FACULTY OF SOCIAL WORK

THE MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY OF BARODA

WOMEN’S STANDING IN HR PROFESSION

THE HR REVISTA

1 | P a g e

TABLEOFCONTENTEditor’s Note……………………………………………………………..…………….. Page

Our Team……………………………………………………………..………………… Page

Cover Story……………………………………………………………..………………. Page

Ar cle-

Married to Profession, Beyond the Tears- Cas ng Her …………….. Page

Work Life Balance……………………………………………………………. Page

Glass Ceiling in India: Challenge for HR ……………………………….. Page

Alumni’s Talk

Interview with Ms. Amita Jaspal…………………………………… Page

Mind Teasers…………………………………………………………………………… Page

Student’s Speak

Why Working Women in India Leave the Workforce………. Page

Women in Corporate HR………………………………………………….. Page

The Present Scenario………………………………………………………. Page

Entrepreneurial Leap………………………………………………………. Page

Home Coming – Aditya Message……………………………………… Page

THE HR REVISTA

2 | P a g e

EDITOR’SNOTEDEAR READERS,

A WARM WELCOME TO THIS ISSUE OF THE HR REVISTA. QUITE LITERALLY

SO, TOO.

AS WE CONTINUE TO NAVIGATE THE COURSE OF PROFESSIONAL HR

ECOLOGY, WE'RE CONFOUNDED BY IDEAS AND PERSPECTIVES GALORE.

EACH MOMENT IS A CHALLENGE, A NOVELTY WHICH ADDS IMMENSELY TO

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF KNOWLEDGE THAT WE SEEK TO UNRAVEL, EVERY

DAY. THE LAST TWO ISSUES FOCUSED ON 'TALENT ECONOMICS' AND

‘SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST”. IT PROVIDED A BACKGROUNDER ABOUT THE

CONCEPT OF “TALENT ECONOMICS” AND ITS DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. WE

ALSO TRIED TO BRING THROUGH THE PERSPECTIVE OF HR PROFESSIONALS

RELATED TO ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AND HR PROFESSION.

IN THIS ISSUE, WE TRY TO STIR A NEWER NARRATIVE - A NARRATIVE OF

FEMINIST OUTLOOKS AND HOW WOMEN'S STANDING IN THIS FIELD OF HR

MANAGEMENT PANS OUT FOR BUSINESS AND SOCIETY, GLOBALLY AND

LOCALLY. IT IS OUR ENDEAVOUR THAT THIS BE AN INITIATOR TO FORGE A

LASTING, 'GENDER-JUST' CONVERSATION ON WOMEN IN THE HR PROFESSION

WORKPLACES. WE EXPLORE SUBTEXTS AND REFERENCES TO VARIOUS

ASPECTS OF WOMEN IN HR PROFESSIONS, WHAT IT MEANS TO WOMEN VIS-A-

VIS SOCIAL SETTINGS, WHAT IT COULD MEAN TO BUSINESS AS A WHOLE, AND

WHAT ARE THE VALUE DELIVERABLES OF THIS PROPOSITION. THE EDITORIAL

TEAM IS OF THE VIEW THAT THE TIME IS NOW THAT WE BRING OUT VARIOUS

THEMES OF DIVERSITY AND DIVERSIFICATION OF PERSONNEL, AND PUSH TO

ENSURE A BOARDROOM DIALOGUE, THAT GOES BEYOND CONVENTIONAL

"PRODUCT-SERVICE-CHANNEL-DIVERSIFICATION" MONOLOGUES AND GLITZY

PRESENTATIONS, TO ADDRESSING PERSONNEL DIVERSITY AND

REPRESENTATIONS!

THE HR REVISTA

3 | P a g e

WE HOPE THIS MAY SERVE AS A THEMATIC VIEW TO THE WAY WE LOOK AT

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT FOR THE HR PROFESSION, AND CHALLENGE

TRADITIONAL UNDERSTANDINGS, THEREBY ENRICHING THE DISCOURSE.

THANK YOU, AND HAPPY READING.

EDITORIAL BOARD

THE HR REVISTA

THE HR REVISTA

4 | P a g e

OURTEAMChintan Trivedi,Executive HR,TOTO India Pvt Ltd

Dipesh Patel, Sr MHRMFaculty of Social Work

Dipali Rathod, SrMHRMFaculty of Social Work

Mansi Davda, SrMHRMFaculty of Social Work

Manish Thapliyal, SrMHRMFaculty of Social Work

Setu Soni, Sr MHRMFaculty of Social Work

Tejas Dubey, Sr MHRMFaculty of Social Work

THE HR REVISTA

5 | P a g e

COVERSTORYONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING DEBATES IN THE HR FRATERNITY IS

WHETHER WOMEN MAKE BETTER HR MANAGERS THAN THEIR MALE

COUNTERPARTS. THERE ARE MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES AVAILABLE ON THE

DEBATE; BUT THE RISING OPINION DOES PUT WOMEN IN FAVOUR OF HR

OPERATIONS. THEIR NURTURING INSTINCTS AND SHARP UNDERSTANDING OF

PEOPLE MANAGEMENT SKILLS GIVE WOMEN A GOOD EDGE IN THIS

DEPARTMENT, THEY SAY!

