 Ms. Leena Nair, Executive Director – Human Resources, Hindustan Unilever Limited, has recently taken over as the Global Champion for Diversity for Unilever worldwide. Even as she inaugurated SEGUE SESSIONS – Mumbai edition, Ms. Nair provided the ideal corporate perspective of a high-performing, innovative organization that seeks to engage with every available talent pool in its pursuit of growth. Platinum sponsors to SEGUE SESSIONS – India’s first large-format skill-building initiative for women, HUL also runs ‘Career By Choice’ a special career track for returning women professionals. In an exclusive interview to The Power of Change, Ms. Nair speaks about what it means to organizations to engage with women, especially an FMCG company like Unilever. Power of Change (POC): How did you find the SEGUE SESSIONS? Ms. Nair: I felt that the sessions were very inspiring. It is fantastic to see so many women wanting re-engagement of careers and seeking to reenter the work force. For companies like ours which are always looking for great talent , this is music to our ears – women wanting to reengage with the corporate world. I was personally inspired to see the energy, the passion the skills that we have in second career women who have worked for many years in senior positions and are now looking to come back into the workplace. POC: It is estimated that about 1.5 million Indian women have taken a break and are seeking career re-entry. How do you think India Inc today can engage with returning women managers ? Ms. Nair: I think it is important for both corporates and women to realize that taking a break is a normal part of a women’s professional career. In fact research both Indian and International shows that almost 40 to 50 % of women do take a break in their career, either for short periods or long periods. It is for India Inc to create ways in which women who are in break can come back to corporate world because these are highly talented women and 3,4,5 years of a break in a career spanning 30, 40 years is not such a big deal. It is but a small part of life in ones’ career! POC: Could you share with us some of Unilever’s initiatives around engaging women professionals? Ms. Nair: HUL has done a whole lot of things. We have flexible work timings for men and women, we have introduced a number of flexible policies, we have announced the program ‘Career By Choice’ which is a specific program targeted at the million plus women who sit at home in India and who are seeking to come back to careers. CBC allows women to do business projects on flexible hours and get guided by senior people in the company to refresh their skills. We have also created day care centers around offices so that women and men feel comfortable about bringing children at the workplace. POC: From a corporate point of view what do you think an event like The SEGUE SESSIONS has achieved today ? Ms. Nair: I think the SEGUE SESSIONS have lead to great inspiration. Women who participated here today realized that there are many like them out of the corporate world and who make that choice to balance their lives. And it gives them confidence when they see progressive corporations like HUL partnering with them to make that journey back. I think these sessions are hugely value adding and the women in the audience will go back inspired at the end of the day believing they can make this work. |
Interview with Ms. Leena Nair, Executive Director – HR, Hindustan Unilever Limited
May 17th, 2012Employee Engagement – A Challenge for the HR Today !
May 17th, 2012‘HRM’ trend 2012 would be ‘Social’. According to Bersin’s report, there would be an exploding social recruitment, social performance and career management, social learning and social awards & recognition. The year ahead sees a new trend towards employee engagement.
An employee’s positive engagement in workplace is very crucial for the organization’s growth. And it’s very challenging for the Talent Managers today to keep the employees engaged for maximum output. Talent managers’ challenge lies in keeping the employees engaged with effective one -to- one relationships and interesting activities for a friendly work culture by engaging interesting training and workshop sessions for more involvement and productivity outcome from the employees. HR managers role play as a mentor, a friend and a well wisher will see new dimensions.
A HR manager as a mentor will help any employee to get involved in the job for maximum satisfaction with the available resources from the company. As a friend he/she will make any employee feel at home sharing about any personal or official issues which hampers their commitment to the work. Also as a well wisher, he/she will wholeheartedly wish for any employee’s personal growth in the company. The latest trend would educate the employees on:
- What work they are doing and why they are doing that work.
- About diversified work culture.
- Their real potential and interest.
- To work effectively in a team.
- To set their realistic goals on their own to match the goals set by the company
The team managers role is the highlight: Be ‘Social’
- Purpose of their existence
- Organizing group discussions and team building skill training programs
- Arranging for soft skills training programs to express potentials better.
- Setting up of realistic achievement of goals.
- Spending lot of time with team members to engage them actively in their work
Actively engaged employees contribute to the profit of the company. They also make the working environment healthy.
