Breaking The Glass Ceiling

Som Mittal, President, Nasscom, is of the belief that gender inclusivity is a
must for the longterm success of the IT industry. “India will play a key role in
future transfor­mation,” he claimed. “Women are a key and vital part of our
workforce, and the industry will continue to work towards creating a conducive
environ­ment and attract more women employees and leaders,” he added.

With such a rich pool of well educated and talented women currently available
with the scope of their participation in corporate affairs increasing, most
companies are keen to have a mixed gender ratio. This is why you have Neelam
Dhawan first heading the country's biggest software company, Microsoft and then
moving on to be at the helm of affairs at Hewlett Packard. Dhawan is just one of
the many women who have become synonymous with the companies they work for.

But sadly the same can't be said of the Indian IT channel companies in the
country. Barring a few there are hardly any women who are in the key decision
making positions in most big channel companies. In an industry that has been
largely male dominated, women have been able to make a mark, but not at the same
speed as is seen in the rest of corporate India.

A level playing ground?

Most people spoken to would like to believe that the Indian channel business
is a level playing ground for women to participate in, as an entrepre­neur or as
an employee at a channel organization or a vendor company. Sapna Agarwal,
Director-Global Alliances, EMC Corporation is one of the believers. She feels
that there is no disparity between men and women and the industry can be
challenging and demanding on both the sexes.

“There exists intense competition and you have to manage partner
relationships in order to successfully market, sell, and provide service to end
customers. It is not an easy business as you have to deal with very demanding
and competitive partners and customers,” Agarwal pointed out.

Manisha Sood, Country Manager, Sandisk India agreed with this contention. “I
don't think gender has anything to do with the work a person has to do, either
in a vendor company, a distribution house or at a dealer's shop. It all boils
down to the person's capabilities to quickly adapt to the environment and learn
the tricks of the trade, because at the end of the day, the targets and
challenges remain the same, whether you are a man or a woman,” she noted.

Giving a man's perspective, V Murali of Precision Infomatics said, “There is
no entry barrier for women in the channel industry or in vendor companies.” But
he did admit that despite this, there is a dearth of women executives in this
industry.

Why so few at the top?

So given that the IT channel industry is open to all-gender
notwithstanding-then why are there a lot of women in the mid management level of
an organization, but very few in the key decision making teams? Surprisingly the
women spoken to felt that this was not by default but by design and that by the
women themselves.

Agarwal stated, “It might appear that there are fewer women at the very
senior levels of organizations. But the reason for this is not the proverbial
glass ceiling. It is more to do with women's individual choices.” This is the
reason behind women often voluntarily moving to less challenging job roles in
the middle of their careers to keep up with their commitments as home makers.

“There is always the commitment towards the home and the family which often
results in women not being able to put in the long hours typically required to
break into the top management jobs. Women who decide to continue find that
corporate in India provide a very fair environment for women to grow as much as
their men counterparts,” she added.

This sentiment again finds an echo in Sood's thoughts as well. She too noted
that most women choose to stick to job roles which are more stationary with
limited traveling so that they can devote better quality time to their family,
especially their children. “The job on the top can involve putting in long and
unpredictable hours besides the possibility of frequent relocation, which might
not be possible and feasible for most women,” she added.

Subhasini Prabhakar, Chief Technology Manager, Dax Networks blamed the gender
lacunae existing in the top hemisphere of corporate on the strategies used by
women to arrive, survive and excel at mid-management levels which prevent them
from moving up. She feels that there are specific things women must start doing
and stop doing if they are to position themselves to break through the glass
ceiling.

This fact is borne by some numbers as well. In India, only about 25 percent
of the business leadership comprises women. In China, on the other hand, women
comprise nearly 60 percent of the business leadership.

“Women get so accustomed to their existing job role, which prevents them from
reaching the top level. Moreover the organization also has a feeling that it is
not worth investing in because, they would get married, have a baby and quit,”
she noted.