TRADITIONALLY, IT IS PERCEIVED THAT MEN GENERALLY OPTED FOR JOBS

THAT HAD FIXED RESULTS, WERE MEASURABLE AND COMPETITIVE, WHILST

WOMEN HAVE TRADITIONALLY CHOSEN LESS AGGRESSIVE, SOFTER,

INDUSTRY ROLES. THIS PERCEPTION LEADS TO A NOTICEABLE RESULT AT

ENTRY LEVEL? THERE JUST AREN'T ENOUGH MEN WHO THINK THAT HR CAN

CREATE A FULFILLING CAREER FOR THEM. THE PERCEPTION FUELS THE

REALITY AND THE PROPORTION OF MEN TO WOMEN WITHIN THE PROFESSION

STAYS ROUGHLY THE SAME.

BUT, HR TODAY IS DIFFERENT AND HAS EVOLVED OVER THE LAST DECADE,

CERTAINLY VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THE CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

SUGGESTS. SOME OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL HR PROFESSIONALS GLOBALLY

ARE MALES, THEREBY SUGGESTING THAT HR LIKE ANY OTHER

FUNCTION/DEPARTMENT IS GENDER-, POSITION-, ROLE- AND INDUSTRY-

AGNOSTIC. COMPANIES ARE INCREASINGLY REALISING THE IMPORTANCE OF

HAVING A DIVERSIFIED TEAM IN TERMS OF GENDER, NATIONALITY,

EDUCATION BACKGROUND, EXPERIENCE, ETC TO BUILD/SUSTAIN THE

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE. IT'S LIKE HAVING A CRICKET TEAM OR FOR THAT

MATTER, ANY SPORTS TEAM WHERE THE SUCCESS REALLY LIES IN THE

COLLECTIVE STRENGTHS THAT COME WITH THE DIVERSIFIED BACKGROUND

AND EXPERIENCE. SIMILARLY, THE CORPORATE WORLD INCLUDING HR IS NO

DIFFERENT!

THE HR REVISTA

6 | P a g e

THIS ISSUE COVERS DIFFERENT AREAS OF WOMEN HR PROFESSIONALS. WE

HAVE STUDENTS FROM FACULTY OF SOCIAL WORK WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR

VALUABLE INSIGHTS. WE HAVE ALUMNI NETWORK OF MHRM, WHO HAVE

SHARED THEIR INPUTS ON TOPICS LIKE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN

IN HR, WORK-LIFE BALANCE, ETC. TO NAME A FEW. WE ALSO HAVE AN

INTERESTING INTERVIEW OF MS. AMITA JASPAL, CEO OF BARODA

MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION.

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY READING THIS ISSUE.

THE HR REVISTA

7 | P a g e

MARRIED TO PROFESSION….BEYOND THE

YEARS

CASTING HER

- Priya MuradDeepak Nitrate Limited

oesn’t it sound familiar…???? For most ladies….. Yes, it is.

The women who come from diverse cultures and social

backgrounds, survival

in the workplace at times become

difficult. The thoughts of financial

independence, health, wellness,

safety and Similar conflicting

situations a women has to face to

balance her work and life during her transition from Homes to

Executive Suite are also known. Since birth she gets conditioned to

learn the social skills and graces and not aggressiveness and decision

making skills which essentially are instilled in boys who eventually

become big time CXOs in organisations.

Society isn’t without its urges, and so is the need for a woman to

recognize and assimilate this dynamics. There are still several

elements in the business world that keep her from making incredible

strides.

One could be the lose –lose situation that she faces balancing her work

life. If she forgoes having children or commitment towards her family

in the name of her career, she is seen as less of feminine ideal , but if

she put her career on hold and forgoes it for the sake of raising her

family well, she is seen as less committed and reliable towards

business of the organization.

DBehind any successful Womenis an, Enormous pile ofunwashed laundry.

- Barbara Dale

THE HR REVISTA

8 | P a g e

The other could be the leniency cobwebbed in a culture that put young

ladies at physical and psychological risks that restrain them from

achieving highest offices. A young lady has unique set of challenges in

asserting, developing and displaying her Leadership skills. She needs

to strike a right balance between managing her image and maintaining

a “Decent Girl” image . If she assert her opinion strongly, people at

times perceive her as not acting feminine enough and thus triggering a

repercussion, but if she display feminism , which stereotypically is

glued to her, she get perceived as an inefficient leader with no

dynamism…

It becomes quite disappointing at times to see the huge amount of

prejudices women suffer in their everyday and professional life. But,

where is the end to this vicious circle…..?? Such preconceptions will

lose momentum when people start embracing respect for women, with

equality and fairness , as at the end of the day, what matters is skills

one bring to the table and not the gender.

