Empowering Women at work

Picture this: Close to one billion women are to enter the workforce in the next decade. The figure revealed in a survey on women in the workplace across 128 countries late last year by global management and strategy consultancy firm Booz and Company only emphasises that countries and industries world over cannot afford to ignore over 50 per cent of their talent pool, which happens to be none other than women. It is only when organisations learn to tap the potential of their women employees and leaders, that they can see higher revenues and also contribute to economic growth of their country. Gender equality and empowerment of women has a direct correlation with GDP growth, literacy rates and infant mortality rates.

Inching towards an equal footing

Norway tops the list of countries when it comes to representation of women in business. It requires at least 40 per cent of board members in publicly listed companies to be women, a figure Spain has proposed within eight years. The Netherlands and France have also passed legislation. The British Government aims to have women on at least 25 per cent of company boards by 2015. India, with pronounced gender disparity, still has a long way to catch up when it comes to economic participation of women. Factors such as safe working conditions, basic social security, existing disincentives including discrimination, cultural attitudes, taxation policies, and perhaps most importantly, competing family responsibilities pose themselves as impeding obstacles.

However, in the case of the Indian pharmaceutical industry, the scenario is much better with women at the helm of leadership positions at Biocon, Piramal Healthcare, Avesthagen to name a few. In contrast, there are no women heading major pharma companies in Europe and the US. It is also interesting to see how others are shaping up to ensure greater gender diversity to pave the way forward.

Quintiles India, a Contract Research Organization (CRO) is taking just the right steps in this direction. The company was conferred with the Highest Percentage of Women Employer-ITES award by the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Government of India and the Department of IT, BT & ST, Government of Karnataka for the year 2011-12. With a ratio of female to male employees of 13:12, it is setting a benchmark for others towards creating a conducive work environment for women.

“Women want to work for organisations that promote a culture where they are valued and recognised. Benefits and programmes, although important, are just an expression of this culture.” Trupti Talati Sr. Director – Human Resources, Quintiles India

Pitches in Trupti Talati, Senior Director, Human Resources, Quintiles India, “This ratio is consistent across business units whether it is one that predominantly hires medical and scientific talent or technology talent or general management talent. This in itself is indicative of the fact that it is the overall women-friendly environment enabled by favourable policies that attracts women to Quintiles.” The company has also made it to the World’s Best Multinational Workplaces by the Great Place to Work Institute a few years back.

Close on its heels is Karmic Life sciences, led by Nidhi Saxena, Chief Executive Officer and President of the company who was awarded the First Generation Woman Entrepreneur at the Fifth Annual Pharmaceutical Leadership Summit & Business Leadership Awards 2012. The organisation has succeeded to maintain near equilibrium in headcount of male and female employees with a ratio of 7:8.

“Departments like quality assurance and human resource are completely managed by female employees. Core departments like business development, clinical operations, data management and medical affairs are either led by woman leaders or have female employees significantly outnumber their male counterparts.” Nupur Dube Sr. Manager – Human Resources, Karmic Life Sciences

“It is noteworthy to mention that departments like quality assurance and human resource are completely managed by female employees. Core departments like business development, clinical operations, data management and medical affairs are either led by woman leaders or have female employees significantly outnumber their male counterparts,” corroborates Nupur Dube, Senior Manager Human Resources, Karmic Life Sciences.

By successfully managing to strike a healthy balance of workforce and gender equilibrium, the organisation has carved a culture that not only accepts woman leaders at key positions but also values a high performance driven and merit oriented environment that is free from all gender biases, she adds.

“We are proud that 30 per cent of our scientists are women who feel empowered and enabled to pursue their career ambitions at Biocon.” Ravi C Dasgupta Group Head HR, Biocon

With 1000 women employees as a part of its workforce, Biocon is positioning itself as a preferable employer for women, most notably scientists. “We are proud that 30 per cent of our scientists are women who feel empowered and enabled to pursue their career ambitions at Biocon,” Ravi C Dasgupta, Group Head HR, Biocon.

“We are looking at building a pipeline of women employees by aiming for atleast one woman in every leading function or department.” Titus Arnold Director – HR (South Asia), Medtronic

Medtronic India also prides itself in having reached a gender diversity of 16 per cent. Echoes Titus Arnold, Head HR, Medtronic, “We are looking at building a pipeline of women employees by aiming for atleast one woman in every leading function or department. The mission is to make sure there are enough women in the India leadership team at the senior management.”

