Women in the workplace: Check the attitude first

Much like the rest of the country, I too found myself bitten by the, Swachh Bharat campaign bug and hence found myself brandishing a nice, long-handled broom as I contributed to the cleaning of my neighbourhood. But the gleam and pride of the two-hour long cleanliness effort only lasted about an hour before the piles of garbage made a speedy comeback to reclaim their place in our streets. I said to myself: "Attitude needs to be cleaned before the street," and later that evening this captured my status on social websites, too.

Today as I pen down my thoughts about, "gender diversity and inclusion in corporate India", I can't find a better sentiment than my above Facebook status to describe, what I feel about the road ahead - attitude needs to be addressed first.

10 x 9 x 10; Any thoughts on why I switched gears to maths suddenly?

Simply decoded: this denotes that for the last ten workshops that I conducted as a corporate trainer on gender diversity and inclusion at leading corporate workplaces across the country, in situations where I asked for a glass of water, a woman participant got up to organise it or was asked to by a male colleague, for every nine times out of ten. And yes, I kept a tally.

Is it below a man's dignity to even organise a glass of water? Now, let me not be all that unfair too. If a male executive were to get up, wouldn't that look weak and unimportant or undermine his professional status and image? And lord forbid if his family finds out, won't it go against the fundamental blueprint of his upbringing?

Finally, why am I judging only the men? In most instances, some woman or the other instantly sprang to her feet without the request being specifically directed at her and did the needful; so why the fuss?

Am I just being tongue-in-cheek to create shock value about something trivial or is there really a thought that must be given to the fact, that if there is stereotyping at this micro-level - what hope is there for larger attempts at creating long-lasting and meaningfully inclusive work cultures?

So to address the larger issue, we will put in place certain policies; we will conduct workshops; and yes, we will dedicate days to the "diversity and inclusion" fad only to flaunt it in our annual reports and corporate brochures a little later. But will we really generate a wave that will ensure sustainability measures to create a new inclusive world, in the real sense?

Before we sink into the bottomless pit of cynicism, let me here cite an instance from the NASSCOM-Interweave report, titled, "Towards an Inclusive Workplace", published in 2010; where Air France recognised the attitudinal challenge of a strong gender bias among high school students; and collaborated with the ministry of education to come up with a drive that encouraged boys to think of taking up traditionally female oriented jobs (retailers, flight attendants) and girls to look at more traditionally male dominated jobs (pilots and mechanics).

This I believe genuinely endeavoured to detoxify the attitude from its roots.

Why cross the seven seas? According to the same NASSCOM-Interweave report, Tata Steel through its initiative called Project Tejaswini trained and motivated women employed in roles such as sweeping and moping; to switch to non-conventional roles such as driving for ambulances, forklifts and even security trucks.

This was not a one-time event but a long-term commitment that has seen these women not only stay true to these new roles but also hold records for accident-free driving and doubling their earlier wages. The innovative strategy brought about a transformational change in the attitude and not just in the immediate situation.

With the New Companies Act of 2013 making it mandatory for all companies in India with a minimum paid up capital of Rs 100 crore, or an annual turnover of Rs 300 crore, to appoint a woman on their board, India Inc is getting serious about "diversity". Eventually, the cultural values of any organisation must trickle down to the smallest employee and to its smallest process. However, is simply having a woman on the board going to automatically ensure a mammoth transformation in the cultural landscape of the unit?

It would be unfortunate to see corporates implementing a law as progressive as this; merely as a gesture and not in its true spirit. To really celebrate the virtue of gender inclusion, awareness must also give way to empathy and respect. It is, therefore, absolutely imperative that we stay committed to addressing this deeply entrenched attitude than just indulging in piecemeal and peripheral activities that amount to nothing more than a crossed box on a checklist.