Gender diversity has become the mantra for an organization’s productivity and success in the past few decades. Several domains that were once biased and considered suitable for only men have embraced diversity, witnessing women folk entering them without hesitation. Aspirations of women are soaring high, and both in the corporate and non-corporate world, there is a significant number of women in mid-management, and statistics back this claim.

Having established this, it is also vital to look at the diversity statistics, i.e., the number of women in high-level management and board rooms. Unfortunately, gender diversity in the top management in any field, be it in politics, corporate, manufacturing, or even the civil services, is not convincing. There is a bias, a glass ceiling, that stops women from realizing their true potential in the higher levels of management.

India is ranked at 140 in the global gender rank report, considering its cultural diversity, diverse population, and gender. This conveys an undeniable message that despite several sectors welcoming and encouraging women to seek career opportunities with them, there exists a glass ceiling. There may not be explicit biases towards women in organizations, especially at management levels, but they are prevalent in several subtle ways.

In discussion with Viji Hari, CEO of CecureUs, in light of Womens’ Day and to break the bias in the organizations, IAS officer, Priyadarshini Bhattacharya, currently serving in West Bengal, Bipin Reghunathan, Vice President of DHL supply chain in India, and Ms. Siji Varghese, founder of ‘Leaders In Lipstick,’ have shared their invaluable inputs on,

• Different forms in which biases, the glass ceiling exists in various sectors,
• The importance and role of gender diversity across all levels of an organization, and
• How organizations can break the bias and shatter the invisible glass ceiling that hinders women from venturing into and taking up roles in top-level management.

Gender Bias – the starting point!

In Indian society, gender bias, the invisible glass ceiling, begins at home. For centuries, Indian households have been absorbed into notions that men are the primary breadwinners of the family and women are best suited for only some roles, with caring for the family being the predominant one. It had become next to impossible for society to see women in leadership and management roles and in positions of power, and even today, this clash of ego exists in several teams. This puts a cap on their aspirations from a very young age, offering just a handful of careers considered best-suited for women. The glass ceiling in the form of these regressive thoughts has made it challenging for women to venture into several fields. But thanks to the current widespread awareness about gender bias and the need for gender diversity in recent years, women can have much higher ambitions and career goals, shattering this glass ceiling.

Glass Ceiling in various sectors

In sectors like civil services, this glass ceiling, the biases at various levels are inconspicuous and subliminal. Statistics reveal that the average age at which women crack the UPSC exams is 26, while men, at 32. This clarifies that there is no lack of talent in women. But it also raises a question as to why gender diversity in management and administrative departments is not up to the mark. Right from the preparatory stage, there is a substantial bias regarding sending women away from home for coaching, their training programs and placements happening far away from home, the insecurities of the family members about women interacting with their male educators, their prospect of embracing a marital status being delayed, not having time to care for the family, etc.

This is true with women who aspire to have careers in aviation, automobile, manufacturing, and a few other male-dominated sectors, although the past decade has witnessed an increased number of women entering the manufacturing and supply chain sectors. In retrospect, these industries remain male-dominated partly because women are not passionate about having careers in these fields. And the only way to bring in gender diversity in these sectors is to provide a courteous and respectful working environment with benefits for achieving work-life balance and exciting roles for women.

Women and leadership

For women to take up leadership roles and excel in them, there is an immediate need to shatter the glass ceiling. The existing biases need to be nipped in the bud. Organizations must nurture a work culture enriched with diversity, where talent is valued over gender. Women bring perspectives and balance into organizations, and those organizations that value women power and talent have achieved excellence and promising results, simultaneously tapping a diverse customer base.

Tips to organizations for breaking the glass ceiling across all levels of the corporate ladder

To shatter the glass ceiling and provide opportunities for women to be on par with their male counterparts, every organization should embrace diversity and bring about a few changes in its policies and practices.