The 2012 Trend would be focusing on new training methodologies which best suits the working culture of any organization. For example: – IBM schedules a year-round technical conferences for their employees, to gather knowledge on the latest technologies. They offer up to 900 courses in 28 technology areas. Companies can involve third party faculties or in-house trainers to conduct the workshops.
More ‘Fun At Work and Socializing’ in 2012. Organizations like Tata Chemicals initiate fun and camaraderie at work place to motivate and engage employees. At Tata Elxsi ” we don’t just provide a job. We appreciate and honor commitment. We nurture families. We build individual success. We increase your self worth. ” says a proud HR professional. Apart from work they emphasis on the ‘ fun’ part like giving importance to extracurricular activities . The company conducts annual Sports Day, organizes Cultural Day and celebrates all Festivals. All the events are enjoyed immensely by employees by showcasing their inner talents like singing, dancing , mimicry and dramatics. Such activities enhances communication among employees and there is more employee engagement. In addition to fun at work and training programs, the year ahead would be also be focusing on timely promotions and appraisals for effective employee engagement. Companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro for employee engagement plan out for lucrative varying payouts, promotions and moderate salary hikes.
With no support, women in IT sector call it quits
May 9th, 2012“The IT sector has become highly competitive. I used to work late into the night or be at office on Saturdays. I didn’t want to work long hours in a city like Mumbai where the commute is longer than in Chennai,” says Dinesh. Many women are calling it a day in the IT industry due to work pressure and lack of support when they want to relocate or raise children. The attrition rate is such that only one in every 10 senior management positions is occupied by a woman, says a recent survey.
In IT companies, where more than a quarter of the workforce consists of women, in 2011, only 3% occupied senior roles, 16% were at mid-management level, with 81% remaining at the junior rung, as per a report by global recruitment firm, Kelly Services.
“The biggest reason for women leaving the industry is the life-cycle of an IT professional,” says Soundarya Rajesh, founder-president, AVTAR Career Creators, an HR consultancy specialising in flexi-timing careers for women. “Growth means that you move into client-facing roles. And if this coincides with your biological breaks, then there is no choice but to drop off, since client-facing roles are the toughest,” says Rajesh.
Back in the early 2000s, a number of women graduates got into IT, attracted by the money and the new work culture that promised to be supportive. The scene changed despite flexi-timings, e-working and telecommuting options. “The industry places a high demand on the currency of skills. When women take a break, they have to constantly update their skills,” says Rajesh. So they move to other industries such as banking, telecom and insurance that have learnt to engage with women by offering mentors, a strong anti-sexual harassment policy and flexible hours.
Meenakshi Arul (name changed), who has been working out of home with an IT firm for more than 10 years, says she had to make compromises in her designation and compensation. She quit a managerial role after she had two children in quick succession. “Now I don’t have the hassles of managing a team,” says Arul. But apart from motivating herself to work from home, she has to show greater commitment.
“When it comes to filling senior vacancies, commitment to the job is critical,” says E Balaji, managing director and chief executive officer, Ma Foi Randstand, a manpower consultancy.
This is where the cost of taking a break becomes too high. “While other industries can overlook breaks up to five years, IT seeks an investment of time before one can be ready for work,” says Rajesh. So if the industry doesn’t help women to bring down her responsibilities, there is no option but to quit.
Article Courtesy:
SEGUE SESSIONS 2012: Bengaluru Edition
April 23rd, 2012
270 aspiring women returnees, with an average experience of 5 plus years, gathered at the Bangalore Segue Sessions 2012 edition, to re-ignite their second career. Each participant entered the hall with a lot of expectations, anticipation and curiosity at what will unfold at the day long program for career comeback women. The look in their eyes spoke “Is this the moment that I was waiting for? Will this event be the changing point in my life?” and as if answering their query Ms.Sandhya Vasudevan, Managing Director, DBOI Global Services, Deutsche Bank Group in her inaugural address expressed “Make use of your role model’s stories and become a role model for someone else…..” A true role model herself, Ms. Vasudevan has been inspiring the participants in all the 3 SEGUE SESSIONS – Chennai, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Ms. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President of AVTAR Career Creators and FLEXI Careers India welcomed the participants, speakers and sponsoring organizations. Ms. Rajesh who has been instrumental in identifying the huge potential of this talent pool shared her own story of how she took a break for over 6 years when she was searching for a part-time or a flexi-time job. According to a study by AVTAR, there are about 1.5 million women in the metros and sub metros looking out for a successful career reentry. India’s first large format skill building program- Segue Sessions was conceived with a vision to reach out to this large audience of women professionals to fulfill this need – providing a platform to learn from top-ranked experts on skills essential to make a career comeback.
