Every day we bear witness to women keeping everyone at home constructively engaged, whether it is the domestic help, the children or other family members. They manage all this while continuing to do their own work, irrespective of whether they are homemakers or working women. Irrespective of what they might be doing, they make sure that the family spend “time together collectively” as much as possible. 

I am sure the majority of men feel the same way about women, when it comes to respecting and admiring the unstinting work and effort they put at home. Yet, the dynamic shifts significantly, consciously or sub-consciously, when it comes to how we respond to women at the work place. 

As per the Network of Executive Women, 24% women opt out of the workforce before reaching the C-suite, as against 7% for men. Why is the number so disproportionately high for women employees? One reason is the difference in expectations from women, at the workplace and outside too. The challenges faced by them are different too. Consequently, most women are overwhelmed and overworked as compared to their male counterparts. Women bear a larger share of the dual responsibility of working and taking care of the domestic chores. They play a relatively more involved role in running the household, managing the dynamic nature of children’s schedules, and taking care of the frail and aged at home. Most of them literally work ‘three shifts’. This is over and above the expectation to perform at work. It is unsurprising that a lot of them end up ‘choosing’ to be homemakers when faced with the dilemma of ‘home versus work’. 

Increasingly, organizations have introduced Diversity and Inclusion policies and strategies which are proving to be helpful. However, I feel that the ‘Policy’ needs to be backed by ‘Program’ and ‘People’, for it to deliver exponential outcomes. Irrespective of how good they are, the best of written values, policies and programs will not yield the desired outcomes if they are not driven by the right people. 

Let us also accept the fact that everyone’s outlook may not be the same or supportive of what the organization wants to drive. It is important that companies have progressive and empathetic leaders and managers who are trained, sensitized and passionate to implement the program and policies. Leaders and Managers need to ‘believe’ in the Policy or Program and move beyond slogans. People within and outside look at the impact on people which can only be driven by leaders who consciously and consistently practice the values of D&I, and are willing to push boundaries and break down barriers to foster a thriving D&I culture.  

A working woman might be an engineer by profession. However she also dons the hat of a mother, daughter, spouse, and daughter-in-law, among several others. While men wear different hats too, there are somethings that require the healing touch of a woman, either owing to social conditionings or because the woman inherently feels the need to do so. This translates into more demands on their time. It is heartening to see that most companies have policies related to maternity, WFH, flexible timing, sabbatical and more. Having these policies and programs is important and laudable. However, the critical question is, “How do we make women employees feel when they are availing these benefits?” Are they made to feel any lesser if they avail of these much-needed benefits? For instance, do we protect their performance rating, provide benefits of career progression and growth or do they need to compromise on these if they avail of policies like maternity related benefits, among other things?