• Offer special training programs for women leaders in mid-management to shed their inhibition and apprehensions about management roles and realize their true potential to climb to the top of the corporate ladder.
• Remove names of applicants from CVs to cater to a gender bias-free hiring process that values merit and talent.
• Paid leave for women to focus on family and children.
• Employ women in challenging management roles and provide assistance for women-folk to sail through such positions and operate with ease.
• Train employees to follow the chain of command irrespective of the leader’s gender.
• Offer flexible working hours for work-life balance and retain talent by allowing hybrid working modes.
• Women-friendly workspaces with day care/creche facilities to care for infants and toddlers.
• Provide medical assistance for women by employing doctors and nurses in the workplace.
• Intervention programs for women empowerment, training for financial management, and independence.
• Motivational talks and training by existing women leaders to shatter the glass ceiling, inspire and pave the way for more upcoming leaders.
• Create a nurturing work environment by implementing Diversity and Inclusion across all organizational levels.
• Bring cognizance in the entire organization of the benefits of having a diverse work culture.
• Implement PoSH laws and strict measures against sexual harassment to cater to a safe work environment.

What can families do to break the bias and bridge the gender gap?

The change to shatter the glass ceiling must begin at home. Families must embrace progressive thoughts and let go of the bias about women being the weaker gender.

• Nurture and support the ambitions of young girls.
• Introduce girls to various management professions and allow them to choose their careers.
• Ensure that marriage and child-rearing do not stop women from letting their careers take a back seat.
• Allow daughters and daughters-in-law to pursue studies, irrespective of family commitments and age.
• Ensure men of the house share the family responsibilities and workload so that women are not overburdened or overwhelmed by multitasking.
• Value women’s inputs on the financial and other family responsibilities.
• Allow women to step out of their comfort zones, find a mentor for themselves, and pave the path to shape their careers and families.

Bridging the gender gap, breaking the glass ceiling, and achieving gender diversity in every possible sector is a dream that cannot be achieved overnight. However, with every measure implemented at familial and organizational levels, we, as a society, are taking one step closer to a bias-free future! This Women’s Day, let us take a pledge to gift women in our lives a bias-free and safe society. Cheers!

For more blogs and articles, visit our official website. Contact us for workshops and queries related to POSH, EAP(Employee Assistance Program,) and Diversity and Inclusion.

Traditional manufacturing setups make it challenging for women to consider careers in these fields. For decades, the stereotypical guise created by male prominence, long working hours and shifts, manual labour, and not-so-friendly or dangerous shop floor had made these fields a less considered option among women. Industries such as manufacturing, automobile, engineering, mining, etc., offered lesser pay and benefits than other women-friendly sectors. Thus, generations of women had apprehensions about having a stable career and growth in these industries.

However, the past few years have witnessed a complete revamp in the manufacturing and automobile sector. Today, the industries have evolved to be multifarious to such an extent that it requires diverse skill sets from men and women. The concept of diversity and inclusion has taken roots, and several companies across the globe have created women-friendly workspaces, attracting women to these industries.

Forging the path forward for diversity and inclusion in their industries are organisations like ABB, Hindustan Zinc, Daimler India, and Tata Steel, which serve as front-runners. ABB, a well-known technology and automation services company, increased its gender statistics to 14% in 2020 by imbibing a shift in its thought process throughout the organisation. They assigned specific roles for women employees to create visibility and ownership of agenda to top-level management using D&I councils.

Manufacturing major Kirloskar Brothers Limited set up an all-women unit in Karumathampatti, near Coimbatore, with 204 employees on the shop floor. They provide facilities for women employees, including transportation, creche, and opportunities for young women with learning disabilities. They also offer better HR policies like extended sabbatical post-maternity leave. Forward-thinking on their part has enabled women to constitute 7% of their overall employee strength.

Tata Steele, a pioneer industry house of our country, has an ambitious target to have women constitute 25% of their workforce by 2025 from 17% in 2018. Towards this mighty goal, Tata Steel has implemented people-friendly and robust HR programs/ policies like a 5-day work week, menstrual leave, adoption leave, satellite office operation, and Take2 for women in need of career break. They have made special facilities for women like creche, canteen, lady doctors, CCTV surveillance system, deployment of women security guards for women’s safety. Carrying the Tata name’s legacy forward are their D&I activities with a specific focus on tribal communities, people with disabilities, training employees to be sensitive to the needs of the LGBTQ community.

The automobile sector can boast of another D&I champion – Jaguar Land Rover. It has increased its female employees by 34%. Their women managers have increased from 17% in 2017 to 19% in 2020. Adding to this positive trend, they shine a light on women students through Young Women in the Know initiative for female students aged 15 to 18 by introducing them to the engineering and advanced manufacturing sector. Jaguar’s School Education Program aims to increase female students’ engagement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) subjects. Furthering Futures course, a week-long career immersion program is aimed to encourage young women to seek engineering careers.

