary Index (MSI) data from 2016, the current gender pay gap in India stands at 25%, where men earned a median gross hourly salary of Rs. 345.8 against women who earned only Rs. 259.8. If you can’t be fair to women employees when they produce the same amount of work as their counterpart then how do you expect them to trust you to be a fair employer in other areas of management? Research has shown that teams with a more optimal gender balance of 40-60% perform better on a range of factors including engagement, brand awareness, client retention, and financial performance.
Even a 10% increase in FLFP rate can boost GDP by 0.3 percent - (FLFP- female labour force participation) The need for policy measures and programs is then crucial to make women participate in a system which is lucrative as opposed to seeming like a sacrifice from all ends.