Female representation

The challenges might continue to exist, but there is no doubt that a greater
representation of women at the workplace is vital today. At its third annual IT
Women Leadership Summit in Bengaluru in November, 2008, aptly themed
'Transforming Enterprises and Societies' Nasscom representatives stres­sed on
the fact that “workplace diversity in industry gives it a leading edge in the
marketplace, and is therefore of even greater importance in these times of
economic recession and slowdown. Gender inclusivity is no longer corporate
social responsibility but a business imperative.”

Helping push the pace in having a better representation of women in the IT
industry is the fact that there are many educated women from tier-2 cities and
smaller towns who are not averse to the idea of leaving their home and hearth to
make a mark in the business world. Agarwal noted that there are more women
making headway in the industry and in the process are gaining the respect and
confidence of their peers.

She advocated that increa­sing female representation in management increases
the fairness and equity of the organization. “By increasing the representation
of women in senior roles, organizations can be seen as employers of choice by
women and the wider community,” she noted.

An interesting survey conducted by Nokia has shown that women are better at
multi-tasking then men with 60 percent of respondents, both men and women. Only
six percent of women feel that men are better at doing more than one task at a
time. The study was carried out on over 5,000 respon­dents, where 79 percent
consider themselves multi-taskers, with 50 percent describing themselves
produc­tive and 31 percent busy.

Besides there are several much needed positive attributes that women bring to
an organization. They are generally more committed and dedicated. And Sudha
Jagadish, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Dax Networks says this from personal
experience as well as her encounters in her company as well.

“In our organization women play varied roles right from front ending sales to
handling back office responsibilities. Moreover Dax supports its women
associates in managing work and yet meeting the family and social demands and
help in arriving at an ideal work-life balance,” she added.

Women in the channel

One reason why the channel business however is not such an attractive
destination for women with a fire in their belly is because most of them feel
that their potential will be limited to the geography that the partner operates
in, since most channel companies are more or less localized in nature, as
pointed out by Murali. This is why they prefer to try in the bigger companies
first and settle for local organizations as a last resort.

He also added that since the channel trading business has been traditionally
dominated by men, women could encounter male chauvinism. “Channel business being
low margins, huge volumes, high transactions might not give the women the right
parameters to look at participation. They might perceive this to be a no brainer
and hence the reluctance to join the industry. The second class citizen
positioning coupled with lack of proper financial infrastructure would be the
dampener,” he explained.

This is probably why women in key decision making capacities in most channel
organizations are either spouses of the entrepreneurs or someone who is
affiliated to the family that is running the show. Be it Simran Mulchandani, who
manages the finances for Mumbai's Aarvee Computers or Rita Budhay of Business
Algorithms, Nagpur, who is responsible for client handling-both have their
husbands handling the business from the front. Vinod Mulchandani and Sudhir
Budhay however are very quick to admit that their wives are the strength behind
their respective business houses, and are very supportive about their dedication
to the companies.

There is also the gutsy Ayesha Villait of Bitsy Infotech in Mumbai, who was
busy chasing payments till the day she delivered her second child, and was
partially managing the company's accounts even from home, while her husband
Satish increased the clientele. There are very few women entrepreneurs barring
those like Manasi Saha of Kolkata's Macaws Infotech or Prarthana Gupta of Cache
Technologies from New Delhi, who get into the channel business.

One of the reasons could also be that most dealers still are unable to adjust
to the idea of having a woman as an equal, feeling that they are more emotional
and therefore might not be able to take a more prudent decision. “While women
make better bosses, because they have a higher empathy for their colleagues and
subordinates, they are also easily swayed by an emotional appeal, which might
bode well for business,” said one partner.

Workplace diversity

While most people feel that workplace diversity is something that most
coprates in India are seriously contemplating, if they have not already factored
within their HR programs, it is more a question of individual choice over
organizational matrix creation.