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles aims to have women comprise 20% of their workforce by 2022. Aiding this lofty goal are their initiatives like hiring and deploying more women for shop-floor operations like engine and transmission, cab trim, and quality management as a part of the ‘DiveIN’ initiative. They provide suitable infrastructure for women, including changing rooms and washrooms. Its basic amenities like these make women employees feel heard and included. By offering comprehensive training for women on safety, firefighting, basic tool handling, communication skills, and health and hygiene, Daimler enhances workplace policies and measures, including the speedy grievance redressal system, gender sensitisation training, and the POSH (Prevention Of Sexual Harassment) for the safety and security of women.

The mining industry, traditionally thought of as manual labour intensive and unsafe, has beacons like Hindustan Zinc that aspire to have 30% of their employee base comprise women by 2025. This is applaudable, but they also ensure this is achievable by setting up women councils to identify women’s talent and groom more women to take up front-end operational and leadership roles. The organisation identifies and assigns senior leaders to guide women leaders and recruit more entry-level women engineers. By setting up facilities for women at the workplace, including women-friendly restrooms at every mining site, they achieve their target step-by-step.

A mammoth manufacturing label, Ashok Leyland has increased entry-level women’s participation by 35%. The initiatives by industry big-wigs set standards and show other companies that notions of diversity and inclusion contribute to progress in every aspect and give rise to sustainability and cross-functional teams. Ashok Leyland’s Intentional Talent Development introduces women leaders programs at higher levels and personal effectiveness programs at junior and mid-levels that include live projects, mentoring by leaders, learning labs, etc., to help women climb the leadership ladder increase the ratio of women leaders in the organization. Their Engagement through Enabling environment empowers women and boosts their self-esteem via the internal networking platform Shristi.

By conducting POSH awareness and training through classroom activities and online modules, the safety of women employees is emphasized, and gender sensitization is achieved. As part of their inclusive offerings, the organisation provides 6 months of maternity leave, paternity leave, adoption leave, flexible working hours for women undergoing pregnancy, special travel policy, etc. A feather on their cap is their Blessing Scheme, a unique scheme in their Pantnagar plant where a women’s hostel has been set up on the campus. This has helped achieve a women’s employment ratio of 22%.

All this is but a drop in the ocean of Diversity and Inclusion. From a mere 10%, the number of women employees in the manufacturing field has grown to 30%, which is remarkable. However, this number also indicates that gender disparity is still prevalent. Women represent the largest pool of untapped talent for manufacturers. Women have greatly influenced various sectors, including manufacturing/automobile companies, where women in lead roles have seen tremendous progress, better financial operations, positive work culture, and innovations. Gender diversity is the way forward, as bridging the gender gap by employing more women in the manufacturing and automobile industries is the key for businesses to grow and augment. It is high time more manufacturing/automobile industries implement women-friendly policies and switch to contemporary technologies to offer promising careers to womenfolk and bridge the gender gap.

For more blogs and articles, visit our official website. Contact us by writing to connect@cecureus.com for workshops and queries related to POSH, EAP(Employee Assistance Program,) and Diversity and Inclusion.

References

Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4

Tara was a new employee in an organization. Belonging to a humble background from a tier two city, she was apprehensive about joining a corporate firm in a metropolitan. Despite her talents, she had an inherent feeling that her opinions may not be valued by her team. However, during induction, the employer had made her undergo a training session on Inclusive diversity in the workplace. The concept of Inclusive diversity was an eye-opener for her, changing her viewpoints about the corporate workplace. The detailed session on the impacts of bias in the workplace, types of subtle biases and the need for inclusive diversity, and the stringent protocols of the organization and actions against conscious and unconscious biases in the workplace gave her the much-needed boost to settle comfortably in her new organization.

Here are a few details on how workplace biases impact the workforce in an organization.

What is unconscious bias?

Bias is an inclination, opinion, notion, or feeling that is preconceived. Bias influences a person’s judgment for or against an idea, an individual, an object, a group, or other entities. Biases are, in most cases, learned over time, abetted by several variables like ethnicity, gender, race, socio-economic status, etc.

Stereotyping and discriminating are the most common forms of biases, and it is safe to say that all of us are guilty of having indulged in both, albeit unconsciously. It is precisely why these biases are predominantly known as unconscious bias.