Flexi work and work life balance

So how do organisations manage to retain women employees and better train and advance them to middle and senior management? Of course, it has to do with company policies. Pfizer, a research—based pharma firm has a supplier diversity programme with women and minorities, more than five child care facilities, a phase-back programme for new moms returning to work, and flexi time. Often the need for women-friendly policies grows over time, after women have surpassed the initial stages of their career where learning on the job is the main focus.

Flexibility becomes crucial for them as they juggle both work and home, elaborates Hussain Tinwala, General Manager, Teamlease services. However, about flexitime, he feels there is still a nascent concept in the industry, although it is gradually finding its way. There has been a shift in employers willing to recruit more women in the sales and offering them flexible timings and local outreach within 8-10 kms of their area so as to encourage their participation and retention as well.

More than men it is women who strive for work-life balance, asserts Rebecca Shambaugh in her book, It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s A Sticky Floor, which provides insight and advice for women seeking to advance their careers. However, they are also the ones pushing the boundaries for companies to think out of the box and come up with ways and means for more engagement at work while not compromising their personal lives. Both Quintiles and Karmic Lifesciences offer flexible working options including option to work from home, part time employment options as well as flexible working hours. At Quintiles, women who relocate to areas where the company doesn’t have an office are allowed to work from home as well. “Both flexitime and telecommuting offer women a great opportunity to work without a break and advance their careers in a level playing field. From a corporate standpoint, it makes for a happier and more contented employee which undoubtedly will reflect in productivity improvement,” exhorts Talati.

Women on shifts are provided with transport to ensure their safety and security. Safety measures are incorporated in the company policy at Karmic with periodic safety awareness trainings/ workshops facilitated by the human resource department to enable a secured working environment. At Biocon, the vehicles are constantly monitored with follow up phone calls enquiring the safe drop of women employees. Quintiles also offers Healthy U Healthy Q, an internal employee wellness programme which has four components including a physical activity reimbursement programme, an online health and well-being assessment, a dedicated wellness website HealthyUHealthyQ.com and a tobacco free workplace.

A consideration for women also goes a long way. Arnold cites the case of a woman Product Manager at Medtronic who had to travel to Kolkata for work. Sensing her requirements, the company arranged for her family to accompany her for the visit. Such little gestures go a long way. He sums it up best when he says, “Women do not want charity, they want support.” However, he is also quick to add that flexible work hours would apply more to those who are not in the frontline.

The road ahead

Most women tend to either take a break in their careers or leave it altogether post motherhood and hence ensuring that their childcare needs are addressed is also important. In the US, Childcare is a big issue for women in their career progression with those living hand-to-mouth in low-waged jobs having 41 per cent of their salaries taken over by childcare costs. In India, while the ITES sector has been fairly proactive to have child care facilities with company premises, the concept is yet nascent in the pharma sector. It is imperative then that companies take cognizance to the fact that this needs to be addressed. Quintiles also provides an extended paid maternity leave of one month in addition to the statutory three months. New mothers are also offered an option to avail accrued privilege leave in addition to the above. This allows them to be with their new born child for close to six months. Employees are allowed to go on leave without pay thereafter, which gives additional time with their child. The company’s mediclaim policy covers children as soon as they are born. To further support the return of women to work, Biocon offers a creche facility managed by professionals.

When asked whether women employees respond well to a more generous childcare rather than a better maternity leave, Dube responds, “No single initiative can be appointed as a self-sufficient tool to guarantee retention of woman employees. In today’s highly demanding, dynamic and challenging business scenarios it becomes increasingly essential for the human resource department to strike a balance while carving its initiatives which must be executed after a thorough culture audit and also ‘continuously innovate and renovate’ relevant engagement initiatives that facilitate both high performing teams and engaged woman employees”. Mentoring and having role models to emulate also helps. Unless one has a mentor who can guide and advise at crucial times forging the road ahead can be a bit tricky. Having networks either social or professional that address issues women face at work could also help them vent their problems. Clear and stringent sexual harassment policies would also go a long way in affirming womens’ confidence and faith in their organisation and increasing their participation in the labour force. Ultimately it all boils down to company work culture. Talati puts it best, “Women want to work for organisations that promote a culture where they are valued and recognised. Benefits and programmes, although important, are just an expression of this culture.”

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