Dr Sujata Seshadrinathan, Director of IT & Process, Basiz Fund Services
Why Is Inclusion Critical for Businesses?
From the perspective of a woman leader in the Indian business landscape, tell us your opinion on why inclusion is critical for the growth of the business world as a whole. A Woman brings a whole different perspective to business and enterprise. As a near half of the society and consumer base for many products and services, she could provide many insights that improve business. Male female stereotypes have been redefined after some hard fought battles. We have moved far away from times when women did not have equal academic opportunities, however inclusion into the workforce is still not at a desirable ratio. Tapping into the broader talent pool by including women can make a significant contribution to performance and profitability. The woman today has broken all stereotypes and has firmly established herself through hard work and stellar performance in most fields like medicine, engineering, IT, law, finance, national security and even aeronautics and space exploration. I have also seen that the native wisdom she brings on along with sustainability and environment consciousness built into her model make her a formidable force to reckon with. And hence would recommend gender inclusiveness as critical for growth and development What steps can be taken to inspire inclusion in the IT/ITES sector? The IT/ITES sector has always been leading the way in providing equal employment opportunities for women and as such was the first and still the leading gender inclusive sector in India. But here too women leaving careers to manage home and families is very high. The loss of skills and experience when this happens is steep. Many times women seek opportunities to get back to being productive in careers that enable them to contribute to the economy and at the same time manage homes. Many problems like the career break and lack of capital availability act as deterrents. A supportive business leader or government could help by providing orientation training for entrepreneurship. Reskilling will also go a long way, along with start-up mentoring groups providing the necessary support ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. For both financing and mentoring GOI has started special cells to support women in enterprise. Information dissemination about financial management, marketing channels and such other business requirements could make a big difference to women entrepreneurs. What’s your message for womenfolk across India, on International Women’s Day?
The pandemic lockdown while the world struggled, India survived with the biggest contributor this being the women who had never learnt about it yet became the best crisis manager. The Mother Goddess, usually loving and coy, took on the reins of a whole society as the caring, nurturing, protecting and providing Shakti- energy life force. The inclusion of this woman into the workforce is for the better of the world. The India woman is an innovative problem solver, a practitioner of strategic management. The knowledge we bring on board far exceeds academics. By nature we tend to be ESG compliant and that makes us future ready citizens of India, in whose safe hands the next generations of the country are taking shape admirably. As in the past and present, in future also the Indian woman will be the torch bearer of a great society and nation.