The women in HR have no different challenges in comparison to

women at any other work place. If we look back at last 30 years , it

would be unfair to say, that the progress has not been made. No doubt

we do have more opportunities than some decades ago, we are more

aware about the expectations and our rate of performance. The thing

quintessential to say is that, we have taken the charge to design our

own space under our own skin.

With the background of HR, and the challenges this field poses in

terms of dealing with manpower day in day out, women need to act

with confidence mixed with the tint of brazen. For us,

Feministic Stuttering is a big No- No factor. Instead, speaking in

front of others, asserting in public and communicating with

conviction is the need of the hour.

We need to take calculated but conscientious risks.

THE HR REVISTA

9 | P a g e

We must take time to build conscious professional and social

alliances

To revolutionalise the system, the epic dictum would be

“embrace the challenges and do not settle for status quo”.

Making difference as a young lady professional and to make

contributions that counts, one need to think -act - behave like a

trusted and credible messenger .

Let us continue enjoying the sustainability by being:

A Girl with mind, A Women with attitude, A Lady with Class....!!!!!!

THE HR REVISTA

10 | P a g e

WORK LIFE BALANCE

- Ms. Yashshree Trivedi.

ife is so simple when you are working and are single, living with

your own parents, you don’t have any additional

responsibilities, and you know that your parents are there at

your back, which are taking care of all household related work. You

just have to concentrate on your work. You can come home and relax

and it is completely okay if you don’t help your mother in cooking and

other related activities. I was totally carefree and independent then, I

could take my own decisions, and I could easily take up assignments

at office which required lot of travelling at distant places and for

months.

But as time changes, things also changes. Life changed after getting

married. Balancing both professional life and personal life seemed

difficult. New habits started taking shape in me like getting up early in

morning, taking more responsibilities like cleaning house, washing

clothes, cooking food altogether single handedly and other such

activities. But simultaneously responsibilities at work also started

building up.

Though there was initial enthusiasm while grabbing a lucrative offer

from campus and feeling of accomplishment was there but burden of

many responsibilities, managing people, enrolment targets, and other

kind work started emerging and thus I was feeling totally stressed up.

I felt a strong need of balancing work life and personal life effortlessly.

So I have identified few things which enable me to cope-up with daily

routine at home and professional front.

L

THE HR REVISTA

11 | P a g e

First step would be acceptance: Accepting the new roles of the life is

important. If one tries to deny or complain about new responsibilities,

it creates more stress. Acceptance helps to stay balanced and only a

balanced state of mind can think of the solutions.

Second and most important would be support from Life partner: He is

supposed to be our better-half, and nothing is possible without his

support, he should be there standing at your back. He should be like

our shield.

Discussion with women in similar situation: Discussing your problem

with other women, your friends, and colleagues helps a lot. It doesn’t

only reduce stress but we also learn to tackle things in new way, in

creative way. But we also have to keep a thing in mind that by sharing

such problems with others doesn’t build up unnecessary comparisons

between our life and theirs. You should take great care in this matter.

Dealing with old friends and relationships: After marriage it becomes

difficult to hang out with old friends and acquaintances. So you need

to accept this fact that it won’t be possible now to hang out as

frequently as in earlier life. So you have to find other options to deal

with them.

Making new friends at work: To tackle the problem listed above, you

should try to make new friends at your work place. It would not only

help us to lessen up our stress but it will also make us happy.

Staying healthy: As it is rightly said health is wealth, you should have

stamina enough to deal with daily routine. So one should maintain

proper diet and get adequate sleep.

THE HR REVISTA

12 | P a g e

Communicating clearly: We should be assertive and clear in

communication at work place. One should not over committee to work,

as this will build up stress which will in-turn affect your personal life.

Proper Planning: One should prepare proper to-do list, which will

enable us to meet our deadlines at office and we will also be able to

manage our personal front.

Quality rejuvenation during holidays: Plan out vacation trips or small

outings during holidays, this will give us break in our routine and will

also help us to remain fresh and rejuvenated.

Spending time with pets: Pets are the best thing god ever has created.

They are best stress relievers according to me. Spend time with them

when your are more stressed, go out on a walk with them, talk with

them.

Talking positive about life: Other important thing would be avoiding

phrases like ‘I wish things become like before’, ‘Life is screwd’, ‘my job

sucks’, ‘I hate my boss’, ‘I am a caged bird now’. Positivity will lead us

further in life. Think positive and be positive.

