Gender diversity: How soon will the needle shift?

Two full years into the Covid-19 pandemic, women bore the burden, of juggling between working from home to managing whole families, confined to small spaces.

Despite this, women are emerging as stronger leaders and taking on the extra work. They have made important strides in representation, especially in senior leadership. Compared with men at the same level, women are doing more to support their teams and advance diversity and inclusion efforts.

Yet this critical work is going unrecognised. Companies risk losing the very leaders they need right now, to navigate the new normal. At this time, the business case for gender diversity and having more women across various levels of an organisation becomes more relevant.

Diversity vs productivity

Research done in 2021 by Gallup, a consulting firm, showed that when Fortune 500 companies had at least three female directors, the return on investment jumped over 66%, return on sales went up 42%, and return on equity increased by 53%.

There is increasing evidence that the co-existence of men and women in the same environment accounts for more creative teams. People from organisations with a high percentage of women are more likely to cite positive and meaningful organisational culture, including enjoyable work, a job that fits well with other areas of life and opportunities to make a difference.

Diverse teams bring improved innovation and adaptability, which was seen when the pandemic hit us. Firms with robust Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) practices, especially gender diversity, were able to adapt faster to the crisis.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Executive Chairperson, Biocon and Biocon Biologics. says, “Women have busted most myths about breaking work stereotypes. Organisations who ignore gender diversity and women in leadership roles will be hugely disadvantaged in times to come.”

Improving hiring practices

Bringing inclusivity in the hiring process — such as blind CVs, auditing job descriptions for male associations, benchmarking compensation to ensure women are paid equally, and having diversity in the hiring panel are some ways in which more female talent can be attracted.

Sajita Thomas, Human Resource (HR) leader with an MNC, says, “Conscious efforts to increase the gender hiring will create access to the best available talent. Across the industry, this issue is acknowledged. They are working on charters at the organisation level. It also reflects in as performance goals at the leadership level.”

Annapurna, Head of HR at Fime India Pvt Ltd says, “Discrimination varies from industry to industry. In IT, it could be narrower. But in other industries like manufacturing or some other processing industries, the gaps could be higher, in terms of positions, wages, and roles.”

Rajani Menon, Learning and Development leader with an MNC says, “Research shows that India has one of the largest percentages of women in STEM. Yet, the employability rates are much lower. Those who do get employed don’t necessarily attain an equitable rank and seniority as their male counterparts.”

Education, awareness

Over the last two decades, organisations have come a long way in creating gender-neutral policies that support women and fair treatment in terms of pay and advancement. Zero-tolerance sexual harassment policies, gender hiring goals and targets, are some efforts to retain female employees, especially expectant and new mothers.

“Women need to move up the ladder in management at the same rate men do and should be well-represented at all levels. There should be focused gender hiring for all open positions. Eliminating performance bias, extra effort to retain women who are on the verge of exit and mentoring programs for women are important,” says Sajita Thomas.

Extensive training and education on biases, especially in the talent processes should be carried out. Also, fixing the talent drain that is likely to occur during the maternity phase of a female employee is important.

“Return to Work programs and referral programs along with the opening of diversity positions are slowly creating a path of confidence for women to become contributing members of the workforce”, adds Rajani Menon.

Annapurna believes that women must not be generalised by virtue of their gender, age, marital status and motherhood. “Women leaders should be role models and create opportunities for younger women.”

Myths around women that exist need to be busted, about their analytical and number skills, or problem-solving skills. The most crippling one is that women cannot be leaders after they start a family.

There can be no progress in any area and no sustainable development without gender equity. Companies must make a conscious effort to empower women. DEI should not just be a trend with statistics but be ingrained into the DNA of the organisation. Mindful planning and open dialogue are imperative with all stakeholders involved.

(The author is a corporate trainer and a certified mindfulness and emotional agility coach with a special focus on women)