What women want

The numbers may not be sizeable but theirs is a presence that is increasingly making itself heard in the boardrooms of India Inc. On International Women’s Day, Chetna Keer Banerjee catches some such voices that strike a note of cheer and articulate the concerns of career women.

"Work-life balance is needed"

"In the year 2004, Freescale Semiconductor became a publicly traded company and spun off from its parent Motorola Inc after more than 50 years. This was a milestone in the company’s history as well as mine. I was excited to be amidst such strategic changes. The challenges were immense but the returns extremely satisfying.

"Respect for the individual. The Indian corporate culture reflects India’s rich culture. We as people are extremely value-driven, tolerant, hard working, and don’t step on others.

"As HR professionals, we need to alter the tendency of employees to work late hours. We encourage our employees to leave on time. It is important that employees find the right work-life balance, spend time outside work and have a fulfilling social life. With increasing work load, balancing professional and personal life becomes imperative. Hence, this increases the challenges that we, as HR professionals, face. Personally, I think weekends must be totally devoted to relaxation.

"Corporate India respects women. With more MNCs establishing an Indian footprint, there’s a plethora of opportunities for Indian women. Indian women are extremely talented but, unfortunately, form only 6 per cent of the Indian workforce, according to a recent CII survey. Maintaining the right work-life balance and dealing with work-related stress will continue to be a challenge.

"Today, we have women in top positions in sectors like finance and banking, marketing, automobile and engineering. The success story of women is not restricted to urban areas. Rural women contributing to brand names like Amul and Lijjat Papad speaks volumes about the tenacity and commitment of Indian women..

"I will always remember my first interview 14 years ago, for an HR position. I was very inspired by the dynamic woman who interviewed me. One of the questions she asked me was where I saw myself 10 years later. I told her that I saw myself in her position. having spoken my mind, I became nervous. But, to my surprise, I got the job. To a large extent, she’s been my role model."

"Provide infrastructural support"

"My work on community development and socially responsible projects has been very challenging and has added a lot to my growth as a professional. What begun as a hobby/interest area, slowly added on to me professionally and now is a part of me. Today, I believe everyone, whether in their individual capacity or as part of a corporate house, should definitely contribute to society, not necessarily in monetary terms but through efforts.

One thing I value in our work culture:

"The culture of respecting experience and the value assigned to family life. India is one place where howsoever junior a person may be, we always assign importance to his experience.

"Respect for time and punctuality. In India, we work according to our own time schedule and do not assign enough importance to timelines. Our productivity would increase manifold if we learn the value of time."

"I think most of the challenges are within us. We need to believe in ourselves and try and set priorities in life.

"Safety is an important issue for the working women in India. More and more women are coming out to the cities after completing their education, but our cities need to be equipped to handle this. The authorities need to create a congenial environment and infrastructure for women .

"The present age boasts of innumerable women who have grown in the corporate world. The glass ceiling is disappearing and things are much better now.

"I really admire Dr Kiram Mazumdar Shaw for single-handedly being responsible establishing India’s pioneering biotech enterprise. Her unique vision and pioneering efforts have given her immense recognition, both nationally and internationally."

"Women’s views are being accepted in core areas"

"I hadn’t passed out of college yet, and was looking for a job. All I had was sincerity of approach and a passion to make a difference in whatever I did. That’s when I met A.G. Krishnamurthy, then head of Mudra Communications. During the interview, he said: ‘It’s difficult to find people who are self-motivated. Don’t let anything or anyone take that away from you.’ And I didn’t. I not only got an assignment but the best advice I could ever receive."

"Finally, the corporate culture is reflecting an open mind-set towards women’s views on subjects such as business strategy and finance. Also, the earlier skepticism, evident in comments like "Can a woman do it?," is now changing to confidence in women’s abilities.

"We need to show a little more understanding for the fact that most women have to strike a balance between personal and professional lives. For that matter, even men have to.

"Keeping the pace of performance in their respective sectors and ensuring that despite individual success, their feet remain firmly planted on the ground.

"It’s a reality. Women have to be aware of this and work on it so that it doesn’t come as a surprise later."

"I admire a lot of women, but have no role models."

"Go beyond soft options"

"Growing up as a professional is a summation of many challenging moments, but if I were to pick one then it would be the instance where my Country Manager in Schlumberger asked me to present the HR plan for a new business unit that was being set up in India to the Chairman Euan Baird and a few other seniors from this $ 13 billion company, only months since I had joined them. With all my humble 3.5 years of experience, it was days of hard work but it did make me grow as a professional while picking upon all aspects of business to present a convincing plan.

"Corporate India is a beautiful blend of intelligence and our warm culture. It still has a human face and relationships in our workplace are more wholesome, which is very different from the West and Far East, where everything is very cut and dry in the corporate world. We continue to value people as ‘thinking individuals’, not as mere ‘resources’.

"The one change that corporates can benefit from immensely in today’s world is innovation and quality, both in personal and professional work spheres. Everybody can tread a beaten path but to strive to make a change coupled with quality will give new direction and dimension to not just the workplace, but business in general. This is the era of value-added services and that too of a high quality which will give companies the edge over the others.

"There are two big challenges. One, women of India Inc should get shoulder to shoulder with the men. Even today, the choices made by women are often softer and women tend to step back in a gender challenge. Second, women in corporate India have to work for the cause of all Indian women. They will form the bedrock of growth in this country. It’s an old saying that it is the women of the house who build the nation. We have to set an example for all other women so that they can see the benefits of education and economic independence for themselves and their families.

"The glass ceiling is not a myth, it very much exists. And it takes a strong, aggressive woman to break that ceiling with her efforts and get beyond. But having said that, I also have seen a shift in the recent years and women are being appointed and accepted at higher positions with a lot more grace by the corporates.

From childhood till today, there is one living woman professional whom I place on a high pedestal. She is Kiran Bedi. A perfect blend of grit, intelligence, beauty and purpose.