To sum up I would like to say, that life is as we take it. We should stay

positive and think positive. You have to accept the facts that

responsibility level would be rising day by day, like it will be more if

one has kids to look after. It is equally important to dedicate proper

time to your children. It is like you have to be happy to keep everyone

else happy.

THE HR REVISTA

13 | P a g e

GLASS CEILING IN INDIA: A

Challenge for HR

- Dr. Bhavna Mehta, Professor, Faculty of Social

Work, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda

Introduction:

he glass ceiling is not simply a barrier for an individual, based

on the person's inability to handle a higher-level job. Rather, it

applies to women as a group who are kept from advancing

higher because they are women. (Morrison et.al. 1994) The forces

(socio-cultural, legal, personal, and organizational) that affect a

woman’s rise to the upper echelons of an institution are for the most

part, universal. Theoretically, every woman is capable of reaching the

top of her organization. What sets women such as Indra Nooyi and

Chanda Kochchar apart from the rest of the similarly talented women

are: a high level of sustained self-confidence and emotional quotient,

persistence and patience, the right mentors at various stages of their

career, an extremely supportive family and a little bit of luck or

opportunity.

The glass ceiling is a reality! This is not only because women are

held to higher standards than men but also because they are

neither made aware of, nor given opportunities that would catapult

them to the upper echelons. Often, women with technical

competencies in line functions such as manufacturing, R&D and

operations end up in staff functions. Experience in line or

operational functions, during one’s mid-career are often an

unwritten prerequisite to getting into the C-suite.

The list of the top 100 powerful women (as per the August Forbes

list) of 2013 has only three Indian women who have managed to

make it to the top. These three brilliant ladies are Arunadhati

T

THE HR REVISTA

14 | P a g e

Bhattacharya, Chair of SBI (ranked 36), Chanda Kochhar, MD &

CEO of ICICI Bank (ranked 43) and Kiran Mazudar-Shaw, Founder,

Chair of Biocon Ltd (ranked 82). On the contarary, USA have more

than half, (56 women) in this prestigious list. The question arises

why only 3 Indian women in this list? Or why does Indian women

managers find it difficult to break the glass ceiling in top

management? Inspite of the know fact that Indian women are

eloquent enough to lead, why are the number of such women so

few?

According to a study conducted by Delhi based social research

organization, Centre for Social Research (CSR), 2 women per 100

economically active men take administrative and senior managerial

positions in India. Compared to number of women in work force in

India, there representation in managerial positions is very less. This

is labeled as a barrier that is so subtle and transparent, (yet strong)

that it prevents women from moving up in the management

hierarchy. There are many forms of glass ceiling: women’s under

representation at the corporate hierarchy, gendered wage gap,

occupational segregation, discriminative corporate policies, lack of

attention to the specific needs women have, sexual harassment and

many more Detrimental Reasons blocking career growth of women

in corporate world.

Stereotyping

The gendered nature of job roles in an organizational context results

in some jobs – e.g., nurses, teachers, repetitive jobs at junior

management levels etc., being seen as “feminine” while other jobs

such as senior leadership roles being stereotypically seen as

“masculine.” Thus, a women aspiring for senior leadership roles has

to grapple with the dual expectations of her “female” gender stereotype

as well as the “male” leadership stereotype–something well

documented in literature as the “double bind” effect.

THE HR REVISTA

15 | P a g e

Many organizations, too, tend to have deep-rooted assumptions and

stereotypes about women’s capability to pursue senior leadership

positions and the commitment they are likely to give to their work,

given their family responsibilities.

Exaggerated notions about women’s leadership

Women in senior leadership roles are subject to what is known as the

“babe or bitch” syndrome. Their behavior tends to be viewed in an

exaggerated fashion – they are seen either as “soft”, indecisive “babes”

or “hard”, pushy, selfish “bitches.” Thus, assertive behaviors in a

female leader, often expected of a leadership role may likely be viewed

as abrasive.

Juggling with family demands

Despite changes in the social structure, women are predominantly

expected to take career breaks to handle familial expectations that

arise due to marriage and childbirth. The notion of a male

“homemaker” is still alien to the Indian context, where men are still

seen as the primary breadwinners and women’s incomes are often only

seen as supplementary.

Isolation from informal networks at work

The overwhelming majorities of male leaders make most informal

networks at senior leadership positions mostly “male” in nature, often

explicitly exclude women. This reduces the social capital of women

leaders, further diluting their access and acceptability for senior

leadership roles.

Shortage of female role models

The near absence of women in senior leadership roles gives aspiring

women leaders very few role models and mentors who can groom and

guide them on their journey to the top

THE HR REVISTA

16 | P a g e

What is the Way Out?

