Monday, April 27, 2015

Women at Workplace



This is what is lacking to make Women Succeed at workplace ? 

http://cdn4.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article30570067.ece/5c6ff/ALTERNATES/h342/women1_2.jpg
Source- http://cdn4.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/incoming/article30570067.ece/5c6ff/ALTERNATES/h342/women1_2.jpg

  1. Do companies exhibit Understanding and Sensitivity to the fact that needs & expectations  of women from a workplace are a bit different from men while aspirations & ambitions are common ? In what ways ?
  2. Why is it still a trade off – Familiy vs Career for Women ?
  3. Why cant Family and Careers go hand in hand for Women ?
  4.   Do we expect Women to be like Men when it comes to Leadership style ?
  5. What are companies doing to remove gender pay gap ?
  6. What are the programs put in place to advance women to leadership positions ?
  7. Why do we have just 4% of the Women as CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies ? Women don’t lack in inspiration, or aspiration.
  8. Why do women drop out of workforce the moment they choose to opt the family way ?
  9. Why to let them drop out of workforce and then design programs to bring her back ?
  10. How many companies are open to recruit women who took a career break for couple of years ?
  11. Why the likes of Apple, Facebook , Tech Giants are choosing to pay to Freeze their eggs instead of signaling that Parenting duties aren't a roadblock to advancement in Women’s Career ? What If these tech giants choose to spend $20K in providing child care facilities, right infrsstrucutre for Talented Women who want to become young Parent  and not delay Parenting until their 40s or 50s ?
  12. Do Women in organizations find adequate sponsorship for getting promotion, raises ?
  13. Why Women have to negotiate hard to get rewarded well for their efforts while their male counterparts hang with old boys club and get it easily ?
  14. Are their Women Networks for Career Advancement of Women ?
  15. Why is there 100% decline from Middle to Top Management positions occupied by Women ?
  16. Why the plum assignments go to Men while Women slog their way up the Corporate Ladder ?
  17. Why is there more Rhetoric than actual action on the ground to advance Women agenda ?
  18. When would Corporate pay their due to Women ? What are they waiting for ?
  19. Is the share of Women's voice across various levels in corporate hierarchy adequately heard ,represented, insights acted upon  ?
  20. When will Corporates be unbiased, reflective , sensitive towards needs of Women & do enough to advance Women’s agenda and make it a level playing field  ?

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Invited as Speaker for Panel Discussion on Women @ Workplace #IndiaHRLive



IndiaHRLive




Wait!! Women are at work…
Now have you ever heard this?
Answer is obvious, women have always been working however now they are omnipresent and work has new dimensions altogether. Still this doesn’t mean that the journey has been a cake walk. As much as the multi-talented , multifaceted fairer sex juggles between personal and professional front to walk as much as a mam would, they still encounter resistance and hurdles at various stage. So to discuss the depth of the subject we thought of bringing this topic of ‘Career progression for Women at Work’ at Indiahrlive and welcome some fresh and intriguing thoughts of our esteemed panelists here.
Here are some thoughts that we will cover:
Q1. Most of the women drop their career for family reasons but is there more to do than this?  
Q2. Still in India the top circle remains male dominant. We don’t let women rise or women don’t want to rise?  
Q3. Gender diversity!! Is it a practice or a thought? Is it a choice or compulsion?  
Q4. Is the journey for Women Entrepreneurs different than men? Do women lead initiatives get more mileage?  
Q5. What are the common challenges women at large go through at work? What could be the best way to progress northwards in your career?
Join us while we share the platform with successful Women Leaders to discuss ‘Women at Work – Gender Diversity ‘ on April 21st, Tuesday at 8pm IST / 9.30 am CST /10.30 am EST. 
Watch the show here & Tweet your comments/questions with a hashtag #IndiaHRLIVE to join the conversation with our #IndiaHRLIVE ambassadors

Speaking on Employer Branding at #Tascon15

I was recently invited to speak on Employer Branding at #Tascon15 ( India's Biggest Sourcing Conference) 

Enjoyed the discussion and gave a pat on my back :-) 



Self - Actualisation



Recently, I met an interesting Woman who have achieved Career Peak. She is the Head of the Department.She groomed her successor and then quit her high profile job for lack of challenge in the role.
Been there, done that. You know.
What could inspire her , challenge her next ? She is driven, and enterprising.
I suggested her to go for a startup venture since she is a Servant Leader.
She confessed, she is a Hermit ( which resonated with me ) and at times she experience
Existential Crisis ( which resonated even more )
Lot of similarities except the fact that I haven’t reached Peak in my Career yet.
Talking of Careers, I heard from a Respectable Leader -  Careers are sometimes balls of yarn rather than Career Ladder.
That’s what my  Career has been all these years – A ball of Yarn.
What is Existential crisis ? What causes it ? And what is the solution .
A problem solver as I am, my theory is the antidote to Existential Crisis is Systems of Engagement.
A system of engagement could be –
  1. Love
  2. Movie
  3. Book
  4. Social Media ( Facebook, Twitter, Linkdedin)
  5. Social Networking
  6. Friends
  7. Family
  8. Conversation with strangers
  9. Writing
  10. Research
  11. Parenting
  12. Music
  13. Art
  14. Trekking
  15. Travel
  16. Running, Jogging, Walking
  17. Gym or Fitness Regime
  18. Meditation or Mindfulness ( this requires a separate discussion altogether )
  19. Paid Work
  20. Voluntary Meaningful Non Paid work, Mentoring, Community Service

When you aren’t engaged with any one of the above, you experience Existential Crisis.
Bingo.
Problem Solved.
My 2nd theory –  Fall in Love, Travel or Write a Book or do any of the above  to evade Existential Crisis.
Prince Hamlet experiences an existential crisis as a result of the death of his father. This is shown especially by Shakespeare in the famous soliloquy which starts, "To be, or not to be: that is the question..."
That begs the question – Do people who suffer from Existential Crisis  experience Positive Disintegration ? And as a result do they Self Actualize faster ? 

An existential crisis is a moment at which an individual questions the very foundations of their life: whether their life has any meaning, purpose, or value.[1] This issue of the meaning and purpose of existence is the topic of the philosophical school of existentialism.

No wonder I am drawn to Philosophy by Neitzche 






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