Inaugurating the Bengaluru Session, Ms. Sandhya Vasudevan encouraged the participants to be confident with her 3 point guideline for seeking career re-entry – 1) Understand that corporates want you – so don’t be apologetic about your break. 2) Decide what your priorities and choices are and make your career decisions accordingly and 3) Network not just for the social aspect, but for professional results. Ms. Vasudevan eptimozes the corporate intent to bringing them back to work. The 3 Sessions has witnessed corporate participation from across Industries –Deutsche Bank Group, IBM, Genpact, MphasiS, Siemens, PepsiCo India, CavinKare, Hindustan Unilever Limited, HCL, Accenture, Kraft Foods, IFB, Scope International, Standard Chartered Bank, Club Mahindra, CapGemini, and Marico. The fact that DBOI was represented by their Head of Diversity, Head of Talent Acquisition and Bengaluru Site Director conveyed the seriousness of that intent.
Ms. Lula Mohanty’s (VP, GBS, Global Delivery Business, IBM India and South Asia) inspiring speech made her a role model for many. In her keynote address she presented a wonderful word-picture of her childhood and early years and how it impacted her as a woman professional and leader. “I think this is a very relevant program today for women. It is timely and is the right intervention between corporates wanting to get women back and women aspiring for jobs.” she said sharing her views about the event. Stressing on the ‘Me Vs We balance’, Ms. Mohanty urged every woman in the audience to practice discipline and focus. “Success is not final and failure is not fatal, so have the right attitude”, she quipped.
The corporate panel discussion that followed the Inaugural Session discussed in detail the opportunities available to second career women and the challenges that need to be overcome to seamlessly integrate them back into the workplace. Ms. Priya Joshi, Vice President – HR, Accenture India, Ms. Sangita Joshi, Co-founder and Managing Partner of EmPower Research, a Genpact Company, Ms. Sarah Traynor, Head – Human Resources, Bangalore, ANZ, Dr. Meenu Bhambhani, Head – Corporate Social Responsibility, MphasiS an HP Company, and Mr. Sebi Chacko, Head – HR, South Asia, Thomson Reuters India Services Pvt Ltd had a lively discussion on India Inc’s need for women managers. The discussion touched on many key points to make woman’s career a sustainable one in organizations. The engrossing panel discussion was moderated by Ms. Priya Joshi of Accenture. The Q&A session in the panel discussion provide opportunity to participants to put forward their views, expectations and road blocks that they encounter during their comeback. For organizations, it gave them new perspectives to educate and sensitize their recruitment team in engaging with this talent pool. Ms. Priya Joshi espousing her learning’s from the event said “After the feedback that we heard from the Segue participants regarding their experiences with recruiters and interviewers, we have decided to introduce a specific segment in our interviewer training program to educate people on expected and appropriate behaviors in interaction with returning women and men. We should be ready to roll this out over the next couple of months”.
After a thought provoking panel discussion the first workshop on the topic “Networking for a Segue” went on floor with the speakers- Ms. Shoma Bakre, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of EmPower Research, GENPACT, Ms. Keerthana Mohan, Diversity & Inclusion Manager, Google, and Ms. Deepa Parthasarathy, Solutions Product Management Lead, Cisco. Ms. Keerthana Mohan moderated the workshop ably, which ended on these vital points 1. Cultivate sustainable hobbies and make use of the power of networking which is immense. – Ms.Shoma Bakre, 2. Pick up the phone and make cold calls to Organizations. So what if you are on a break and don’t have a corporate visiting card? Print personal business cards for yourself which is an abbreviated resume of your skill sets. Use this to network - Ms. Deepa Parthasarthy. The session broke off for lunch by the pool side and it provided an excellent ambiance for the participants to network and chat with the speakers.
The hall was quickly again packed with enthusiastic ladies after lunch for the 2nd workshop of the day on Managing Internal Stakeholders via New ways of working, Ms. Sunitha Lal, Senior Vice President & \Global Head – Talent Management and HR – ITO Core, MphasiS an HP company, Ms. Puja Kohli, Head – Talent Management and Organizational Development, CGI, and Ms. Vasanthi Hariprakash, Radio, TV Personality and Media Trainer were the participating speakers of this workshop. This workshop witnessed some valuable inputs from Ms. Sunitha Lal, who said “Be prepared and overcome the road blocks” The workshop energetically moderated by Ms. Puja Kohli ended at a lighter note from Ms. Vasanthi Hariprakash as she rendered an interesting speech which left the audience with smiles, and a laugh when she said “Be partially deaf to some of the not so important issues at home.”