Despite all the barriers that women face in the notional “labyrinth” or

the prospect of the unyielding “glass ceiling”, there are several success

stories that aspiring women leaders can learn from. Yes, it is

definitely possible to break out of the glass ceiling and to navigate

one’s way out of the labyrinth but this requires a deliberative,

considered approach. Some ways in which organizations can help

enhance their gender diversity in senior leadership roles are suggested

below:

Sensitizing employees on the prevalence of gender bias

Acknowledging and building awareness of the existence of gender bias

at work is a critical step to positive change. Organizations are

attempting to ignite a dialogue amongst their senior leadership as well

as employees that gender diversity is not just a “good-to-have” but

rather a real business imperative with tangible, measurable business

impact. Building a business case for diversity and stimulating the

dialogue on its relevance are the important first steps that

organizations need to take.

Set clear, measurable criteria for career growth and minimize bias

Many organizations are increasingly making their career progression

criteria known in a concrete, transparent manner. This makes

decisions more transparent and minimizes the entry of “evaluator

bias.” These criteria can be defined in the form of expected outcomes

rather than in terms of effort (e.g., number of hours spent at work).

Create forums and opportunities for female employees to network

with other successful women in leadership roles to encourage

mentorship

Organizations will benefit from facilitating the interaction of aspiring

women leaders with successful women leaders who have actually dealt

with the challenges and made their way to the top. Encouraging high

THE HR REVISTA

17 | P a g e

potential junior and middle level female managers to identify a senior

woman leader as a mentor will also help in this direction.

Providing women with tailored developmental opportunities

Many progressive organizations are offering their high potential

women employees tailored developmental programs to build their self-

awareness while also giving developmental experiences to increase

their suitability for senior roles. Many of these programs come with

access to high profile projects and other mechanisms for women to

“prove” their capability for senior roles in an environment where these

opportunities are usually monopolized by men.

Avoiding tokenism in work teams

In their well-meaning attempt to promote gender diversity, many

organizations encourage work teams to include “at least one female

employee.” The presence of this “token woman” does the cause of

gender diversity more harm than good, as is proved by research. The

token woman is often seen as just that – a token – and is often ignored

by the rest of the team. Organizations will need to promote diversity in

a much more concrete manner – from the inside out – rather than

resort to cosmetic approaches such as token representation of a lone

woman in many work teams.

Encouraging career “customization” as per employee life stage

Many organizations provide employees with the option of customizing

their career at various points based on the life stage they are in. This

notion of “mass career customization” was popularized by Deloitte and

is today used in many organizations. This also gives female employees

the option to customize their job role and challenges based on the

ebbs and flows of their personal life (marriage, maternity etc.) rather

than drop out of their careers altogether. Encouraging flexible working

and ensuring that employee evaluations are based on outcomes

achieved and not hours spent at the physical workplace are also steps

in this direction. Several organizations such as the Tata Group also

THE HR REVISTA

18 | P a g e

encourage women who have dropped out of the workplace due to

motherhood or family constraints to return to the workplace under

“second career” schemes.

The Road Ahead

Obstacles to women aspiring to enter into leadership roles persist even

today, despite the changes in social structures, gender roles and

organizational paradigms. To truly provide a level playing ground for

women at the workplace, organizations need to go beyond superficial

tokenism and take concrete steps that ensure women have a “real”

chance to access and succeed in leadership roles. Strategies to bring

more women into the highest leadership echelons need to be driven by

top leadership in the organization and can no longer be seen as a

good-to-have “HR” initiative.

References:

Morisson, A., White, R., Versor, E. (1994) . Breaking glass ceiling: Canwomen reach the top of America’s largest corporations? USA: PerseusPublishing

Paul, A. (2012). “Why do Indian women managers find it difficult tobreak the glass ceiling in top management?” available onhttp://www.4psbusinessandmarketing.com/pw/pw-story.asp?s_id=79&pageno=1

Risper Enid Kiaye, Anesh Maniraj Singh, (2013) "The glass ceiling: aperspective of women working in Durban", Gender in Management: AnInternational Journal, Vol. 28 Iss: 1, pp.28 - 42

THE HR REVISTA

19 | P a g e

ALUMNI’s TALK

Mrs. Amita Jaspal, CEO, Baroda Management

Association

1. What do you think where women stand in today’s HRprofession?

A: These days, women, especially in the HR field, are flexing a different

kind of muscle-and making a difference for the women and men who

work for their organizations. Maximum working women are seen in HR

today. According to a survey almost 60% women professional are in

HR in various industries.

2. What change have you observed about women's stand from lastone decade in HR profession?

A: More women are recruited by organizations looking to their

sensitivity and dedication. They are accepted and respected too. Slowly

but surely, HR is going from a male-dominated, union-oriented,

security-minded profession to a field attracting more and more

strategically oriented women leaders who emphasize human resource

initiatives tying their organizations' bottom lines to such concepts as

executive compensation, health-care cost containment, work/life

balance and talent management. The women at the top of the HR

discipline have a solid grounding in business and understand

organizations and people, say our honorees and others in the field.

