Prernaa

D&I is increasingly becoming a top priority for organisations. While implementing Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), many companies focus exclusively on hiring diverse talent. This is indeed essential to keep feeding into the talent pool and building a diverse workforce, but is not sufficient. A more holistic approach to D&I should include employee retention, enriching employee experience, inclusion training and continued leadership and organisational commitment towards the cause. The need is to inject D&I into the blood of the organisation. Gender…

In Part I of this article, we discussed some of the major factors that determine women’s participation in the manufacturing sector. In the second part of this article, we bring to you the thoughts shared by leaders on challenges faced by women in manufacturing and steps to overcome them. We cannot deny the fact that a number of large manufacturing plants in industries such as FMCG, automobiles, electronics, precision tools etc. have made consistent efforts in terms of attracting and…

The line manager received a call, it was an emergency situation. One of the linemen had cut his fingers and the line manager had some important decisions to make. The injured lineman had to be rushed to the hospital. The EHS department had to be informed about the accident. The line being part of a continuous process factory, any stoppage would mean losses; so the line manager gave instructions to the team leaders to ensure production is not disrupted. When…

The evolution of the digital era has seen the boom or obsolescence of many a profession. While disruptive technologies that come with sophisticated algorithms and robots have wiped out many manual tasks, most other professions have embraced technology as an Enabler to deliver superior products and services. One such profession that has seen a macro-evolution is teaching. By the term macro-evolution, I mean a large-scale evolution in the teaching platforms, delivery mechanisms, creation of interactive content etc. that has resulted in a…

Motherhood makes a woman complete. Do you agree? I don’t. It is certainly one of the most important milestones in a woman’s life, but life is never complete unless you be yourself, do what you want to do and create a personal identity for yourself.  It’s never too late to start loving yourself and living life your way. The best form of happiness is when it blooms from within and shared with those around you. Komal Sharma, company secretary and…

  2020 is certainly meant to be etched out in the history of mankind as a year of sorts. As ‘Social distancing’ was identified globally as the only weapon to fight the intriguing COVID-19 pandemic, businesses were in a fix. Organizations of all sizes and nature were forced to pull down their shutters overnight to ensure safety of their employees. Switching to a remote working model was the only option available to survive and sustain. Remote work, network and connectivity, security…

The lockdown had been extended for the third time. While memes on social media celebrated the latest version named Lockdown 3.0, Nisha’s mind was racing fast. As she juggled between two demanding roles, that of a mother of a six-year-old-hyperactive boy and working remotely as a Senior IT Analyst with an MNC, the lockdown had imposed additional responsibilities on Nisha as her maid was homebound. For more than a month now, Nisha had been working twelve hours each day before…

I stumbled upon this word recently and looked up Google to understand the meaning. According to Wikipedia, a Renaissance man or woman is a very clever person who is very good at many different things. There was a list of such people; interestingly only Rabindranath Tagore from India. And then I noticed there was not a single woman on the list; how disappointing! But that’s history, I consoled myself. The future is still in our hands. ‘Renaissance’ is such a…

The World Economic Forum’s Global gender gap index 2019-2020 ranks India at an alarming 112th among 150 countries. The index ranks countries on the basis of gender gap in four areas: health, education, economic participation and political empowerment. India’s ranking was worst on the health and survival parameter. We all know that India has gone a long way in achieving parity for women in various areas. But the findings of the WEF report raises a lot of questions about the…

As a little girl, I grew up listening to the stories of Rani laxmi bhai and Indira Gandhi. They inspired me, but I was doubtful if they could be emulated, they were not ordinary women. As I grew older, I read about Indra Nooyi and Kalpana Chawla and realised it was possible for ordinary women to excel and accelerate their careers through sheer determination and hard work. I studied in girls‘ institutions all my life; and time and again was…