Fair Speak at Work

Srimathi Shivashankar is Associate Vice President – Diversity & Sustainability Office HCL Technologies Ltd. 

To my mind, gender-neutral organizations are essentially those that support a greater number of avenues which can translate to fulfilling careers for women. Moreover, such organizations are genuinely inspired by gender balance imperatives and champion transparency in the decision-making process.

Also for me, an organization qualifies as gender-sensitive when it provides ample opportunities for women to network both within the organization as well as outside in the business ecosystem. It is not enough for organizations to merely take a stand on gender equality. Women themselves have to be assertive in terms of their rights and prospects at the workplace. They need to ascertain their unique skills and aptitudes and be clear about their professional goals and expectations. This clarity will help them determine the exact support they require from the organization and enable them to be more convincing and assertive.

A pertinent and overarching concern within the ambit of gender equality is rebalancing 21st century workplaces for sustainability. Addressing this concern, the diversity and sustainability team at HCL Technologies recently concluded a conference in New Delhi. It served as a discussion and perspective-sharing forum for building gender-balanced workforces in the 21st century for leading professionals across industry, government and media. Discussion highlights included: How companies can rebalance their existing workplaces by improving gender ratios across hierarchies and organizational roles, and what key sustainable programmes can be implemented within the next 5-10 years? We intend to take the learnings to support the work of the World Economic Forum's Women Leaders and Gender Parity Programme.