“Any woman who understands the problems of running a home

will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a

country.”

- Margaret Thatcher

THE HR REVISTA

20 | P a g e

3. What do you think, is there any obstaclefor today’s women HR?

A: Home and work life balance is a major

issue. HR profession is demanding on

women’s time and it leads to stress in family.

Women are more sensitive. My personal drive

for perfection gets in the way sometimes.

When you're in the people business, my kind

of intensity can create problems. I've actually

learned to relax a little bit.

4. As a women in the organization, have you anytime faced genderdiscrimination in terms of Opportunities and acceptance?

A: No, not at all – It’s our way all the while!

5. "Women HR professional are better than men". How muchyou agree to this point? Why?

A: Partly. In the past women were considered as better HR person

but today it is transferring to gender agnostic function, where

capacity is not considered as a gender trait but ability to

understand and influence the business to achieve organization’s

mission is the focus. Teams now constitute people with various

backgrounds and education to sustain constitutes advantage.

Collective strength leads to more success. So instead of the gender,

ability and capacity of the individual is the focus. Hence it could be

a man or a woman!

THE HR REVISTA

21 | P a g e

6. What message you will give to upcoming young women HRprofessional?

A: Trust yourself and your instincts. If you think you can do it, go for

it. Learn to balance home and work hours. Be practical and less

emotional. Update with the current trends. Communication and

Interpersonal skills must be properly acquired.

7. Do you see women HR Professionals as HR entrepreneur?

A: Yes, she can be a good counsellor, soft skill trainer and life coach.

Search for and understand why you want to be in HR so the journey is

really meaningful. The people business is unique and complex, so you

need to be there for a reason. Helping people be successful is what

drives me.

THE HR REVISTA

22 | P a g e

THE HR REVISTA

23 | P a g e

STUDENT’s SPEAK

WHY WORKING WOMEN IN INDIA LEAVE THEWORKFORCE??

Shantanu Dalvi, Senior MHRM

ow to keep women from leaving the workforce has been a much-

debated subject around the world. By now everyone knows the

script, women join work in good numbers but very few make it to the

top. At every step beyond, they either leave or get pushed out. The

reasons are familiar – childcare, unfair share of domestic chores,

gender bias at work, extreme work conditions, security and so on.

Women make up 24 percent of the workforce in India, which boasts of

one the largest working populations in the world. Only 5 percent of

these reach the top layer, compared to a global average of 20 percent.

A recent study by Booz and company says that if men and women in

India were to be equally employed India’s GDP could go up by 27

percent.

A new study by Centre for Talent Innovation (CTI), founded by

the vivacious Sylvia Ann Hewlett who is also a renowned advocate of

diversity, and one of the world’s top 50 thinkers, throws new light on

the subject. Hewlett has spent the last ten years trying to understand

the impact of women’s career interruptions on earnings, aspiration

and ambition. She has conducted the study in US, Germany and

Japan. In 2012, CTI extended the research to India. 3,000 college

graduates (men and women) were interviewed to understand why

women go off work and what can be done to bring them back. Last

evening Hewlett and her team were in Bangalore to release the report

titled, On Ramps and Up Ramps India.

H

THE HR REVISTA

24 | P a g e

World over women, unlike men, says Hewlett, do not follow a

linear career progression. A woman’s career has a far more scenic

route, which includes taking time out, working part-time, reduced

hours or flex- time for a number of years. The report has some

interesting findings. It says 36 percent of Indian women will take a

break from work. The numbers are similar for Germany and US. But

what is different is that Indian women stay out of work for much

shorter duration, an average of 11 months compared to 2.7 years in

US and 1.9 years in Germany. Almost 91 percent of women who take a

break in India want to come back to work. 58 percent are able to re-

join full time work, higher than in Germany and US. Indian women

also face smaller salary penalties as compared to their counterparts in

US and Germany upon re-joining. However 72 percent of them in India

do not want to go back to their previous employer.

What is very interesting is that while women everywhere seem to

be taking breaks for childcare, in India a large number take time off to

look after their elders. Almost 80 percent of women surveyed said they

were leaving for eldercare, as compared to 30 percent in US and only

18 percent in Germany. A much bigger proportion of women in India,

as compared to Germany or US, also leave because they find their

careers stalling.

This is a double whammy, says Hewlett. “In India women have

learnt to outsource childcare but not elder care. Daughterly guilt is

now bigger than motherly guilt”. This is a wake-up call for

organizations. While many organizations have been able to improve

their policies related to maternity leave and a few have invested in

building some infrastructure for day-care for children of employees,

very few have found answers for women leaving work later in their

careers be it for taking care of elders or because they find their careers

THE HR REVISTA

25 | P a g e

stalling. This is the time when most women are peaking at their career

and losing them hurts both the employers and the employees.

