Wipro, along with $5.3-billion American?technology firm Pitney Bowes, has co-founded the Indian arm of Catalyst, a global organisation that dedicates itself to expanding opportunities for women in business. TK Kurien, chief executive of Wipro?s IT business, will serve as its advisory board chairman. But does he really believe this was necessary? In a conversation with Shreya Roy, Kurien talks about why he took up the role, about the business sense in diversity and inclusion, and what he learnt from taking a wheelchair around his sprawling campus.
Where does Wipro stand in terms of hiring women?
Overall, 30% of our employees are women. But if you look at our next level of leadership, the percentages drop drastically. At the vice-president level, the number is 15%. Two out of a total of 18 of my direct reports are women. Out of my six businesses, one is run by a lady. But things are going to change as we evolve.
Why is this evolution necessary?
I always joke that the IT industry right now is full of people who are a mile wide and inch deep. The industry has always trained for breadth. We are now going to have to recruit for depth. And women play a huge role there. Especially in technology, you will find that women are willing to invest time in their jobs. The level of detail in this part of the population is at a different scale. Till five years after they join, attrition among women is typically half of the company average.
What happens after that?
After five years, the attrition spikes, usually due to social events. In these situations, the support mechanism required does not exist, and that is what we have been trying to build.
Do you feel that your involvement with Catalyst can resolve some of these issues?
We can take the learnings Catalyst has had over the past 20 or 30 years and replicate it here, since we are going through a cycle that imitates the West.
This knowledge is a huge advantage. How we take it, and how we implement it is the key.
Why did?you choose to chair Catalyst?s India advisory board?
I wish I could say it is a wonderful social cause and it?s the right thing to do. But at the end of the day, it?s really just good for business. First, because we can learn; and second, because it helps attracting talent.
Besides gender diversity, is Wipro working on inclusion in any manner?
We have to do more for people with disability. I have actually taken a wheel chair and gone around the campus to see how friendly it was, and I was shocked. There are a lot of things to be done.