Often it has been misconstrued that women face no roadblocks or biases when it comes to getting career advancements or higher-level positions. Likewise, when certain assignments or positions are offered to men counterparts by the management, women, in such situations tend to form an impression of them being incompetent for that role.
Practically, there are no such impossible goals or tasks for an individual who is determined to achieve them. Also, there are no such roles that today’s women can’t pursue. They have now ventured into professions that were earlier male-dominated.
While a lot of things have changed, the debate on Gender bias and inequality still exists. When it comes to the representation of women in the industry, the core question remains: Have we achieved an-inclusive workforce? Has there been any significant change in the number of women participation in workplaces?
Surprisingly, the progress on these fronts has been very slow in India. However, people tend to neglect the larger picture of how an all-inclusive workforce can strategically impact the financial growth of a country. Especially, for a country like India, it can drastically steer the GDP, which is reeling under the economic crisis posed by the ongoing pandemic.
As per McKinsey Global Institute’s 2015 report, an increase in female work participation could lead to an additional USD 700 billion in the Indian economy by 2025. However, it is estimated that women in India contribute 17% of the national GDP, as against the global average of 40%. This stat is enough to justify that Indian woman make only a minimal contribution to the country’s economy.
While biases and inequalities still exist, several companies including hospitality groups are now taking a more progressive approach towards these issues in a bid to provide a more diverse and inclusive work environment to their workforces.
Hotelier India caught with Meena Bhatnagar, General Manager – Taj Wellington Mews Luxury Residences Mumbai, who has worked up her ways from Floor Supervisor to the General Manager to understand how women and management should deal with such situations intelligently.
According to Bhatnagar, the best way to overcome the gender bias is to partner with both genders equally into the organization’s leadership roles, and also a lot of gender bias sensitization required for all managerial levels.
To break this bias, she feels that “hospitality groups should look at creating more and more inclusive environment, and also encourage women to pursue higher leadership roles.”
She believes that this is only possible when there is a favourable environment employing robust human resource initiatives and structured growth paths facilitated by training and mentoring.
Quoting the famous adage, “action speaks louder than words,” Bhatnagar avers that the same is applicable when it comes to empowering the ladies in an organization or especially when a senior management starts approaching the women in the organization as equally capable and confident to take up leadership roles.
“With this approach,” says Bhatnagar, “the biases will be broken slowly and steadily, also non-judgmental approach would be cultivated towards the women coming from all paths of lives.”
“ Be it a single lady or a mother of a child, every woman must be offered equal opportunities, just as they are offered to any capable and suitable employee. Also it should not be offered on basis of her personal background,” she adds.
Reminding all the ladies about their innate quality, Bhatnagar notes that, women are gifted with special leadership qualities which make it possible for them play so many roles in a lifespan with ease. “As a women, we are naturally born with patience, hard work and empathy, as it is we who have been given the power to bring life on this planet,” she claims.
As a piece of advice to all the ladies, Bhatnagar asserts that as empowered beings, women should keep faith in their capabilities and strive to improve their knowledge and skills set continuously. “The invisible glass which women have created needs to be broken by ourselves and one must be ready to say yes to the world of opportunities,” she concludes.