Organizations are rampant with unconscious biases, and as Employers or HRs, the onus of identifying, recognizing, and weeding out biases that plague our everyday functioning in the workplace falls on us. For this, organizations must first be aware of the different biases persistent in our workplace, creating a visible or an invisible hostile work environment.

What are the most common biases in a workplace that employers must be aware of?

Gender Bias:

Gender stereotyping happens to be the most prevalent workplace bias, with women being at the receiving end much more than men. Despite the potential that women employees in organizations have exhibited over the decades, according to the Gender Gap Index 2020, the gender wage gap is at 19%, with men earning more than women for the same roles and responsibilities.

From hiring to promotions, women representatives on the executive board, or landing competent roles, women constantly face glass ceilings even though they work as hard as their male counterparts. This creates a significant impact on women, acting as a demotivating factor and, in several cases, forcing them to quit the workforce altogether. Employers must be inclusive of women, identify and eradicate gender bias in the organization by recognizing and promoting talent, and keeping the pay scales on par with the male workforce to pave the way for Inclusive diversity.

Age Bias:

Our workplaces include employees spanning several generations, each having their own misconceptions about how a person of a different age group may react to situations. With the current employee base spanning Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y (popularly known as Millennials,) the need to accommodate and help them co-exist is a true challenge for the HR fraternity.

Age is no longer a criterion for success and leadership capabilities, and senior co-workers feel threatened when younger employees take over newer roles and leadership, while the younger workforce feels restricted by the staunch rules set up by the seniors in the organization. Age-related biases largely influence decision-making, causing resentment and employee turnover across levels. Frequent sessions on inclusive diversity must be mandated by the employer to reduce this impact and yank the idea of age bias for employees of diverse ages to contribute their part to the smooth functioning of the team.

Socio-cultural bias:

Stereotyping and discrimination based on caste, religion, color, language, geopolitical origins, and economic status have been a bane of society for the longest time, and they impact our workplaces, causing significant conflicts. These biases would eventually tear apart our organization, undermine potential employees, affect the mental well-being of employees, and lead to dissatisfied employees. Employers must precisely know where that impact will lead to high employee turnover costs and reduction in productivity. Therefore, employers must mandate Inclusive diversity sessions and workshops to sensitize employees on the negative impact of socio-cultural biases and the actions taken against those who discriminate against their colleagues.

Sexual Orientation Bias:

Individuals from the LGBTQ+ community are still wary of coming out to their colleagues and employers, fearing retaliation, ridicule, and a threat to their jobs.

With our laws changing and employers implementing diversity by hiring people based on pure talent and becoming more inclusive slowly and steadily, the attitude towards individuals from the LGBTQ+ community is still disheartening. Workplaces are constantly striving to reach diversity numbers to rival their competitors, but as employers, how much are we working on building inclusive workplaces? To recognize talent from the LGBTQ+ community and become more inclusive, employers must retort to inclusive diversity workshops for all employees.

Biases toward the Differently abled:

Employers in organizations consciously include differently-abled individuals into their workforce to implement diversity. However, it is their treatment post-hiring that truly sets workplaces apart. Are the teams inclusive of them? They think twice before willingly accepting differently-abled employees into their folds. These employees end up working more to prove themselves, and while many have successfully broken-down barriers and outshone their physical disadvantages, a lot more get disheartened by the day due to the discrimination they face while being considered for roles and projects.

Organizations must work on inclusive policies that reduce this impact and help differently-abled employees feel that they truly belong and not feel like they are just a number to fulfil the diversity goals. Inclusive diversity workshops are the key to achieving this.

Impacts of Bias at work:

As Employers and the HR fraternity, we need to help our workforce collectively unlearn the biases they have learned over time as a society and frame cultures that are enriched with inclusive diversity.

Biases can become the undoing of our organizations in the long term, with an increase in frustrated employees, unused potential, dissatisfied employees, and overtime customers. Biases can create an environment of discord and hostility in an organization, making way for an unsafe workplace.

The need to build systems that facilitate inclusive diversity and ensure sensitivity and a sense of security among employees is at an all-time high. The only true differentiator, if at all, must be the potential and talents that each individual embodies in our organization.

For more on Biases and how to reduce them, click here https://cecureus.com/7-steps-to-reduce-workplace-biases-that-you-could-start-off-with-right-away/

To know more about our Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH), Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D,E&I) and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) solutions do write to us at connect@cecureus.com or call us at +91-7200500221