After Hewlett presented the study, I conducted a panel

discussion around the theme with senior leaders from Goldman

Sachs, Citi, E&Y and GENPACT. All four companies were part of the

`On Ramp Off Ramp’ India study.

Although India Inc. has been taking steps in offering flexitime to

its workforce, one of the panellists, Vaishali Kasture of Goldman

Sachs, recounted an interesting case study of how some companies

were willing to go to great lengths to protect their senior talent.

Kasture is the MD of Investment Management Operations at Goldman

Sachs in Bangalore, where she leads a team of 250 people. She has a

5-year-old son. She says that she never took a break in her 20-year-

career, but when a family crisis hit last year she was forced to move to

a flex-work-arrangement to devote more time to her son. She now

comes to office three days a week and works from home the remaining

time. Says Kasture, who has been at Goldman for only two years, “It’s

not like I have worked at Goldman for 10-15 years and had all the

groundwork for taking such a huge step”. But as it turns out,

Goldman trusted her enough to try it out. She says the hardest thing

about this new arrangement for her was to let go, and realizing that

leadership is not about being in the room all the time, but about

empowering people and letting them to get on with their work.

“Such initiatives work only when senior leadership steps in, the

message has to come from the top”, says fellow panellist Shweta

Mehrotra, Head of HR, Operations & Technology and Global

Functions, Citi South Asia.

THE HR REVISTA

26 | P a g e

What appeared during the discussion was that men too are looking for

breaks from work, but are afraid either because of social conditioning

or fear of not getting their jobs back. But change might be around the

corner. Pankaj Kulshreshta, Senior Vice President, Analytics, Genpact

says he has hired men who have taken a break in their careers at his

organisation. Giridhar GV, the COO of Ernst & Young Shared Services

in India gave an example of a colleague whose wife runs a successful

paediatric service in one of Bangalore’s leading hospitals who took

three years off to run the household before joining work at E&Y. As is

often the case these days, any talk of flexitime work quickly turns to

the infamous decision by Marissa Mayer of Yahoo who stopped this

practice at her company. The trick, says Hewlett, lies in treating

flexitime as a reward rather than entitlement. “Offer it to your most

talented performers rather than offering it to everyone” says Hewlett.

THE HR REVISTA

27 | P a g e

WOMEN IN CORPORATE HR- Shrinath Dave, Senior MHRM

Women’s number is going up in most corporate departments, but

there’s one function in which they now dominate- Human Resource,

they are now estimated to account for over 60% of HR jobs across

industry segments.

“The women who follow the crowd will usually go no further than the

crowd. The woman who walks alone is likely to find herself in places no

one has ever been before.” –Albert Einstein

Women are seen to be more people- focused, with

a special knack for recognizing performers &

working on their career advancements. So they

are good at objectively collecting feedback &

offering career counselling.

Soft skills, mentoring, counselling, consoling,

convincing & training come easy to women. Even in HR department of

TCS, Infosys, Wipro are all dominated by women. Women nowadays

are more attracted to HR as it gives them more visibility & focused as

it makes them as a contributor in forming policies & make them as a

part of company communication they also play a major role in

attracting & retaining people in the organisation as they have

nurturing skills & skills to understand people, their work & life stress

situations of employees. A major reason to join HR is also that in the

profession decisions hare impacts lives of many people.

“I believe that if more women lean in, we can change the power

structure of our world & expand opportunities for all.” –Sheryl

Sandberg

Flexi working hours, childcare facilities at the office, working from

home are now new upcoming HR policies for women as a multitasked.

THE HR REVISTA

28 | P a g e

Women professionals are moving up the corporate ranks & managing

home as well.

Here’s to strong women, may we know them, may we be them, may we

raise them.

THE HR REVISTA

29 | P a g e

THE PRESENTSCENARIO

- Hirvirta Patel, Sr. MHRM

Women hold up half the sky.

Woman is a full circle within her

is the power to create, nurture

& transform. They are born with

immense patience, courage,

emotions & an ability to perform

several tasks with clarity &

perfectly. From the very initial

stage she starts learning to

manage things around her e.g. a

woman can be a mother at

home & at the same time be a

boss in the working place & get

the things done & also be a

housewife & take care of the

household.

Today we see the footsteps of

women have reached almost in

every field like sports,

entertainment, politics, medical,

corporates, etc. one such field in

the corporates is the HR

profession. They are managing

the employees in the industry &

family at their homes. The

evolution of women from home

to corporates helped a lot in the

professional development of

women. Historically people used

to believe that women are only

to work at home but today

things have changed. Today

women’s have showed to the

world & proved that they can

also stand with the men in the

corporate

s.