Agarwal noted that almost all organizations have a uniform entry-level policy
for men and women. “It is for the women to decide if they want to continue and
reach management positions or they want a blend of domesticity and corporate.
Neither of these choices is wrong,” she said.

But there is no denying the fact that organizations can go out to provide
women friendly policies such as work from home and flexible working hours;
traveling arrangements, espe­cially at night; and better facilities for pregnant
women, nursing mothers and those with young children.

Agarwal feels that with such arrangements, not only will the organization
retain its women employees but also bring out the best in them since the women
will realize that their comp any really cares for them and encourages them to
perform even better. “In fact I feel that organizations in India are far ahead
in encouraging women to grow as compared to a lot of other countries,” added
Agarwal.

Sood too agreed with this. She recalled how she had a very supportive family
as well who helped her cope work and the familial responsibilities well. “There
are a lot of companies in India which offer flexi-hours for their women
employees. Organizations can do a lot of other similar things to make their
female workers perform better without compromising on their responsibilities at
home,” she added.

Prabhakar advised that workplace diversity can be achieved by developing
strategies to identify desired outcomes. The easiest way to achieve this is to
up the involvement of women in key decision making processes and ensure that
there is a fair treatment meted out to all.

Stereotypes

There are some stereotypes that are attached to women workers and bosses,
which comes out in the TeamLease survey on 'Gender Preferences in Bosses'. While
announcing the results of the survey, Surabhi Mathur-Gandhi, General Manager,
Permanent Staffing, TeamLease Services said, “The increased role for women in
the workplace today seems to reflect a pragmatic but sometimes reluctant change
in attitudes, objectivity and aptitudes. Women are seen as bringing different
skills but despite equal competence continue to battle unfair and dated
perception issues.”

Display of their emotions is what most people expect from women workers, with
over two thirds of the 470 surveyed workforce by TeamLease across various cities
agreeing to it. 75 percent of the respondents also noted that 'being a woman' is
reason enough not to take up senior level opportunities, which could denote that
they would want jobs that help them balance their work life and home
responsibilities as well.

On the positive side, most of the surveyed respondents did admit that women
were better multi-taskers with better administrative, people manage­ment and
target aggression skills.

Agrawal points out that there are no specific IT industry stereotypes for
women but some that are by-products of our societal ecosystem. “There was a time
when people were uncertain about women's abilities to perform at senior levels.
People used to make assumptions when confronting a woman in management. But over
the last 10 years most of the biases have crumbled. As the number of women in
manage­ment roles increases and organizations place a greater emphasis on
diversity, a subsequent change in percep­tions of women in leadership roles is
expected,” she claimed.

Jagadish on the other hand, noted that while hiring women employees most
managers harbor bias about offering low salaries, concern about their parenting
responsibilities and making quick assumptions about their lack of knowledge
about the industry. “Gender stereotypes block women's advancement, the recurring
reproduction (even by women) of expectations of an intra-gender homogeneity
based on a traditional female role. Stereotypical notions show highly successful
women managers as imitators of male characteristics and physical appearance,”
she added.

But all of them agree that whatever be the bias, employing smart women is a
smart decision. As organizations increasingly look for the right candidate to
fit a job description at the time of hiring as well as for subsequent
progression, the doors have opened for women employees. “Moreover with women
proving to be efficient managers and excellent in multi tasking, employing women
would always be a smart decision,” Agarwal added.

It is heartening to see that organizations today are more focused on
performance and qualification as they look increasingly towards profit figures,
global competitiveness and overall growth rather than fixating on gender bias.
As in the West, it is only a matter of time before there will be a proportionate
ratio of men and women taking India's Corporate Inc ahead. After all, India is
the only democracy to boast of a female Prime Minister and a female President,
which shows that when it comes to getting the job done, genders do not matter.
Soon this opinion will percolate to the grassroot levels of the channel industry
as well.

Vinita Bhatia

vinitavs@cybermedia.co.in