Strengthening the sisterhood

The life sciences sector offers a wide ranging career and entrepreneurial opportunities to women scientists, engineers and business graduates. India has an important role to play in drug research, bio-pharma manufacturing and marketing. I would urge women to pursue these opportunities with zestful interest.

– Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director, Biocon

The Indian pharma industry offers tremendous opportunity to empower females. Being an intellectual industry it has scope for us to contribute and grow along with the industry. Unlike finance, banking, IT and FMCG, pharma is yet to see many women reaching great heights. I feel our leading lady Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is an example for every woman to come forward and explore their talent.

– Archana Dubey Mitra, Vice President – International Marketing, Bal Pharma

The biopharmaceutical industry landscape is the most dynamic due to mounting business pressures and the increasingly stringent regulatory environment. Of relevance to those of us in India is the increased focus on emerging markets. All of these changes present a lot of challenges, but come with opportunities as well. From the perspective of the CRO industry, while the traditional clinical trial business has seen a sharp decline, other opportunities on the services side are presenting themselves. The mantra is to recognise the trend and quickly adapt the business to take advantage of it. All companies that are part of the biopharma industry have to be extremely nimble like never before and adapt quickly to seize the new opportunities. My message to all fellow women colleagues is to keep up with the changing environment and the emerging trends as well as be more flexible about balancing personal and organisational priorities.

– Chitra Lele, Chief Scientific Officer, Sciformix

The changing dynamics of the business environment has provided ample opportunities to women to make a mark for themselves in their respective careers. This has, in turn, helped in bridging the gender divide to a large extent, but we still have a long way to go. There are lots of avenues for women in the pharma, biotech and CRO industries, especially in the areas of research, academics and quality control. My message to fellow women engaged in these fields is to think beyond the obvious and challenge their limits by making it a point to not confine themselves to the boundaries of science. India still does not have many women in senior leadership positions or boardrooms. I feel women need to be mentally and emotionally stronger to break the male bastion and fit into roles which were hitherto considered male-specific. If they take this up as a challenge and channelise their energies in this direction, there will be no stopping them. By improving their presence in senior leadership positions, they can set a benchmark for the next generation of women managers. The mindset of the society has undergone a sea change as far as working women are concerned. This should give all the more reason to them for competing with their male counterparts and prove that they are second to none. It is the duty of every corporate to provide a safe workplace and a conducive working environment to women through policies that encourage their greater participation. Our women-friendly policies are aimed at bringing out the best in them. The logo of our company, “Enjoy innovation”, gels with the ethos of the company to create an atmosphere where all employees, women included, enjoy their work in a stress-free environment. We provide monetary benefit to women employees in the form of ‘shagun’ at the time of their marriage. We have also extended the ‘shagun’ scheme to the daughters and sisters of our employees. Besides, we provide financial assistance in the form of ‘kanyadaan’ for the marriage of our workers’ daughters. Women workers and wives of male workers who have upto two children are provided financial aid for their delivery. We also provide money to workers who have daughters studying in class 1 to 8 for the purchase of school uniforms, textbooks and notebooks.

No incident of sexual harassment has happened in the company since its inception. We offer time relaxation and flexible working hours to women employees who join work after maternity leave to enable them to take good care of their children.

– Dr Manu Chaudhary, Jt. Mng. Director, Venus Remedies, Director, Research, Venus Medicine Research Centre

Quintiles is globally recognised as one of the World’s Best Multinational Workplaces by the Great Place to Work Institute and is also known for fostering a women-friendly work environment. Globally, Quintiles runs a Women Inspired Network (WIN), a forum whose mission is to inspire women to take advantage of leadership opportunities at Quintiles and within the industry. Through various initiatives like leadership coaching programmes, informal conversations, book reviews and discussions and newsletters, women have an opportunity to network with other women, be inspired and learn from them. Networking is facilitated through a WIN community on our award-winning Intranet, video conferencing, face to face meetings and several other channels of communication.

There is a higher ratio of female to male employees across Quintiles India which does not change significantly from business unit to business unit whether it is one that predominantly hires medical and scientific talent or technology or general management talent. Quintiles is an equal opportunities employer and offers equal career opportunities and growth for both men and women employees. We are aware of the need to provide an environment where women not just feel safe and secure, but one that also enables them to progress in their careers as they balance the demands of personal and professional life. In addition to the many initiatives that build employee engagement, there are several programmes that Quintiles India offers to make a conducive environment for women. These include:

Flexi work: Quintiles offers a variety of flexible working options. Employees can work from home and are equipped with laptops and connectivity devices to help them operate with ease. They have the option to work in shifts and flexi hours. Part time employment options are also available.

Home-based employment: There are employees who are home-based. This is particularly beneficial for women who relocate to places where Quintiles India has no office or women who need to work from home due to extraneous circumstances. We offer extended paid maternity leave of one month in addition to the statutory three months.

Logistic support: Our transport system to shift staff (both male and female) is state-of-the-art and has the safety and security of women employees at its core. There are special cars assigned for pregnant women.

There are other programmes for general staff that are particularly helpful for women employees given the challenges that women have in balancing the demands of family and professional life. These include:

Healthy U Healthy Q, an internal employee wellness programme has four components comprising a physical activity reimbursement programme, an online health and well-being assessment, a dedicated wellness website HealthyUHealthyQ.com and a tobacco free workplace. Under the physical activity reimbursement programme, eligible employees can be reimbursed upto a fixed annual amount for gym memberships, personal training, fitness classes, massage, race registrations and durable home exercise equipment and outdoor bikes.

Quintiles also offers Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), counselling and advisory service that is available at no cost to employees and members of their immediate family (spouse/partner, children and dependent parents). The service is provided through PPC Worldwide, a leader in the global EAP arena, for physical well being.

Besides the regular reward and recognition programmes, Quintiles India also provides unique opportunities for employees to fulfil their non-work related aspirations and goals within their work environment. Events like Employee Appreciation Day (EAD) recognise and showcase the varied extracurricular talent of employees; Q Day provides time off for employees to participate in a social cause of their choice; Open Day offers employees an opportunity to bring their family to work. Several such initiatives go a long way in creating a conducive work environment for our employees.

Above all of these, there is intrinsic joy and satisfaction that employees have in knowing that the work they do contribute to better healthcare for millions of people the world over.

– Trupti Talati, Senior Director, Global Human Resources, Quintiles India

(Compiled by Usha Sharma)