The third and final workshop on Negotiating for a Win-Win earned good applause from the participants as the speakers Ms. Moushumi Bose, Director and Head of Diversity, DBOI Global Services, Deutsche Bank Group, Ms. Urmila Kulkarni, Head – HR, GSS GO DC – IN, Siemens Information Services Ltd., and Ms. Priya Gopalakrishnan, Director – Human Resources, ING Life Insurance India actually solved the various issues on negotiations which cropped up in the minds of the participants. The session had some important points to be noted “What is your walk away point in any discussion or conversation?” asked Ms. Moushumi Bose. Ms. Gopalakrishnan further remarked on the importance of negotiation when she shared her negotiating chapters of her life, “I took 2 breaks in my career and both times I negotiated to get back in. It’s easy if you know what you bring to the table very clearly”
The workshops gave way to a free-wheeling chat on “Where do we go from here”. The Chat between the participants and the corporate sponsors was facilitated by Ms. Rajesh who also addressed many queries on this subject. Colonel Sanjay Mishra from Genpact, Ms. Sunitha Lal from MphasiS and Ms. Moushumi Bose from DBOI represented their companies to present the opportunities available within their organisations. The participants got the chance to submit their resume and explore openings with the recruitment team in the Kiosk provided to the sponsors.
The SESSION ended with a vote of thanks from Sangeetha Rao, Ascent, Times of India.
The SEGUE SESSIONS provided an excellent opportunity for women to network with the speakers, corporate representatives and other participants to explore potential opportunities. “A very self-introspecting energetic and useful session. The event has definitely helped me in thinking in the direction of how I can equip and develop my skill sets with the expectation of the industry while looking for the opportunities” said Alka Agrawal, one of the participants at the SEGUE SESSIONS. “A great thank you to Ms. Saundarya Rajesh & her team for taking this up and putting up so much of time and effort in organizing this event for women. The Segue Sessions is itself a great concept and then actually making it happen for women is an even greater thing. I definitely benefited from it” voiced Sneha Jain. To sum up in the words of Divya, “It’s a very good initiative taken by AVTAR I-WIN, who gave me a good platform to re-discover myself ie., my strength & weakness and a way/path that I can go from here.”
More such sessions are planned for Gurgaon, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Pune. For sponsorship and speaking opportunities, please contact Karthik Ekambaram at ek@avtarcc.com or on at 9840725333.
Women Achievers Award From FICCI FLO
April 21st, 2012
March 20th 2012, a delightful day for three beautiful women achievers in diverse fields, dawned to celebrate the victory earned by them through hard work sincerity and passion. The evening at The Park Hotel was packed with smart and beautiful ladies to witness the award function to these women achievers – Dr. Nalini Krishnan- outstanding service in medical field, Ms.Saundarya Rajesh – Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur of the year 2012 and Ms.Neerja Malik – exemplary care to Cancer survivors. The awards were presented by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and FLO.
FLO was established in 1983, as a division of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry (FICCI) which is the apex body of industry and commerce in India. As an All India Organisation for women, FLO has chapters in Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hydrabad, Jaipur, Guwahati and Kolkata with its head office in Delhi. The members comprise of entrepreneurs, professionals and Corporate Executives.The primary objective of FLO is to promote entrepreneurship and professional excellence in women.. The function was presided over by Ms.Shalini Biswajit, the chairperson of the Chennai chapter. She said ” The three awardees are a source of inspiration that propels us to scale new heights of eminence. They are the Women of today, harbingers of change and therefore in recognition of their part in changing lives, adding value to our lives and all those around us we applaud them for a job well done. As mentors and friends whose performance is a valuable contribution to society, we recognise their ethics, professionalism, and integrity and whose work helps the spread of cultural riches”.
The chief guest for this award function was Ms. Jennifer McIntyre – Consul General, US consulate General Chennai. Her speech was very inspiring and following her address all the three proud award winners were introduced well by prominent ladies from the association. Ms.Jennifer MacIntyre presented the awards – A citation and plaque to the three recipients.
The hall vibrated with claps when the award winners shared their experiences with the audience. The experiences shared by the awardees were inspiring, touching and thought- provoking. A great expenditure of time!
