It was not rupee woes, the US economy slowdown, sub-prime crisis or the ubiquitous HR issues that came on top of the agenda at the Nasscom-organised seminar in the country?s software hub on Wednesday. For once, IT executives – all women and most of them in business suits, top rung managers at that – pressed eloquently on issues closer to heart: gender inclusivity; post-marriage career breaks for women; work-life balance and more broadly, about living a fulfilling life.
At the software apex body?s Bangalore edition of ?IT Women Leadership Summit 2007 – Partnering for Success in an Entrepreneurial World,? the mood was vibrant and of camaraderie. Concerns about career breaks and subsequent return to work were favorite topics in the opening session on ?Women as entrepreneurs: Success Stories?.
Quinnox Consultancy Services? President – India operations and chief delivery officer Gayathri Parthasarathy urged companies to find solutions that worked for the employees, to re-join work after their career breaks. ?Organizations and employees have to take equal responsibility so that women executives can make step-by-step return to work after their breaks, such as maternity leave.?
Netcore Solutions CTO Leena Chandran-Wadia urged the audience of over 300 eager executives, ?You can live your lives again after career breaks. It is never too late to do what you want.?
Narrating her tight ropewalk between being a young and married entrepreneur, to becoming the co-founder of Tavant Technologies, Nita Goyal said, ?If you ignore the fact that you are a woman and do the work that you have to do, everybody else will (ignore it) too.?
Is it lonely at the top? How do successful women manage work-life balance? ?It is hard. But you have to find colleagues who understand you and work out some arrangement that works for the company and for you,? Chandran-Wadia said.
Staretgic HR advisor Hema Ravichandar pointed out that 50% of women in India faced gender discrimination at work place, according to the National Commission of Women. ?While work force diversity is statistics, gender inclusivity is a mindset,? she added.