A Winning Move: Getting Women to Return to Workplace!
We all love Mad Men, a show set in a 1960's advertisement agency. But did you ever delve into the women characters in the series? The ‘60s were when women went up in arms – a decade of radical cultural and societal change. They entered the workforce in record-breaking numbers, helped lead protests against the Vietnam War, and promoted civil rights for African Americans. However, despite all that, they realized that equality remained a distant dream. Not only did they get ‘female-only’ jobs (where looking good was an important qualification) but there were huge gender discriminations in earnings, education, placement, and even harassment at the workplace. We’re now in 2017, a lot has transformed but we’re still not fully there.
It is an undisputable fact that diversity of thought, experience and perspective makes an organization successful. In these disrupted times of ever changing consumer expectations, the key to success lies in breakthrough thinking and that can only come from a multifaceted and diverse talent mix. The organizations that want to be in the leadership bracket of their segment therefore choose to ensure they are more inclusive and are harnessing the talent potential the world has to offer.
Having more women in the work place is not only the right thing to do but also the smart thing to do. You can’t be looking to be successful by not tapping into 50% of the talent that society has to offer. More inclusive workplaces also make for a stronger and more diverse culture. Women in leadership roles across the world have more than established that organizations that adopt a limited gender lens to how they think about roles are curtailing their chances of going anywhere in their space. It is heartening to see more companies do things in this space but a lot more needs to be done. This is an area in which everyone needs to collaborate, share more ideas, and create an impact collectively.
Sapient is purpose-built to enable human potential and making sure we harness the power of women in the talent force is a natural orientation. We are excited about the new construct of SPRING - it addresses the aspects of helping women returning to work after a break integrate effectively. This is a segment that has been a leaky bucket for the industry at large since women who take a break for a bunch of different reasons find it very difficult to get a foothold back in the current industry. We are taking a different stand on this. We want to take equal if not more accountability in helping women returning to work integrate into the workplace in roles where they can create impact commensurate to their capability and potential. This means shying away from looking at “safe” roles and truly pursuing all relevant ones. There is a level of support required in this integration which we are happy to invest in because we see the win-win this offers to everyone involved in making more potent talent come back into the mainstream.
What do you think you would need if you were to reenter the workplace after a hiatus? Do you think diversity and inclusivity makes a difference to an organization? What can be done to change things? I would look forward to hearing your thoughts whoever you are because this is something for us to collectively address.
Learning Design, Writing, Content | Ex Harvard Business Publishing, EnglishHelper, Sapient
7 年Great thoughts, Sanjay. From my experience, the most important thing that helps a woman get back into the workplace without feeling like she's somehow on lower ground because of the break, is leaders who *truly* believe in the value she brings to the table without being colored by her work hours or location. I'll give you an example. When I was very new in the organization I currently work with, we were having trouble scheduling a meeting because of my unavailability. The CEO of my company had requested the meeting, and I had declined it because I worked flexibly, and the time was such that it clashed with the kids' school pick up time. The CEO had a board meeting at the time that I had suggested. After a bit of back and forth on email, he called me and said, "I've been thinking about this - I realized that your kids can't do without you today, but that Board can do without me. So let's go ahead and have our call at the time that suits you." I was blown away by this attitude, because in one stroke he had demonstrated not only his own humility, but also his true attitude towards my flexible working situation, and of course the value he placed on me as an person/employee - not a woman or mother. Needless to say, it's 6 years later, and I'm still happy to be here!
Human-centred Design Specialist | Culture and Transformation Enabler | Forbes Coaches Council | Executive Coach - ICF PCC | Goldman Sachs 10K Women Entrepreneur | Analytics Aficionado | Author |
7 年Dear Sanjay, At 'WomenLead', we fully support initiatives like these. But it is a journey of deep introspection. Because Walking the Talk is the key, not by just one person, but every leader in the organization
Rigger / Crane Operator
7 年to change we must be diligent with our language, choosing words that are gender inclusive as opposed to gender specific when talking of work, projects, jobs or tasks.. say people, a person with this skill set, a man or a woman.. examine the actual words you use daily to begin the change in your environment.
Senior Consultant at Deloitte |Corporate Training|#Business Analysis #BusinessAnalyst # IIBA #CBAP
7 年Great initiative .Returning professional should be given opportunity in the new domain /area/inclination inspite of their past experience being in other domain.
Project and Program Management | Business Transformation | Process Improvement | Change Management | Agile Scrum
7 年Vidushi Tiwari