India Inc takes baby steps to

bridge gender gap at workplace

Women and related issues in focus experts say still a long way to go
M Saraswathy | Mumbai January 20, 2013 Last Updated at 00:44 IST

Archana Dassani, a 34-year-old mid-level executive with a financial services company in

Mumbai, was annoyed with a senior executive who would often use indecent language and
make explicit remarks about her body. She decided to report this to the human resource
personnel in-charge of the harassment cell. But when she was informed that she needed to
make a formal complaint, she refused, arguing she did not want to spoil the career of her
senior colleague. Today, after a year, both of them still work in the same organisation.
Dassani is not alone. Scores of women in corporate offices in India either decide not to
complain about harassment and gender discrimination in workplace or prefer to quit to get
out of the situation.
Sexual harassment is not the only issue that women face in a corporate environment.
Gender discrimination, lack of equal opportunities and inferior treatment by colleagues are
some of the others. Though companies have started the process to hire more women,
human resource professionals opine it is still a long way to go before the gender gap is
bridged.

NOT A FAIR AFFAIR

Sexual harassment is not the only issue that

women face in a corporate environment. Gender
discrimination, lack of equal opportunities and
inferior treatment by colleagues are some of the
others

Maternity is a major issue that affects employers,

say experts

While there is a proposal to compulsorily have

woman on company boards, HR officials believe
this would only lead to further discrimination
against woman employees

A human resource consultant said women would be

discriminated against in terms of projects and
promotions if they joined a company based on a
quota and not on experience

Pre-conceived notions about assigning women

different posts is also a constraint, say recruiters

Aditya Narayan Mishra, president, staffing, Randstad India, said, We see an increase in
companies looking at implementing diversity, including gender diversity at the workplace.
However, it is a fact that opportunities tend to be more tilted towards males.
Maternity is a major issue that affects employers, say experts. While corporates have
introduced initiatives for women to re-join after their maternity leave is over, these have not
been very effective, said the experts. Companies, including ours, have put in place
systems wherein woman employees have been given an opportunity to come back and
work at a same level than their peers, post maternity leave. They are assessed based on
the performance before they go on leave. However, the woman executives themselves
choose to stay back at home, said the chief human resource officer of a FMCG firm.
The official added there was also a lack of respect for such employees who came back,
since other colleagues felt that they were out of touch with office work post their break. We
can only implement policies. Mindset of employees cannot be changed, the official added.
While there is a proposal to compulsorily have women on company boards, HR officials of
companies believe this would only lead to further discrimination against women employees.

A human resource consultant, on condition of anonymity, said women would be

discriminated against in terms of projects and promotions if they come to a company purely
based on a quota and not on experience.
Pre-conceived notions about assigning women different posts is also a constraint, say
recruiters. Explaining this, a consultant, specialising in manufacturing and engineering
sector recruitment, said some companies openly told them to find male candidates. It is not
just positions that are physically challenging, but others as well, since some companies
believe men might be more suited for these roles, he said.
This is, however, not the general trend. Yamaha, for example, has recently hired 200
woman for its plant in Uttar Pradesh for the assembly line of its new scooter Ray. The
women would also undergo an apprenticeship programme, which has been approved by the
state government.
To deal with sexual harassment cases, companies have set up cells to address such issues.
Though all such cases do not get reported to these cells, companies have attempted to
provide for the safety of woman employees. Overall, while women and woman-related
issues have been on the forefront of the corporate focus this year, recruiters believe much
more remains to be done.

Link:- http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/india-inc-takes-babysteps-to-bridge-gender-gap-at-workplace-113012000035_1.html