Many of

them are

doing

really

very well

in their

professio

nal life.

They are

known for their wise decision &

perseverance. Across the

corporate world today, women

have shattered the proverbial

glass ceiling in terms of

leadership & management. E.g.

MD & CEO of ICICI Bank-

Chanda Kochhar

Women who have reached this

position had faced a lot many

THE HR REVISTA

30 | P a g e

challenges & the common for all

would be to manage personal &

professional life. The challenges

can vary according to the job

profile & the positions they

hold.it is not easy for a woman

to make her stand in the male

dominating environment. In her

way to success & proving

herself, many women face

sexual harassment at

workplace. She becomes a

victim when she is doing well &

some other might not like that.

Women’s are not secure at their

workplace. Many times it

happens that she can’t raise her

voice against such happenings

because of the fear of her self-

respect & sometimes the

negative pressure of the higher

authority.

If some women show some

courage to raise her voice it

ends up either by being blamed

herself for the harassment or

the chapter is closed. Although

there is prevalence of laws & act

for sexual harassment, still

things go on happening. There

are many women who might be

the victim because of her

innocence or lack of knowledge

or the reason can be any. But it

is herself only who should fight

back for her self-respect & also

for such other women around.

THE HR REVISTA

31 | P a g e

ENTREPRENEURAL LEAP- ASHLESHA PAREKH, Senior MHRM

Before the 20th century women

were operating business as a

way of supplementing income or

in many cases they were simply

trying to avoid poverty &

making up for the loss of a

spouse. People think that

entrepreneur term was only

reserved for men. But now a

day, more & more women are

taking up entrepreneurial

activity because it was a more

acceptable idea to society.

Women entrepreneurship is

seen as an effective strategy to

solve the problems of rural &

urban poverty.

Rural women can be

encouraged to start cottage

industries. Rural based micro

enterprises have been

encouraged by the government

by various schemes such as

integrated rural development

program, training of rural youth

for self-employment &

development of women &

children in rural areas. The aim

is to remove poverty through

entrepreneurial programs.

So now day’s women are

overtaking their male peers. But

still there are no. of challenges

& obstacles that female

entrepreneurs face. One major

challenge that many women

entrepreneur may face is the

traditional gender-role society

may still have on women.

Another challenge is that they

don’t have family support &

lower personal financial assets.

A glass ceiling is perhaps still

very prevalent within

organisations, so they cannot go

beyond certain level either they

have ability or not.

Although, over the years women

in India have struggled to

establish an identity & create a

mark in the social as well as in

the organisational platforms,

educational institutions training

more & more women to enter

THE HR REVISTA

32 | P a g e

professional careers, have

drastically changed the

scenario. Even women can a

good manager compare to men.

We can easily see this by taking

an example like woman can

manage their office with their

home. She can easily handle all

responsibility of home while

working. She also manages the

finance of the family in a very

professional manner. As women

has a more convincing power

than man, more patience than

man, more polite than man even

in communication field a women

is better than a man, so we can

say that a woman can be a good

manager.

Women are also good at

multitasking or good at

managing things; women have

qualities like leadership,

interpersonal skills, confidence,

communication skills, and

leadership skills. In fact, female

employment in India on the

whole, has increased by 3.6%

p.a. you all will be very glad to

hear that women today are not

less than men in each & every

field. They are among the most

powerful CEO’s, executives,

HR’s, Managing directors like

Chanda Kochhar of ICICI bank.

She recently awarded as 3rd

world strongest women. Also we

can find many more women

managers like Rani Lakshmibai,

Kalpana Chawala, Pratibha Patil

& Indira Gandhi who have

managed the country so well.

Thus, women have proved over

& over again that they are not

only good at managing their

home but they can also manage

an organization very well.

THE HR REVISTA

33 | P a g e

HOMECOMING – ADITYA 2014

he MHRM Alumni Association and students of current MHRM

and DHRM batch organises its bi-annual alumni meet

"Aditya". Aditya provides a wonderful opportunity to rekindle

old memories amongst the alumni, re-calling the heydays at MHRM

course and bringing the MHRM community of alumni, students and

faculty members together.

The meet witnesses a variety of events like lecture and discourses by

the alumni and cultural programmes. The alumni also shares their

stories with the students and provide invaluable inputs to the

upcoming HR fraternity. The programme will be followed by cultural

programmes and a dinner hosted for the alumni, students and faculty

members.

This year MHRM Alumni Association and Current batch students of

HRM have planned to organise the Gala Event of HRM alumni reunion

“Aditya – 2014”. Detail information and schedule will be announced

shortly.

Let’s reunite, recreate, and celebrate….

T

THE HR REVISTA

34 | P a g e

HR UPDATES

THE HR REVISTA

35 | P a g e

HR UPDATES