The HR Revista is a quarterly e-magazine published by the MHRM students and Alumni forum of Faculty of Social Work, The Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara

1. FACULTY OF SOCIAL WORK
THE MAHARAJA SAYAJIRAO UNIVERSITY OF BARODA
WOMEN’S STANDING
IN HR PROFESSION

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TABLE OF CONTENT
Editor’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

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EDITOR’S NOTE
DEAR 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!

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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

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OUR TEAM
Chintan Trivedi,
Executive HR,
TOTO India Pvt Ltd
Dipesh Patel, Sr MHRM
Faculty of Social Work
Dipali Rathod, Sr
MHRM
Faculty of Social Work
Mansi Davda, Sr
MHRM
Faculty of Social Work
Manish Thapliyal, Sr
MHRM
Faculty of Social Work
Setu Soni, Sr MHRM
Faculty of Social Work
Tejas Dubey, Sr MHRM
Faculty of Social Work

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COVER STORY
ONE 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!

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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.

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MARRIED TO PROFESSION….BEYOND THE
YEARS
CASTING HER
- Priya Murad
Deepak 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.
D Behind any successful Women
is an, Enormous pile of
unwashed laundry.
- Barbara Dale

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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.

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 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....!!!!!!

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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: Can
women reach the top of America’s largest corporations? USA: Perseus
Publishing
Paul, A. (2012). “Why do Indian women managers find it difficult to
break the glass ceiling in top management?” available on
http://www.4psbusinessandmarketing.com/pw/pw-
story.asp?s_id=79&pageno=1
Risper Enid Kiaye, Anesh Maniraj Singh, (2013) "The glass ceiling: a
perspective of women working in Durban", Gender in Management: An
International Journal, Vol. 28 Iss: 1, pp.28 - 42

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ALUMNI’s TALK
Mrs. Amita Jaspal, CEO, Baroda Management
Association
1. What do you think where women stand in today’s HR
profession?
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 last
one 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

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3. What do you think, is there any obstacle
for 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 gender
discrimination 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 much
you 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!

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

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STUDENT’s SPEAK
WHY WORKING WOMEN IN INDIA LEAVE THE
WORKFORCE??
 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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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THE PRESENT
SCENARIO
- 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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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HR UPDATES

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HR UPDATES