Break The Bias and Empower Women: SIG India shows the way

Latest statistics show that even now, in the year 2022, the women’s workforce participation rate in urban India is only between 18.2 to 20.3 percent. In comparison, the participation rate for men stands at 67 percent! The wide disparity clearly shows the many obstacles that women still face in the workplace and in their lives today, even besides the worsening job crisis and the devastating impact of the pandemic. These obstacles take the form of deeply ingrained biases at every structural step of the corporate ladder, especially in today’s demanding and competitive professional world.

Leadership Bias

Vandana Tandan, the Country Manager for SIG India, says, “Women are often considered more emotional than men, seen as being more family-oriented and less committed to their jobs, not having major aspirations in their career, and being more inflexible in terms of the time that they can devote. Often, their achievements are considered more on accounts of frivolous factors than their dedication and hard work. They are considered as having lesser leadership qualities than men.”

Domain-specific Bias

What’s more, these biases take on very specific appearances and layers, permeating every level or domain of the organization. Sonia Shukla, part of the Commercial Sales function at SIG India, shares another perspective, “It is a very common notion that Sales is an industry where men excel, because of the aggressive and highly demanding nature of the work. I have often seen women being advised to change their field or given fewer promotion opportunities under the assumption that they will not be able to manage it.”

Head of Marketing and Business Development at SIG India, Benita Paul, states, “In Marketing, we are fortunate that we have almost equal representation of men and women. Even so, biases do tend to exist – people sometimes assume that women may not be available to work in crunch situations due to family commitments, or travel at odd hours, or manage tough customers. People also tend to see women as less assertive or less vocal, at times. But time and again, I have seen women find amazing, creative solutions to break these stereotypical views, and there are now umpteen role models that we can look up to who have challenged and broken these biases.”

#BreakTheBias

When it comes to breaking the bias, Akankshi Verma, a member of the Technical Services team at SIG India, says, “Equal opportunities, equal pay, inclusivity, and freedom from the shackles of gender stereotype are the needs of the hour.” Her voice is almost completely echoed by other women in SIG India – we need to build a world where diversity is valued and celebrated, a place free of stereotypes, discrimination, and bias, giving equal opportunity to women in all roles, and supporting them in balancing their work and personal life, along with coaching and mentoring female employees in the workplace.

Women Empowerment at SIG

Vandana outlines the efforts made by SIG India to improve gender equality and break biases - “Our efforts include hiring more female employees and women in leadership roles, giving them flexibility, coaching them, and encouraging them in their performance.” In an effort to inspire, amplify, and encourage women to take pride in themselves and help break existing biases, in 2021, SIG committed to ensuring a minimum of 30% representation of women in leadership positions globally, by 2025.

Benita adds, “At SIG India, we have a good number of women in the team. Recently, SIG also launched several women mentorship programs to help aspiring women achieve leadership roles. Apart from this, there is an intentional thrust on increasing diversity and maintaining a workplace that is inclusive and respectful. Flexible hours, work-from-home options, and the like, also make it easier for women and men, who at different life stages can avail these to have better work-life balance.”

Biases are born from several different factors – from internalized prejudices and speculative assumptions to the leadership or culture of the company, and more. This is why, it is critically important for employees and leaders alike to assess, recognize, and acknowledge their own internal biases, which will not only help expand their personal growth, but also enable a more professional and just working environment.

Organizations must also do their part by establishing a more inclusive and diversified culture and being receptive to the varied needs and nuances of leadership development to enable a better experience for women. SIG’s strengthened commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion builds on the company’s culture of responsibility, which underpins its wider ambition to go Way Beyond Good for people and the planet.

We are glad to be playing our small part in SIG India to help break biases, and create a supportive work environment, where diversity, equity, and inclusion, are clearly encouraged.