I-Step Up: Incedo’s women network
Despite the best organizational intent, women employees in organizations face unconscious biasness which hinders their professional progress. Further, lack of flexible work policies, makes it harder for women workforce to endure longer in the organization; resulting in large number of women dropouts. Those who chose not to dropout, continue to undergo sustained gender discrimination in the form of gender pay gap and negation of deserving promotions. Besides these prominent deterrents, women face many other day to day hurdles in their workplaces. In order to address all these challenges, Incedo, a technology solutions and service provider firm, has initiated unique platform for women called as ‘I-Step Up’.
This women network will facilitate all women staff within the organization to achieve their professional and personal goals. It will help organization to recognize issues concerning women and help shape policies that will create conducive environment for them. Also, it will build a supportive and collaborative community committed to unlock their true potential. Arun Paul, Vice President, Human Resources, Incedo Inc. avers, “This forum which is a monthly initiative, will help women colleagues discuss and solve their work-life challenges. It will be conducted in small groups, where every women member could approach senior leaders to discuss possible future career opportunities and other career related issues / queries. Quarterly we will host workshops seminars, sessions and senior mentorship programs.”
Arun Paul, Vice President, Human Resources, Incedo Inc. avers, “This forum which is a monthly initiative, will help women colleagues discuss and solve their work-life challenges. It will be conducted in small groups, where every women member could approach senior leaders to discuss possible future career opportunities and other career related issues / queries. Quarterly we will host workshops seminars, sessions and senior mentorship programs.”
To do so, the forum was launched on Woman’s Day, where Incedo hosted a panel discussion bringing together distinguished women from varied professional backgrounds who shared their experiences, challenges and their winning moments in their personal and professional journey. One of the panelists-Mamta Chander, Head Strategy & Growth Initiatives, GDS Advisory, said, “Women need to ask questions instead of assuming. They should make their presence felt by speaking up. They need not be guilty and it is important to understand that it is OK to fail.” Motivating women to work harder, Madhvi Pahwa, Chief Talent Officer at Mindshare said “Women need to set their professional aspirations right and prioritize them. It is important for women to have a role- model; someone they can aspire to become. It will inspire them to work harder.”
Research shows that firms with a higher percentage of women in board and leadership roles outperform the average. Tejinderpal Singh Miglani, Chief Executive Officer, Incedo Inc. shares his point of view on this.
He explained, “Women bring different perspectives and approaches to business, resulting in a more inclusive workplace and often better performance for the company. They are more engaged at work and are better for risk management - more diversity leads to higher creativity and better performance in organizations.”
The forum provided platform for all women partakers to share their experiences, advice and insights. It truly inspired everyone to step up and make changes, and to step up and lead!